hollow · folkestone — the slate by the door
Tonight · Wed 19 Aug 2026
Eighteen seats. One sitting, 19:00. £95 — no supplements.
Eight courses of Kent coast produce, written monthly and cooked once a night, Wednesday to Saturday, by Folkestone harbour. Nothing is added to the bill: no service charge, no small print.
- seats a night
- 18
- service
- Wed–Sat · seated 19:00
- next list opens
- Tue 01 Sep · 09:00
folkestone harbour · dawn · sea fret
Four figures, no small print
Written for July. Gone — cooked, cleared, struck through.
Written for August.
-
01
Rock oyster
aug · whitstable bay · raw, iced elderflower vinegar from the crock
-
02
Mackerel
aug · off the harbour arm · hour-cured in gooseberry brine
-
03
Brown crab
aug · pots off copt point · brown meat warm, white meat cold
-
04
Slip sole
aug · hythe bay · grilled over embers
-
05
Sweetcorn
aug · romney marsh · grilled, koji butter
-
06
Gurnard
aug · dover strait · roasted on the bone, fermented tomato broth
-
07
Greengage
aug · brogdale orchards · poached, cold cream, leaf oil
-
08
Victoria plum
salted aug 2025 · kent orchards · warm brown-butter cake
Bread is baked for the sitting and arrives when it is ready. £95 a head, published — with wine pairing by the glass, or a non-alcoholic pairing built from the same crocks. Dietary requirements and allergies are taken at booking, not on the night: the list is rewritten for you before you arrive.
The water and the crock keep the books.
“Kent coast produce” is not a phrase here; it is bookkeeping. The left page is what the boats landed at Folkestone harbour this week. The right page is what went into the crocks, and when. Both are kept in marker, both are dated, and the list is written from nothing else.
The water
-
17.08
Slip sole — Hythe Bay day boat
On the list within two tides.
-
18.08
Brown crab — pots hauled off Copt Point
Dressed the same afternoon; nothing frozen.
-
19.08
Mackerel — morning tide, off the harbour arm
Cured by noon in last summer's gooseberry brine.
-
19.08
Gurnard — Dover Strait
Roasted on the bone for tonight's sixth course.
The crock
-
09.06
Gooseberries — 2% brine, sealed
Opens in November: June, held for a dark Tuesday.
-
02.07
Green strawberries — pickled whole
Sharpness for the crab by late August.
-
01.08
Tomato water — left to ferment
Feeds the gurnard's broth from mid-month.
-
15.08
Elderberries — salted like capers
Ready for October's list.
None of this is thrift, and none of it is theatre. A jar dated June and opened in November is how the Kent coast stays on the table after the boats thin out — and why the list can change every month without reaching for anything that didn't land or grow here.
the counter · mid-service · tungsten
notice · the room · wed–sat
One room. One sitting. No table turned.
Doors open at 18:30. Everyone is seated by 19:00, and the kitchen cooks one menu, once, for eighteen chairs at one counter. Because the night is never sold twice, nothing leaves the pass before it is ready.
Four of the eighteen seats face the kitchen — ask for them at booking. The whole room can be taken as one table of eighteen; the menu and the price do not change.
18 chairs · 1 counter · 4 at the pass · 0 second seatings
taken down as said · dated like everything else on the slate
Said at the counter.
“They told us which boat the sole came off, and what the crock under the counter was doing.”
“Ninety-five, and the bill said ninety-five. I checked it twice at the counter.”
“We watched them open a jar dated June and spoon it over the gurnard. That was the evening, really.”
“Nobody asked if we were celebrating. We were fed, told the truth about everything on the plate, and sent home by eleven.”
4.8 / 5 across 62 Google reviews. The slate stands either way.
notice · bookings · posted 01.08.2026hollow · folkestone
How the first works.
-
01
The whole month releases at once — every date, every seat, at 09:00 on the first.
-
02
Eighteen seats a night, one sitting at 19:00, Wednesday to Saturday.
-
03
When a date is gone, the slate says gone. No waitlist — the next first is never far away.
next release — September’s list Tue 01 Sep · 09:00
august released sat 01 aug · 09:00
Dietary requirements and allergies are taken at booking, not on the night.
£95 is the whole of it: no supplements, and no service charge added to any bill.
Find the door.
From the Harbour Arm, walk up from the water and look for the tar-black door with the slate beside it — when the fret is in, the lit window finds you first.
- Wed18:30–23:00
- Thu18:30–23:00
- Fri18:30–23:30
- Sat18:30–23:30
- Sun–Tueclosed — the crocks are worked
one sitting · seated 19:00 · 18 chairs
Anything the slate hasn't answered is taken at booking — dietary requirements included. Read how the first works.
