A night out in Goudhurst....

Now I'm feeling a little groggy today after a bit of a late night. No not the sort of late night that my 19 year old son puts himself through. You know what I mean: pre-lash at his mate, Tom's, house, followed by Spoons till 10-30, Fusion till 4am and doner kebab on the way back to another mates house where he's crashing down for what little remains of the night. No not that sort of late night. My younger teenage daughter and her friends were going to a party in, of all places Goudhurst and my wife and I had, in a weak moment, offered to drive her there. So we thought, rather than drive there and back twice we'd spend the evening in Goudhurst or Cranbrook. Last night was a rotten night for driving with the rain lashing down all the way down the busy A21 so I was in a pretty irritable mood when we finally arrived. Dropped daughter and friends off in some quiet country lane at a stranger's house, gulp, and then had four hours to kill before the pick up time. Tried the Peacock, on the main road to Cranbrook, first but felt a little uneasy in there, you know like that scene from American Werewolf in London when the two back packers walk into the pub on the Yorkshire Moors and all the conversation stops whilst the regulars observe them. Well it wasn't quite that bad but getting somewhere close to that. There was no one eating in there even though the menu looked okay. It was a rainy night but that didn't excuse it so we went with our instincts and walked out. On to the Goudhurst Inn which looked very nice and plush indeed. The menu wasn't cheap but looked affordable enough. Posh Beer Battered Fish and Chips and mushy peas on the side for £13.25 that sort of thing. We'd noticed an Italian ristorante, as they say in Naples, on the way through so we asked in the pub about that and the reports were quite glowing so that's where we ended up. We made a mental note to go back to the Goudhurst Inn later for a night cap if we had time. The Italian is called La Zia Maria and it was lovely. Lovely food, even though we only had pizza, lovely friendly service, not over attentive or sucking up to you but just the right balance. It certainly seemed natural to the waiters. The spiciness of mine was a little too much though I have to admit so that'll teach me to go for the Piccante! Should have opted for the Quattro Staggioni probably. The deserts looked fab as well and we tried the tiramisu which was divine and, we were told, home made. The selection of beers, as is nearly always the case in this type of restaurant was a little limited and I can't really say much about the wine as I didn't have any but I'm sure that the list was fairly extensive. It would have been nice to have seen the odd micro brewery, craft bottled beer on the list but maybe that's just asking to much. The waiter even pointed out to me when I tried to leave a tip that we'd already paid a 10% discretionary service charge which was honest of him. Oh and he also brought a small glass of cold milk for me to cool down the mouth after that chilli pizza. All in all I would definitely recommend La Zia Maria and we will definitely return soon. Even the name of the place itself gives you a nice warm feeling. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it in English but it means The Auntie Mary and everyone has one of them don't they? Named after the owner's favourite Great Aunt with an old black and white photo of her given pride of place. We rounded off the evening with that night cap in the, now mostly empty, Goudhurst Inn in the outside covered area by an open fire. Then that drive back to Tonbridge in the rain....