Folkestone flies a bit under the radar as a recently spruced-up seaside dining destination. The likes of Deal and Margate get all the attention of the down-from-Londons yet, ironically, the London & Paris hotel and dining room, near the town’s harbour arm, has been a magnet to fops from the capital since at least 1854. Victorians en route to France dined on this quaint corner, then slept over before braving the boat to Boulogne.
A hundred and seventy years later, on entering this rather cool seafood restaurant, there’s a real sense of history in its quaint, wilfully eccentric dining room, boasting bold wallpaper, original tiled floors and mismatched dining chairs, but the design is so clever that even they somehow all complement each other. The owners have restored some parts of the building and kookily revamped others, but the overall effect is of a building that’s definitely loved again.
