There can be no bigger accolade for a pub or restaurant than for us as patrons to choose it as our “local”. More often than not, it’s a choice of preference rather than location. After all, this will be the place where you go to catch up with friends, relax after a long day at work, and enjoy some good food and drink. So it’s not a decision people make lightly and most are willing to forgo the convenience of the nearest pub or restaurant to spend time somewhere they would rather be.

And with so many great options in Folkestone right on our doorstep, we are spoilt for choice. Whether you’re looking for an old-fashioned boozer with a cosy atmosphere, or somewhere modern with craft beers and live music – you’ll be able to find it in Folkestone.

The Lure Of The Local

But what makes us choose to spend our precious time at some places over others? What are the magic ingredients that draw us back time after time? There’s one place in Folkestone that seems to have mastered that recipe for success – The Bouverie Tap.

For me, there’s something about The Bouverie Tap that just feels like home. The regulars are friendly, the staff are fantastic, the atmosphere is just right, and the quirky interior full of war memorabilia, old maps and flags sets it apart from your average pub restaurant. It’s dog-friendly and family-friendly, and there’s always a warm, welcoming vibe to the place.

The Pub / Restaurant Dilemma – A Perfect Balance

But one of the most impressive things about The Bouverie Tap is how it manages to effortlessly shapeshift from pub to restaurant, and vice versa. It’s whatever you want it to be, and that’s no mean feat. All too often, pubs feel the need to separate their dining experience from the bar, which is often to the detriment of the atmosphere.

The Bouverie Tap strikes the perfect balance, as if bar and restaurant exist in a symbiotic relationship, each enhancing the other. Whilst the majority of meals are served in the areas furthest from the bar, you are free to eat and drink at any table, and diners and drinkers intermingle happily.

Whether it’s intentional or a happy accident, it works brilliantly. And that’s why people return time and time again, whether it’s for an after-work pint, a cosy meal, a few drinks at the weekend or a Sunday roast with the family, it’s the perfect place.

Reliably Good Grub

The menu here is classic pub grub done well. The food is always reliably good, and the restaurant’s popularity speaks for itself. With regular weekly specials, Burger Wednesdays, top notch breakfasts and their famous Sunday roasts, there is something for everyone.

Our most recent visit was just after Burns Night, and we couldn’t resist ordering Luke’s Homemade Haggis Sausage Roll to start, a variation on the usual mammoth sausage roll you might find as a regular on the menu. Served with a red onion chutney, it makes a great bar snack – perfect with a pint of Bouverie Pilsner, the Tap’s own label lager.

We also went for a firm favourite of ours, the Salt and Pepper Squid with Sweet Chilli Mayo – classic pub fare and always delicious.

And you can’t get better than the Homemade Meat Pie Of The Day with lashings of gravy, served with mash and peas. We had a beautiful Steak and Ale Pie on our last visit. This is a proper pie, not a meat stew with a puff pastry lid masquerading as a pie like so many pubs insist on serving. The filling is generous, the meat is meltingly tender and the pastry is golden and crisp.

One of the menu highlights is the ever-popular Beer Battered Fish and Chips with Homemade Mushy Peas and Tartare Sauce. Light and crispy beer batter, meaty fish and proper chunky chips – what’s not to like?

Heavenly Highlights And Sumptuous Specials

The ½ KG of Mussels in White Wine, Cream and Garlic, the 8oz Dry-Aged Rump Steak and any of the sizeable and tasty burgers on the menu also come highly recommended.

And it’s often well worth a visit for the specials alone – we have never been disappointed. You can expect anything from Slow-Cooked Lamb Shank to a glorious Bacon-Topped Mac & Cheese or Minted Lamb Burger, and it’s always delicious. Their recent Beef Short-Rib cooked in Krombacher Dark Beer was sublime.

Desserts With A Twist From The Tap

Desserts here are every bit as good as you would expect. You’ll find all the old favourites on the menu, often with a little Bouverie Tap twist. My Cheesecake Of The Day was a homemade Black Cherry and Amaretto Cheesecake – very, very nice.

And the Bouverie’s own Homemade Sticky Toffee Pudding and Custard was a hit with Mrs FF – as good as you’ll find anywhere in Folkestone.

A Sunday Favourite

The Bouverie Tap is well known for its incredible Sunday Roasts. Make sure you book early if you want to grab a table – their roasts are very popular, and for good reason. Even if we don’t make it for a roast dinner, our Sunday afternoon pint is often accompanied by some of the free leftover roasties that are handed around by the staff. Yum!

Nostalgic Nosh

What I love about the food here is you get a real sense of nostalgia, as if you’re sitting down to a home-cooked meal, just like your mum used to make. It’s just good, honest food. We love it, and it makes us return time and time again.

To book a table at The Bouverie Tap, you can call them on 01303 255977 or email info@thebouverietap.co.uk

And don’t forget to follow The Bouverie Tap on Facebook & Instagram

The post The Bouverie Tap – Folkestone’s Favourite Local appeared first on Folkestone Foodies.

We sent the email to book our table, and received a response straight away to confirm the booking. Then, on the day, an email arrived in our inbox with the secret password, along with instructions on how to enter the bar. It was all very cloak and dagger.

But of course, there’s nothing illegal going on here. This bar is inspired by the speakeasy bars from the Prohibition era in 1920s America, when alcohol was made illegal. These were private, unlicensed barrooms, nicknamed ‘speakeasies’, so called because of the bartenders’ requests for the patrons to ‘speak easy’ (speak quietly) inside the venue, so as not to draw any unnecessary attention to it. The illicit bars ranged from fancy clubs with jazz bands and ballroom dance floors, to dingy backroom basements and rooms in the back of general stores and inside apartments. A password would be given to you to gain entry, which would be quietly spoken so as not to be overheard by law enforcement.

The secret location

If you wanted to find out where this fantastic little Folkestone venue is hidden, you would have to look in the most unexpected of places. If you happen to wander past the antiques shop called The Potting Shed on Rendezvous Street after hours, you might notice the occasional group of people ringing the doorbell, despite the closed sign that’s clearly on display. Just saying.

We were greeted at the front door by our waitress, dressed in her 1920s attire, with an inquisitive look on her face, wondering why we were ringing her doorbell. But when we spoke the password, her face broke into a wry smile. With a surreptitious glance out on to the street, she ushered us inside. It was all part of the theatre of this wonderful idea, and it really adds to the experience.

Classic cocktails from the period

The bar itself has a cosy, intimate feel, with a dim pool of light cast from each table lamp, and obviously, no windows. You really feel like you have stepped into a different world. They have done a great job of creating just the right atmosphere. The bar is full table service, and you can peruse the cocktail menu full of classic concoctions from the 1920s and 30s, whilst you nibble on the complimentary nuts. And the aromas of fresh citrus and all sorts of other wonderful scents that drift over from the bar are simply glorious.

We decided to try a wide selection of drinks from the menu, and they were all delicious. The Old Fashioned cocktails were especially good. Traditionally a whiskey drink, mixed with sugar and bitters, the brandy Old Fashioned was Remy Martin v.s.o.p., Maraschino Liqueur, Maraschino, Juice and Cherry Bitters. Mixed perfectly, it was sour and sweet, and the flavour of cherry balanced beautifully with the hit of brandy.

An intimate, unique environment

This is a place for a quiet drink. The house rules emblazoned on the wall state that you must not disturb the other guests, you must enter quietly and leave silently. And there are a host of other rules, all in keeping with the spirit of the speakeasy. It is not a party bar. It’s a place to enjoy a well mixed drink in an intimate, unique environment. The sound of low-level chatter and the jazz music emanating from the speakers fills the space. When you sip your cocktail and take in your surroundings, you are transported back to a simpler time, and it’s wonderful.

A moment of inspiration

This fantastic idea is the brainchild of owner, David Holden. David moved to Folkestone from London, opening The Potting Shed in the spring of 2019. He told us his story, and how the idea came about for the speakeasy.

“My background is in men’s fashion, which I worked in for 25 years,” recalls David. “When I moved to Folkestone, I was still commuting to London to work for a menswear brand. I’d had the idea of opening an interiors shop down here but I knew it wouldn’t make much money. Then, one day I was up in Birmingham doing some training for my menswear job, at a shop called The Liquor Store. The shop is set out over two levels and you go downstairs and it’s all racked out in clothes as you would expect to see in a shop. And then they’ve got three hooks on the wall, where you’d hang your jacket, and you pull the middle hook and a little door opens, and you go through into a speakeasy.”

And that was the moment of inspiration that David was looking for. “I thought, that’s it! That was the lightbulb moment. That can be the second string to the bow.”

The perfect location

When David found the unit that eventually became his shop, he realised that the layout lent itself perfectly to having a secret bar at the back. “It’s quite big at the front, and quite big at the back and then it naturally narrows in the middle. And because I’d already thought of the name for the business, The Potting Shed, I thought – genius idea, I’ll build a shed in the middle of the shop, and that can be the secret entrance through to the cocktail bar!”

The birth of the cocktail

David has never worked in a bar before, so I wondered how he learned to mix such fabulous tasting cocktails. “I wanted to do a proper speakeasy. So I wanted classic cocktails from the prohibition era from 1920 to 1933. I started researching into it all, and it’s fascinating when you delve into it. Alcohol was banned in the states during that time, so people had to bootleg it. They used to make it at home, hence bathtub Gin – that’s where that name came from. And so it tasted disgusting, and they started mixing it with things to take the taste away, hence the birth of the cocktail. I wanted the drinks to be as true to that period of time as I could. I found a mixologist down here, and together we came up with a drinks list of classic cocktails from that period of time. And he taught me, essentially. I’ve got it all in my head now, but there’s so much to learn, it’s ongoing really. It’s about educating your palate to know how the drinks should taste, which takes time.”

And there’s more

And if that wasn’t enough for David, there’s even more to add to the list of creative ideas, with TPS Overnight. “Yeah, we’ve got the overnight, which was a lockdown project. I used to travel to Paris during fashion week. At one of the shows that we used to go to, there was a food wagon outside, and it was one of these old Citroen vans, the corrugated iron ones that you see. I had this idea that it would make a great Airbnb. During the first lockdown, I said to my girlfriend about getting one of these Citroen vans. She said, “Yeah, I don’t really think you ought to spend your money on that!” I said, “oh, well I’ve seen one on eBay, so I’ll just put a like cheeky little bid in, I won’t get it.”

But it turned out David won the van. A friend fitted it out for him whilst he set about landscaping his garden and installing a toilet and shower block. It’s now available for a unique overnight stay. Perfect after a night of cocktails at the speakeasy.

We highly recommend you book a visit to the bar. It’s a unique experience right here in Folkestone, and the cocktails are delicious. To book a table, email David at info@tpsfolkestone.com, or call him on 07967 006 696

Follow The Speakeasy @tps_speakeasy, The Interiors Shop @tpsfolkestone, and The Overnight @tps_overnight on Instagram. And be sure to visit tpsfolkestone.com too.

The post The Hidden Bar In Folkestone That You Need A Password To Enter appeared first on Folkestone Foodies.

Off the beaten track

While the Harbour Arm and Harbourside might be getting all the attention at the moment for its food and drink offerings, if you were to take a stroll along Tontine Street, you might be in for a surprise. Yes, it certainly has a more “downtown” feel to the area, and you would be forgiven for feeling like you should turn back and head instead for the more welcoming cobbled stone of The Old High Street, but for those who persevere, a hidden gem awaits. A little way up the street, you will usually find a couple of tables adorning the pavement, continental style, outside a rather unassuming bar called The Old Buoy.

Belgian culture right here in Folkestone

The Old Buoy is an authentic Belgian Bar, boasting a large selection of Belgian beers and a popular menu of Flemish food. Stepping over the threshold, a few things hit you at once – the cosy, relaxed atmosphere, the understated décor and the delicious smell wafting from the kitchen – and it immediately pulls you in. Mrs FF and I usually start with a firm favourite of ours, a dark draft beer from Antwerp called Bolleke (pronounced bo-lekky – easy to slip up if you’re not careful, especially when you ask for two!), served in the correct glass of course – very important. There is just something about the feel of this place that instantly transports you to the continent, and within the first few mouthfuls, we are already planning a trip to Belgium.

An incredible selection of beers

Next, we peruse the extensive beer menu for something with a little more kick, and we certainly find it. I opt for a bottle of the Westmalle Tripel, the strongest on the menu at 9.5%, described as a world class Trappist beer, amber in colour with notes of banana and clove. Mrs FF favours the Geuze Boon at 7%, a bottle fermented, unfiltered Lambic beer (brewed without yeast), characteristically sour and refreshing. Both are delicious, and dangerously moreish. You can enjoy these beers a little too much, and it takes some restraint for us not to work our way through the entire menu. We do manage to try a couple more however, including a Kriek Boon at a much more restrained 4%, a cherry beer described by the staff as breakfast beer. Now that’s a concept I can get on board with! There are wines and spirits on offer too of course, as many as you would expect a bar of this kind to have, but for us, it’s all about the beers when we visit here.

An authentic Belgian menu

After sinking a good few of Belgium’s finest, it’s the perfect time to order some of that food that smells so good, to soak up some of the alcohol. A quick glance at the blackboards on the wall shows us the entire, beautifully simple menu of six dishes. There is a Croque Monsieur for a mere £5, Spaghetti Bolognese at £8 and Moules Mariniere with Frites at £10. But we both go for the Flemish Beef Stew with Chips and Salad (£13), and are not disappointed. The beef is melt-in-the-mouth tender, served in a rich, flavourful sauce, and is the perfect complement to the beer. Clean plates all round. On previous occasions, the aroma of the mussels has been too much to resist, and we have devoured them. This is a Belgian classic done well, simply the best mussels in town and the most authentic.

The owner, Thierry, is an impeccable host, offering a warm welcome whilst still managing to cook and serve the food, and be on hand to share his extensive knowledge of the beers on offer. 

The Old Buoy is well worth the short walk away from the main bustle for a taste of Belgium, a café bar that could easily have been brought over from the continent brick by brick and reassembled in our little town. But if you do happen to wander up there, try not to shout about it. Let’s keep this place our little secret.

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