Restaurant Review

Okay, so, where candle-lit low lighting meets modern farm-style dining is Kingsley Tavern in Kent, CT. Imagine a restaurant perfect for a romantic first date without being too serious and a family-style grad dinner all at the same time. Super versatile in style, this restaurant falls on Main Street in Kent: a strip lined with cute restaurants, cafes, a local drugstore, boutiques, a tiny nail salon, and essentially all the necessities the wee population of 3,066 people needs to survive.

Servers wear blue jeans and black tees. We showed up right at 4:30 as doors opened and we were immediately welcomed with warm smiles and relaxed “hellos.” In addition to the minimalist drawings on the wall, striped booths, delicate candles, and a table actually big enough to fit all of your food, were the stone walls. Nice touch! Not common in most restaurants and they vamped up the average modern farm look. The music wasn’t too loud and added to the relaxed, upbeat atmosphere. The playlist consisted of mostly instrumentals and a few throwbacks to the ’60s. What else could we ask for?

The evening began with the autumn salad and one of the specials: pozole verde. The apps hit the table relatively quickly. As soon as I bit into the greens, fresh squash, beets, crispy sunchokes, and toasted almonds, I immediately knew this salad was farm-fresh. Turns out I was right. Kingsley gets their produce from Marble Valley Farm in Kent and Dykeman Farm in Pawling, NY. I asked for the goat cheese on the side and they were totally cool with it. My friend across from me reported back that “the pozole verde had spice but it didn’t take over the entire dish, and the hominy was cooked down to the perfect texture.”

Dinner didn’t come out right away which was encouraging. Kingsley clearly isn’t about flipping tables and getting guests out the door as quickly as possible. They value guest memories. Let’s move on to the main event: Jamaican jerk chicken and fish tacos!

The chef used a fresh chicken breast from Hudson Harvest where products from more than 70 local farmers are dispersed from farms in the Hudson Valley. You know how the breast is typically dry? In this case, not even close. This was moist without being rubbery and seasoned with the perfect amount of spices. All the flavors flowed in harmony on this plate—the sweet plantains, cilantro-based rice and beans, mango salsa, and chicken were meant to be!

Moving on to the fish tacos, my friend smiled from across the table as she bit into the fresh corn tortillas, cornmeal-fried catch, cabbage slaw, chipotle aioli, and mango salsa, which all made the perfect taco. Best part? It wasn’t a messy experience!

We couldn’t walk away without grabbing a quick dessert. We went with the apple crisp and Guinness chocolate cake! The apples were cooked perfectly, not at all too mushy. The crisp was oat-based and made things feel a tad bit healthier! Apple crisp just isn’t the same without vanilla ice cream, and Kingsley knows that! The cake was a big chunk of chocolaty goodness and moist without being too wet. Might I add this restaurant has an exceptional assortment of teas to choose from? Round of applause.

Our server explained that he enjoys working here because of the classic “Kent feel.” He explained, “It’s very much small town community. I love the owners and the people I work with. This place also brings in a lot of people from the city.”

For the service, food timing, food quality, and atmosphere Kingsley Tavern gets 5 stars from me. Cheers!

Kingsley Tavern is located at 14 North Main Street in Kent, CT, and they are open Tuesday through Thursday from 4:30pm to 8:30pm, Friday from 4:30pm to 9pm, and Saturday for brunch from 11:30am to 3pm and dinner from 4:30pm to 9pm! To learn more, please visit their website here, give them a call at (860) 592-0261, or send them an email at kingsleytavern@gmail.com.