The best restaurants in Blean Forest Canterbury South East

I am a local student on the area, and I have been coming to the Hare semi-regularly when my family come to visit. Currently, I am in the Hare for my birthday with my friends. In my opinion, the Hare has genuinely some of the best food in the whole Canterbury area, and has been very consistently great every time I've visited. I personally love the El Cubano Pizza and the Gaucho burger. There is currently live Christmas music, but the atmosphere is always great without it. The owners are super friendly, and Iwas introduced to their puppy last year, since my parents brought our labrador with us. My only thing is that I wish they were open more days, but that's not really a complaint. The prices are a bit high for some items, as a student, but it is my own fault for ordering so much. Genuinely my favourite place in the area, and I'm so glad my friends finally got to try it to. Thank you for the great time! And hopefully there will be many more.

Neat and tidy bar. Had a pint here, people with good attitude.

Staff are amazing and treat you like family!! Quality of coffee and food is always perfect. Small but cozy :)

The manager is a very nice guy, always asking us if the food is good and has a positive altitude. However, some of the staff behind the bar are just slow and don’t provide the service expected.

We had the Burger and fries deal for £6 each and it was great. Good food for the price and lovely customer service. The menu also has vegan options.

Good food at reasonable prices not crowded, will be back

I have eaten here a number of times now. The burger and chicken is all Ok but the pizza is really good, especially considering the value. It's made fresh on site and cooked in front of you so you know it's solid.

We heard about the Royal Oak and decided to give it a try. We received a really warm welcome from the staff. The drinks are a very reasonable price too. The menu offered a large selection of dishes. We opted for the three course small plate home made steak and ale pie. The pate starter was very tasty. Even offered gluten free bread which was delicious. Ice cream finished the meal. A very reasonably priced meal but the important thing was that the food was delicious and we really enjoyed it. Will try the whitebait starter next time. Can’t wait.

Dont expect a hot drink after 18:00. Cafe may be open until 20:00 but they stop serving at 18:00.

So far I've tried Classic Chicken Burger and Chocolate Shake. Both were good - although the price was a bit on the higher end.

Can’t say much about the nursery side of the business as it’s late Autumn and here for the massive Christmas selection of light/decorations and ornaments (damn, got caught again!) Love the food at the cafe and the fact we can take the dogs outside AND in, the staff are always polite BUT 1/ The noise today, when half full got too much, we’ve not sat indoors since it first opened. Within 30 minutes of being there (thankfully eaten our lunch) the sound of people talking actually caused me to decide it was nof the place for me. Simple to reduce, the ceiling is like a corrugated panel (ideal to bounce noise back in many directions), there are no soft furnishings (lots of lovely windows, again bouncing the noise back into the room). Pretty cloth covered MDF panels on the roof, but due to the materials used, the sound bounces back into the room. Now home with a headache. Back to Garden X with our friends and dogs. 2/ Watched next table have a jacket potato and fried egg on toast. Simple and easy to get to table 11 together. Nope, jacket came first and that person had nearly 1/2 way through when her friend (who had initially been if ignored) had to ask where her fried egg had got to. 3/ Social media. Younwant to get known. You want to be busy to support the financial cost of construction and staffing, let alone the food costs. No Wi-Fi and because of the metal frame of the Café, signal is blocked. Cheap Wi-Fi Router for those who have a fear of not being connected…. Even some of the “silver Surfers”

Disgusting food for 5 pound. The African curry served in a crunchy roll was a handful of mediocre curry (undercooked veggies) in a plain bun. The "preparation" consisted of microwaving the bun with the curry inside basically drowning the roll, which fell apart soaking wet.

Turned up at half 1 on a Saturday and the place was closed, despite the opening hours on Google. No note on the door explaining why they were closed either. Not a great first impression.