When I was 23 I barely knew my left hand from my right hand. Okay, maybe that’s a little exaggerated, but my point here is that I really didn’t have a whole pile of direction or for that matter, achievements under my belt yet. To say that what Alex Yates has achieved at the tender age of 23 is impressive would be a terrible understatement; he trained at Westminster Kingsway College before spending two years working in the kitchens of the highly-acclaimed Goring Hotel in London, under chef Shay Cooper and learning and honing his craft amongst the precision of Michelin standard cooking. Now, he is proudly the head chef of Bowley’s, situated in the idyllic rural village of Trottiscliffe in Kent.

The Backstory:

Bowley’s at The Plough is a community-owned pub. You might be wondering how that works? So was I. Back in 2017, the pub was sold by Enterprise Inns to a property developer. This meant that the local community would lose one of it’s greatest treasures. Understandably upset by this prospect, the villagers managed to club together and persuade Tonbridge and Malling council to declare the building a community asset.

A campaign was launched, where 120 Trottiscliffe villagers (pronounced Trossley) jointly invested the capital needed to rescue the establishment from property developers, thus giving them the ability to attempt to rescue it. The newly-formed conglomerate managed to buy the pub for the grand sum of £450,000 and then refurbished it to the standard needed to open as a pub and restaurant.

The Review:

Unassumingly situated opposite a row of cottages in a rural village setting, Bowley’s at The Plough is one of those “village gems” that we all dream of living within walking distance of at some stage of our life! The interiors on the restaurant side of the pub are delightfully fresh and paired back whilst the dining room still retains a cosy, familiar pub-like feeling.

I let the staff know about my gluten intolerance, it’s become a great test, to see how adaptable and happy a restaurant is to accommodate me on the spot. My dining companion however is allergen-free so really gets to enjoy the full experience here! We kick the lunch off with parmesan crisp shards, warm homemade focaccia bread and an outrageously divine homemade wild garlic hummus.

There’s an ‘A La Carte’ menu, a fully Vegan menu and a two-course set lunch menu. Opting to go with the ‘A La Carte’ and share a little bit of each other’s starters- we chose the ‘Rabbit, red hill grapes, loin, rack, leg, offal and jus’ and the ‘Smoked Halibut Ceviche with brown crab and pickled cucumber’. It’s rare that I could have chosen any starter on offer, but every dish called my name on this menu. The rabbit dish was cooked exquisitely, and each particular element made for a flavourful, earthy, sweet and aromatic (those red hill grapes…divine) mouthful. It’s so refreshing to see rabbit meat being used. It’s sustainable, lean, healthy, low in cholesterol and has a minimal footprint on the environment- I wish more restaurants included it on the menu. The ‘Smoked Halibut ceviche’ was light, tasty and fragrant. Accompanying brown crab brought an element of sweetness to the dish that it craved and the pickled cucumber then provided the desired sourness and elevated the halibut’s smokey undertones.

Roasted Brill and Crab Smoked Halibut Ravioli Bouillabaisse

Mains again were tricky to choose; we opted for the ‘Spring lamb rack with roasted carrots, lamb neck croquette & mint Sauce’ and the Roasted Guinea Fowl, English Asparagus, violet artichokes and baby leeks. The flavours of the lamb dish were great, but the meat was a touch underdone for our liking; make sure to let them know first if you prefer it cooked more. It’s a personal choice. The ‘Roasted Guinea Fowl’ was adapted to be gluten-free without any further questions (such a relief), and to my utter delight came accompanied with a wild-garlic aioli. The guinea fowl had a perfectly crispy skin and the meat was succulent and tender. If you’ve ever tried to cook this at home you’ll know that it doesn’t take much to mess it up.

Although we were beyond satisfied at this point and rather dreading the journey home on such full stomachs, we indulged further with a dessert to share. ‘Kentish Rhubarb’ & Ginger Gin was the next dish to arrive and it delivered the sour, sharp, punchy, hint of booziness yet palette cleansing refresher we really desired after a moderately heavy meal.

Parting words:

Bowley’s at the Plough is one to watch. If I visited again I would try the tasting menu to experience all of the wonderful dishes I had my eyes on. Maybe I’m greedier than I thought? As I said, it was hard to choose! I believe that since my visit they have introduced this, so my advice is to visit for that. It’s a steal at £75 for five courses or £100 including paired wines. It’s clear that as a team they are championing great, sustainable British produce and using seasonal elements in all the dishes which is what you want to see from a newly established village restaurant, after all, they have some of the best produce in the country on their doorstep. The service needs some refining, but the kitchen operation led by Alex is very slick and impressively refined for such a young bunch. The kitchen team have a mind-blowingly low combined age of just 65 years old, and it’s exciting to think how they’ll develop their crafts under Alex’s obviously instinctive talent.

Opening Hours

Tuesday to Saturday, Lunch midday to 3pm (last orders 2.30pm), Dinner 6.30pm to 10.30pm Sunday Lunch midday to 6pm (last orders 3:30pm)
Bowley’s at The Plough | Taylors Lane | West Malling, Kent, ME19 5DR  @bowleys_at_the_plough

All imagery by Joe Josland Photography