Dev Biswal opens new restaurant in Kent

Renowned chef Dev Biswal has opened the Hannah Dining Suite in Quex Park in Birchington, Kent. Dev was recently appointed a director of Quex, with a brief to transform its catering operations.

Located in the former catering hall attached to the internationally famous Cotton-Powell Museum in Quex House, The Hannah Dining Suite provides a stylish venue for lunch and afternoon tea through the summer season and an à la carte dinner menu. There is a carvery on Sundays, with plans to introduce spit roasts.

The restaurant is also popular with weddings on Fridays and Saturdays (Quex is licensed for civil ceremonies) and the entire grounds are licensed to serve alcohol.

It was Dev’s decision to rename the hall after the wife of Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton, the Victorian explorer, collector and conservationist, who made expeditions to India and Africa, gathering zoological specimens and anthropological artifacts.

The museum provides a unique location for functions, with drinks amongst African wildlife, followed by a sumptuous banquet in the restaurant or in a marquee in the manicured gardens.

Biswal initiated a refurbishment, to create a warmer more welcoming atmosphere, and has recruited a new team led by head chef Patrick Beach, who previously worked at the AA Rosetted Dunkerley’s in Deal. Together Biswal and Beach have created an ‘Around Britain’ gastronomic tour with traditional English dishes that have been given a fine dining twist.

Starters include – a vegetable broth based on a classic Scottish recipe, uses Kentish vegetables, Welsh Rabbit, Cullen skink, and a Kentish mackerel with gooseberries. The pigeon and blueberry salad uses locally shot birds. There is a ‘cheeky twist’ on the roast dinner. Main courses include steak and kidney pudding, Irish stew, and ‘posh’ fish and chips. There is even a vegetarian take on a classic Scottish dish – watercress and chestnut haggis. Desserts include northern ginger parkin, the elegant old English burnt cream, rice pudding and a selection of English cheeses

Fresh ingredients are sourced locally, with the beef, lamb, vegetables and even cold pressed extra virgin rapeseed and sunflower oils coming from Quex Estate’s own farms.

The Hanna Dining Suite is open 7 days a week from noon to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm.

The Hannah Dining Suite, Quex Park, Park Lane, Birchington, Kent CT7 0BH.

For more information, visit: quexpark.co.uk