Where the oyster crates used to stack.

Forty covers on the ground floor of the warehouse, run by head chef Effie Sanders and a blackboard that changes with the boats. One AA Rosette, no tablecloths, and the shortest food miles in Kent: the beds are two hundred metres from your table.

A tray of rock oysters on crushed ice with mignonette and lemon halves

The kitchen's rules

Caught, not carted.

If it swims on the menu, it landed at Whitstable harbour or came off a day boat between here and Rye. The oysters are Whitstable rocks, graded by hand each morning. When the weather keeps the boats in, the menu shrinks and we say so; what never happens is a lorry from a depot.

Effie came to the sea wall from four years at a two-starred kitchen in Lyon, and it shows in the sauces and refuses to show in the prices.

A sample of the blackboard

This week, roughly.

To start

Whitstable rocks, au naturelshallot vinegar, lemon, brown bread£3.20 each
Dressed Kentish crabwatercress, burnt lemon mayonnaise£14
Smoked sprats on toastfrom the tapping shed next door£9

From the boats

Whole plaice, brown buttercapers, sea beet, chips cooked in beef fat£24
Fish stew of the day's landingrouille, gruyère, grilled sourdough£21
Skate wing, cockle buttermonk's beard, jersey royals£26

To finish

Gypsy tarta Kent institution, unapologetically sweet£8
Local cheeses, oat biscuitsquince from the yard fig tree's neighbour£12

Hours

Wednesday to Saturday, noon to 10pm. Sunday, noon to 5pm. Breakfast for hotel guests daily.

Tables

Book on 01227 771 408 or through the front desk. The counter seats walk-ins, tides permitting.

Provenance

Fish from Whitstable harbour and day boats to Rye. Oysters from the Royal Whitstable beds. Veg from two farms inland at Chartham.