Dressed salmon at Sankeys fish restaurant in Tunbridge Wells

Thank you to Sankeys, a wonderful fish restaurant just up the road, for providing the centrepiece to my garden party last Sunday. Originally I ordered the dressed salmon, but happened to go to a business networking event at the wine bar and fish restaurant a couple of days beforehand and noticed that the dressed salmon had a head on it and quite a fierce expression on its face, and a large prawn between its jaws! I decided that I and my fainthearted friends would prefer to opt for the dressed fillet option, with no head and no bits to upset us. Hypocritical I know!!

Evening meals are available for guests at The Lancers B&B in Tunbridge Wells with a little bit of notice. Hopefully this image gives you an idea of the quality and standard of the fare provided.

The Himalayan Gurkha

Joanna Lumley would love the Himalayan Gurkha, which is just over the road from us at the B&B in Tunbridge Wells. For one thing, the food is Himalayan and for another it is staffed by Gurkhas (not European au pairs looking for an extra income) and even has an 'officers' mess' on the first floor where you can dine when there's an overflow (i.e. on a Saturday night!). Actually the officers' mess is at least as nice or nicer than the restaurant on the ground floor, particularly since it has fairy lights and cute views over Church Road.

The food at the Gurkha is freshly made, very tasty but reasonably priced. I am mega fussy about 'freezer food' and 'microwaved food' and if any of this goes on at the Gurkha, then you would never know from the flavours of your dishes. I suspect it doesn't, and that they really do take each dish from square one. As one is supposed to!

If you go at lunchtime there is a £9 p.p. menu which is amazing. Too, too much for us to manage. There is a starter each; and we chose a beautifully fragrant, coriandery potato dish in a tomato, lightly spiced sauce, and the other one was deep fried onion bhajee, with an orange, mango-like dippable dip. Delicious! Actually enough for me. Was quite happy to go home well satiated at this point!

My heart sank a little when the mains came along because they looked so delicious and wimpy as it might sound, those starters were enough for me, and my appetite was at half mast.

Wow. We were permitted, on the £9 lunch deal, two mains and one side. As we don't eat meat and prawns are excluded from this deal, we chose:
Tareka dhal
Sag aloo
Curried veg

Which came accompanied by a sweet naan (delicious!!) and a perfectly serviceable plain rice (all light and fluffy).

This cost £9 each. What a deal!!

You can see the Himalayan Gurkha's website here, and stay with us overnight if you wish when you visit at The Lancers.

The Lancers featured in InsideKENT

We've got some great editorial in issue no. 6 of the glossy magazine InsideKENT. The journalist found her image of B&Bs to be proved outdated and really enjoyed her stay at The Lancers Bed & Breakfast, the former home of Dr Who actor Tom Baker. "This wonderful experience is starting to banish my image of an old-fashioned, chintzy establishment run by a harridan," she wrote. "I think I need to update my attitude!"

Dunorlan Park

Dunorlan Park is one of the prettiest places to go on a sunny day in Tunbridge Wells, and what's more, it's an easy walk from the centre of town and there's a cafe where you can get light snacks and refreshments, a great big lake with boats, and a visitor centre.

It took us 40 minutes to get to the seat on the north side of the lake where we sat down from The Lancers, and that was at an easy stroll. Another 20 minutes back max.

The geese are fat, rounded and healthy and appreciate a bit of bread. There's a boating lake where you can take out pedalos, canoes or traditional rowing boats. It's a very pretty place with a rather posh fountain and a white doric temple.

Nice park areas like this often charge their visitors quite considerably for an afternoon but this one is completely free of charge .. at the moment. Long may that continue!