Gurkha Fire team come back for seconds
Plus the final farewell to Chatham's rooftop wine bar, a disappearing Gillingham landmark, and Dickens' writing chalet in trouble
The team behind Gurkha Fire has opened a new restaurant on Chatham High Street, and Steven has been along to find out what's on the menu and why they're investing in the town centre. Elsewhere, the final plans for Mountbatten House's rooftop put an end to our wine bar dreams, Gillingham's gasometer is coming down, Charles Dickens' writing chalet is officially at risk, and we find a rather enormous house on the Hoo Peninsula.
Gurkha Fire team come back for seconds
In our weekly interviews, we regularly ask: “Where do you like to go for dinner in Medway?” The most popular answer by far is Gurkha Fire, the Nepalese restaurant in an old fire station near Chatham railway station. It is excellent, to be fair.
Well, Gurkha Fire could soon have new competition for Medway’s affections, as Canteen opens on Chatham High Street. With more of a street food focus, it has been set up by Harinder Mahill and chefs Keshav and Raju Kandel, the co-founders of... checks notes... Gurkha Fire.
For you, loyal reader, I went to a preview evening to see whether that standard could be maintained across two kitchens. I also spoke to Hari to find out why somebody would open a new restaurant on a high street in this economy.
Canteen feels classy and vibrant as soon as you walk through the door. They have made excellent use of the space, with an open kitchen at the back so you can watch the food being prepared. This is especially exciting when flames appear.
“What we're trying to do with Canteen is similar to what we did in Gurkha Fire, in terms of, if we just make it good, then hopefully it can be a success. It worked once. We're going to see if that was a fluke and whether this will work the second time.”
Hari recognises that regenerating the high street is not easy. Without wanting to sound like he represents local government, he says, “At some level it does require people to believe in an area that you love, and that you live in.”
He acknowledges the difficulty of justifying the investment economically, given the high street’s challenges, but clearly believes it can work. “I remember being around Chatham when it was thriving, and I want to see it like that again.”
One lesson from Gurkha Fire was how much people enjoyed sharing starters and small plates. Canteen builds on that, drawing on street food from India, Nepal and across South Asia, with dishes intended to offer plenty of flavour at a reasonable price.
One item causing particular excitement is the chicken lollipop: “Frenched chicken wings, it looks like they're on a stick, but it's actually the bone.”
“We have a reputation with Gurkha Fire for being bold, and for maintaining our quality, and that's what we're going to be doing with our second venture.”
For the past three months, they have been training the team to maintain standards across both restaurants. “We are taking that financial hit of overstaffing at Gurkha Fire to train people and ensure we don’t see a drop, because now we can move people from Gurkha Fire into Canteen.”
The initial focus is on eating in, with collection also available. Delivery will have to wait until they are confident the food will travel well.
“We're still focusing on making local connections with local suppliers, hiring locally. That doesn't mean family members, it means actually branching out to everyone in the local community.”
If you're after a curry, the Canteen Chicken was creamy, succulent, and full of flavour. If you fancy exploring the street food, and can bear to share, the Canteen Samosas, Jhol Momos and those chicken lollipops are all worth your attention. Gurkha Fire may have found itself a rival, albeit one with a suspiciously familiar team in the kitchen.
Canteen is opposite the former Debenhams at 245A High Street, Chatham, and is open from 10am until 10pm every day, except Sundays when they knock off at 9pm.
Catch Up
This week has been unusually cultural, taking in Greek tragedy, theatre, sandwiches and one local literature festival that keeps finding more things to put on.
Moira Mehaffey is a classics teacher, one of our regular reviewers and, by her own admission, a “notorious fan girl” of Natalie Haynes. Ahead of interviewing Haynes at Medway River Lit, Steven spoke to her about ancient Greece, modern retellings, Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, reviewing theatre for us and the considerable commitment required to attend a Radio 4 recording with a broken foot.
Moira also turns up in our October Culture Review, which this month ranges from Franz & Marie at Charing Cross Theatre to Rochester’s inaugural Pinndarian Society, Nature Connects, the Lion Brewery and the important business of trying to identify Medway’s best sandwich.
And all roads eventually lead back to Medway River Lit, now underway with Natalie Haynes, Ben Aaronovitch, Patience Agbabi, local poets, new writing, and considerably more. We spoke to organisers Sam and Barry Fentiman-Hall about expanding the festival, making it more accessible and the practical difficulty of finding enough places in Medway to put all of this stuff on.
A bit of good news
We've been awarded £43,040 through the government’s Local News Fund.
That’s a lot of money for a small operation like ours. Over six months, it will fund specialist help to reach new readers, grow paid subscriptions, and develop advertising and sponsorship income. It gives us time and expertise to work on things we’ve mostly been fitting around producing everything you read here. There is always another council document.
Our paid supporters make the reporting possible, week after week. This funding will help us find more people willing to join them, and build other income alongside subscriptions. Getting that right means more capacity to follow up on your tips, stick with difficult stories, and give things the time they need.
We know there’s an audience for proper reporting about Medway because you’re already here, reading and supporting it. This is a chance to build on that, so we can cover more of what’s happening in our towns.
No wine, no entry, but some artificial grass
We already knew Chatham’s rooftop wine bar wasn’t coming, but there is something particularly final about seeing what will occupy the space where we were supposed to be drinking.
A new planning application sets out proposals for a residents-only roof terrace on Mountbatten House, the former office block above the Pentagon currently being converted and extended into flats. It will include benches, steel planters, grey paving, aluminium decking, and a small patch of artificial grass. We had hoped to be studying a wine list, but apparently we will have to make do with a materials schedule.
Naturally, the accompanying CGI imagery presents this as an aspirational lifestyle. We always enjoy these glimpses of the people we might become if only somebody supplied the correct decking. Perhaps we, too, could find fulfilment working on our laptops beside a steel planter above the Pentagon.
The rooftop bar and restaurant, along with a glass lift, were dropped as construction costs rose. The latest planning statement also cites structural limits on what the roof can accommodate. Residents will instead use the terrace for 'reading, sitting, enjoying the views.' Perfectly reasonable things to do, although we remain attached to the version involving wine.
The terrace will not be open to the public, so most of us won’t get to do those things either. Consider this the final nail in the coffin of our rooftop drinking ambitions. Presumably in a finish to match the aluminium decking.
In brief
🚌 Arriva has changed its timetables and routes across Medway. Most are fairly small, but larger ones include extending the number 2 to Hempstead Valley, and extending the 191 from the Hoo Peninsula to Medway Hospital.
🏗️ Work has begun to dismantle the gasometer next to the Strand in Gillingham.
🚧 Lower Rainham Road will close for gas improvement works on 16 November and will remain so until the end of the year.
🚂 Eight railway arches and assorted buildings in Strood have sold at auction for £580,000.
✍️ Charles Dickens' writing chalet in Eastgate Gardens has been added to Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register.
Council matters
Meetings next week:
- No meetings of any interest next week.
New planning applications:
- Conversion of former estate agent into church on Chatham High Street.
- Change of use of doctors surgery in Bryant Street, Chatham, into five flats.
Property of the week
If you've ever felt your house could use another kitchen, several additional bedrooms, and somewhere to keep a horse, this detached property on Sharnal Street in High Halstow might be worth a look. On the market for offers over £1.25m, it offers six bedrooms, four reception rooms, two kitchens and more than 5,800 sq ft of living space, all sitting within 1.38 acres of grounds. Inside, there's an impressive double-height living room with exposed brickwork, timber beams and a gallery overlooking the whole thing, alongside several more traditional rooms with substantial fireplaces. Outside, there's a double garage, extensive gardens, a large patio and actual stables. It's all rather magnificent, although we're struggling to imagine what you'd do with quite so much space. The second kitchen alone suggests a level of domestic organisation beyond anything we've ever achieved. Still, if you've got £1.25m going spare and fancy becoming a minor landed aristocrat on the Hoo Peninsula, your opportunity has arrived.
Events this week
🕯️ Sat 7 Nov - Gillingham Park Lantern Walk // Explore Gillingham Park by candlelight in a family-friendly wander around the perimeter. Gillingham Park. Free.
🎬 Sat 7 Nov - The Sound of the Movies // City of Rochester Symphony Orchestra performs film music from Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Shrek, and more. Central Theatre, Chatham. Tickets from £20.
🎸 Thur 12 Nov - Lupen Crook // The songwriter, musician and visual artist returns to Medway for one night only. 12 Degrees, Rochester. Free.
📖 Fri 13 Nov - The Full English // Book signing with award-winning podcaster Lewis Bassett, a chef searching for an answer to the question, 'What is English food?' Store 104, Rochester. Tickets £20.
Footnotes
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