Are these your top ten restaurants in Whitstable?

Love 'em or loathe them, comparison websites have their uses, whether it's to check out insurance quotes, bank interest rates, or hotels.

I usually take a (slightly sceptical) look at tripadvisor.co.uk when planning to stay somewhere new so, when asked by our commercial department to produce a feature on restaurants, I thought I'd enter 'Whitstable' in the search box and see what came out.

This survey of eateries is best taken with a pinch of salt for several reasons: different people have different expectations for the price, reviews are often based only on a one-off experience, and I suppose if you're a really keen restaurateur you could get all your friends and relations to submit positive comments....

Anyway, when I did this exercise last week it was interesting to see that the usual popular Whitstable venues were in fact in the Top 10 of 56 listed establishments, indicating that most people recognise a good thing when they taste it.

• Take note that, on a live review website, the rating of restaurants shuffles around from day to day. There have already been some slight changes - but having now taken the photos, I'm sticking with what was dished up on my sample site visit last week.

Number one was - perhaps suprisingly - Samphire, which has neither a famous name in the kitchen nor any Michelin stars to boast of. This is an all-day establishment, opening at 10am for a brunch of which I have heard good things. Being an economical gal, I personally like their cheap early evening deal, especially the fish pie.

At number 2 was Krishna, the Indian restaurant near Whitstable Station. To the casual diner the building looks rather uninviting, but in fact the kitchen has a tremendous reputation locally for producing Indian meals out of the ordinary.

Third favourite with trip advisor contributors was - perhaps inevitably in the top three - gastropub The Sportsman at Seasalter. This place serves up the pricier end of restaurant bills in Whitstable, and gets a lot of national press mentions which must be hard to consistently live up to. I've yet to eat here myself, because I'm never organised enough to book much in advance, but people do tell me it's a gourmet's dream.

Hard on its heels - and a venue even harder to get into - was Wheeler's Oyster Bar with fourth-best ratings. Only four tables in this quirky little pink gem, and people travel miles to squeeze inside. "Divine" was the latest reviewer's description.

Jojo's at Tankerton came next in the pecking order, and pecking is a good description of eating out here as mezes are the speciality. You order a few dishes to share, and top them up if you're still hungry. It's casual dining with a bit of theatre, as the kitchen is open and busy. A cafe with a sea view garden and good coffee is a big plus.

Bistro-style Birdie's which came in at number 6 has a loyal local following. It has menus chalked up, and a regular deal for two or three courses.

Salt Marsh (7) doesn't even have a chalked menu - whoever's working front of house will sit down with you and talk you through the choices, which vary according to what's been bought in. More like going to eat with friends than a posh night out, but the cooking is professional.

The Long Reach Beefeater (8) is probably used more by visitors to the area than locals, being right next to the Premier Travel Inn. None of the contributors to tripadvisor have a bad thing to say about it. I guess with a chain like this, you know exactly what you're going to get and it sounds like this branch delivers the goods.

Tudor Tea Rooms came up next. Although there are only three reviews - maybe because this is a daytime restaurant only and people usually categorise it as a cafe - they are all so positive that the Tudor scores highly among the long list of restaurants.

At 10 last week - no mean feat in this company - was Pearson's, now run by TV chef Richard Phillips. Reviews on tripadvisor and indeed here on our own whitstablepeople directory are extremely mixed, which is a puzzle. How can experiences be so varied? One person's 'extortionate' is another's 'great value for money'...a Whitstable mystery waiting to be solved.

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