This guide lists places to eat and drink in Rochester, Chatham, Strood, Gillingham and Rainham, grouped by what you may be looking for. Each entry says what the place serves, where it is and, where InKent holds them, its opening days. Hours change, so every pub carries a reminder to check, and each place’s own website has the current times. The cards below link to each place’s InKent page.
A pub on the water
Two pubs have water views.
- The Boat House, Strood: a pub and restaurant at 8 Canal Road, on the bank of the River Medway facing Rochester Castle and the Cathedral. It serves food every day, with a Sunday carvery and a vegan option, and tables can be booked online. Check before you go.
- The Ship & Trades, Chatham Maritime: a Shepherd Neame pub with rooms on Maritime Way, overlooking a yacht basin in the former Royal Navy dockyard. It opens at 9am every day and serves brunch each morning, pub classics and Sunday roasts. Check before you go.
More pubs
- The Coopers Arms, Rochester: a pub at 10 St Margaret’s Street, with cask ales, a garden and home-cooked food. Food is served at lunchtime on Fridays and Saturdays, and the pub opens at midday every day. Check before you go.
- The Waggon at Hale, Chatham: an independent, family-run pub at 179 Capstone Road. It serves food from breakfast to Sunday lunch, with real ale and wine, and has a beer garden with a children’s play area. It opens at 3pm on Mondays, when no food is served, and in the morning on other days. Check before you go.
- The Prince of Ales, Rainham: a micropub at 121 High Street, a short walk from the station, where CAMRA’s listing describes ales and ciders served by gravity. It is closed on Monday, opens at 6pm on Tuesday and Wednesday and at midday from Thursday to Saturday, and is open from midday to 3pm on Sunday. Check before you go.
- The Rose Inn, Rainham: a community pub at 249 High Street, which its website places at the end of Rainham High Street, with parking at the rear. It serves pub classics, a Sunday roast and Thai dishes on several nights a week, with food from midday until 9pm Monday to Saturday and until 6pm on Sunday. Check before you go.
Breakfast, coffee and cake
- Rochester Coffee Co, Rochester: at 89 High Street, with outside seating that looks across to the cathedral. It serves sandwiches, paninis, bagels, cakes and pastries, and afternoon tea if booked ahead. It opens at 7am on weekdays, 8am on Saturdays and 9am on Sundays, and closes at 6pm every day.
- Fish at 55, Rochester: a seafood and sushi restaurant at 55 High Street. Breakfast is served in the mornings and until 11am at weekends. It opens at 9am, closing at 9pm Monday to Saturday and 7pm on Sunday.
- Café Nucleus Chatham: a daytime cafe inside the Nucleus Arts Centre at 272 High Street, with a garden and outside seating. Its daytime menu runs Monday to Saturday, with afternoon tea from 3pm and a bottomless brunch on Fridays and Saturdays, booked ahead.
- Oasis Cafe, Gillingham: in Britton Farm Mall, just off the High Street. It serves set breakfasts, omelettes, jacket potatoes, roast dinners and a children’s menu, and opens at 7.30am every day.
- Nutmegs Patisserie, Rainham: a cafe at 67b High Street that bakes in-house and serves breakfast, lunch, cakes and afternoon tea. Tables can be booked through its website.
A sit-down dinner
- Cumin Club, Rochester: an Indian restaurant at 188 High Street with a separate vegan menu. It opens for dinner from 5pm to 10.30pm and is closed on Mondays except bank holidays.
- Don Vincenzo, Rochester: an Italian restaurant at 108 to 112 High Street, trading since 1998, with pasta, pizza, meat, fish and vegetarian and vegan dishes. It serves lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday and is open from midday to 8pm on Sundays.
- Kaya Meze Bar, Rochester: Turkish and Mediterranean sharing plates at 106 High Street, with a bottomless brunch on Saturday afternoons. It opens at midday and closes at 10pm, or 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Turkuaz, Strood: a Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant at Medway Valley Leisure Park on Chariot Way, serving mezes and charcoal-grilled mains. It opens at midday every day and closes at 10pm, or 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Tarana, Rainham: an Indian and Punjabi restaurant at 85 High Street, open every evening, with a Tuesday set menu and an unlimited Sunday menu served in a two-hour slot that can start any time from midday. It also has a takeaway menu.
Something local to take home
- Bruce Butchers, Gillingham: a family butcher at 13 Canterbury Street, founded in 1980, selling beef, pork, lamb, poultry, game and pies, with handmade sausages and burgers. It opens at 7am, closes at 4.30pm (1pm on Wednesday) and is closed on Sunday. Gillingham Park is on the same street.
- Copper Rivet Distillery, Chatham: a distillery in Pump House No. 5 on Leviathan Way at Chatham Dockyard, making gin, vodka and whisky. A whisky tasting and tour, a gin tasting and a whisky blending session can be booked, and bottles are sold through its online shop.
For families
Two Medway country parks have cafes. Riverside Country Park in Rainham has a playground and a cafe open 10am to 4pm daily. Capstone Farm Country Park on Capstone Road has play areas and a cafe open 9.30am to 4pm from October to March. Parking is charged at both. For a pub meal with children, The Waggon at Hale has a play area, and Oasis Cafe has a children’s menu.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I get breakfast in the Medway towns?
Rochester Coffee Co opens at 7am on weekdays and Oasis Cafe in Gillingham opens at 7.30am every day. Fish at 55 in Rochester opens at 9am, and The Ship & Trades in Chatham Maritime opens at 9am and serves brunch each morning. Check each website before you go.
Which of these pubs serve food?
The Boat House, The Ship & Trades, The Waggon at Hale and The Rose Inn serve food, and The Coopers Arms serves food at lunchtime on Fridays and Saturdays. Food times differ by day, so check before you go.
Where can I eat with children or a dog?
The Waggon at Hale has a beer garden with a children’s play area and welcomes dogs. Oasis Cafe has a children’s menu. The Boat House welcomes dogs outside and in the bar area, and Café Nucleus Chatham is dog friendly. Check before you go.