A welcome addition to the award-winning high street in what is arguably Kent’s prettiest seaside town, this lively French bistro has been delighting locals and visitors since opening its doors in 2016. Owners Benoit Dezecot and Sarah Ross – the eponymous Frog and Scot – are no strangers to running a successful business in this corner of the country, as their popular wine bar and shop Le Pinardier, located a few doors down from Frog and Scot, attests. It seems that the pair has taken the winning elements of their original venture – a warm and friendly atmosphere, casual seating and plenty of organic and biodynamic wines – and added superb cooking to create a restaurant that’s bursting with awards and accolades, not least from us.
The menu, so fresh it can change by the hour if items sell out, is well worth hopping on the fast train from St Pancras for. The lunch menu is adorably split into two, with items on Frog’s menu including French classics such as crab and lime croquette with crab bisque, and slow-braised shoulder of lamb, while Scot’s choices are dishes like pan-fried grey mullet with samphire and tomato, chased with chocolate brownie ice cream. For those on a budget, the ‘dish of the day’ menu offers superb value in the form of one dish (veggie or non-), plus a glass of wine or beer, for a tenner.
Dinner is more involved and relies heavily on bounty from the nearby coast. Rock oysters, scallops and lobster dishes will keep diners hungry for seafood as happy as clams, though alternative starters such as chicken and venison also make an appearance. Mains such as baked halibut with asparagus velouté and wild garlic flowers, and pan-friend skate with brown butter, sherry vinegar and cockles continue the fishy theme, though the prospect of roast saddle of venison with red wine sauce might just tempt fish fanatics to abscond. Desserts, too, are seasonal, but choices currently on the menu include a dreamy warm chocolate and salted caramel tartlet and a zingy lemon tart with raspberry and prosecco sorbet.