For a market town of barely twenty thousand people, Faversham eats remarkably well. It helps that this is, at heart, a food town: surrounded by the orchards and hop gardens of north Kent, sitting beside a creek that once landed catches and cargoes, and home to one of the oldest markets in the country. That larder is right on the doorstep, and the best kitchens here lean into it, building menus around Kentish fruit and vegetables, local meat, and fish from the nearby coast.

The obvious starting point is Macknade, the food hall on the edge of town that began life as a Kentish farm back in 1847 and is now one of the best-known independent food destinations in the county. Beyond the deli counters, butchery and cheese room, it runs a cafe and a street-food village that hosts live music, so you can graze your way through several cuisines in an afternoon or sit down to a proper plate of seasonal cooking. It captures something true about the town: eating out here is as much about provenance and atmosphere as it is about white-tablecloth formality.

That said, Faversham has long punched above its weight for serious cooking too. On Abbey Street, regularly described as one of the finest medieval streets in the south east, the Phoenix Tavern has earned AA Rosette recognition for food that goes well beyond standard pub fare, served in a cosy, timber-framed setting close to the Creek. Across the town you will find that mix repeated: historic inns where the kitchen has real ambition, sitting alongside relaxed bistros and family-run independents.

Preston Street is the engine room of the everyday dining scene. This long parade of independent shops and eateries, dozens of them, offers an unusually broad sweep for a town this size, from all-day cafes doing generous brunches to international kitchens and small restaurants where the owner is often the one cooking. Because chains are almost entirely absent, the character changes from door to door rather than blurring into the familiar. Wander it slowly and you will turn up everything from Italian and Indian to modern British plates.

The creekside adds another dimension. A stroll out past Abbey Street to Standard Quay, with its ancient warehouses, antique sheds and moored Thames sailing barges, brings you to relaxed spots where you can eat with the tide and the boats for company. It is one of the most atmospheric places to sit down in the whole of north Kent, and a world away from a generic high-street meal.

Timing pays off. Market days, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, bring the centre to life and many kitchens build specials around what is freshest, while the first weekend of September sees the streets given over to the Hop Festival, when food stalls and pop-ups join the music and the beer. Sunday lunch is a particular strength, with the town's many historic pubs turning out roasts built on local meat and proper trimmings.

What you will not find much of is sameness. Faversham's restaurants reflect the independent, slightly contrary spirit of the place, where success is measured by regulars rather than footfall from a motorway junction. Book ahead for the better-known names at weekends, come hungry on a market day, and use the listings below to plan a meal that makes the most of one of Kent's genuinely great food towns.