Book A Table
Join us for a truly memorable dining experience in some of Medway’s most spectacular and unusual settings. An experience that celebrates the diversity of our wonderful Kentish & British produce cooked with imagination and passion.
IMPORTANT BOOKING INFORMATION
We have a 15 minute grace period.
We may contact you about this booking, so please ensure your email and phone number are up to date.
DAYTIME DINING TIMES
We operate a table turn policy which ensures we have availability for all our booked guests.
Your table will be booked for 1 hour 20 minutes for parties of up to 4 guests.
We allocate 2 hours for parties of 5 up to 8 guests and 3 hours for parties upto 10 guests.
CAFÉ NUCLEUS ROCHESTER ONLY
The Boardroom is allocated for Afternoon Tea from 2pm daily, should there be space for guests dining on our daytime menu, we may sit your reservation upstairs – otherwise all bookings for interior dining from 2pm daily will be allocated on the ground floor.
TABLE ALLOCATION
While we always do our very best to fulfil our guests’ requests, all tables are allocated on arrival and can’t be guaranteed in advance. We only offer a guarantee of interior dining or Al fresco dining.
Unfortunately we don’t allow guest to choose tables for their interior dining experience, Afternoon Tea in Rochester is sat in the Boardroom daily from 15:30 unless you would prefer a table on the ground floor.
AFTERNOON TEA
We take reservations for Afternoon Tea daily from 15:30, when you book you will be asked for to pay a deposit which will be deducted from your final bill on the date of your visit. If the option for Afternoon Tea does not show at 15:30 onwards, we may be fully booked for your desired slot. All deposits are fully exchangeable with 48hrs notice.
Our Afternoon Teas start from 28pp at Café Nucleus Chatham, 35pp at Café Nucleus Rochester & Rainham and our mini Afternoon Tea is from 14.95pp at the Café Nucleus Lounge.
Please note that we do not accept Buy a Gift or Red Letter Day vouchers.
FINE SOCIAL DINING IN THE BOARDROOM & THE LANGTON DEPOSITS
We take reservations for Fine social dining on Friday & Saturday evenings in the boardroom, when you book you will be asked for to pay a deposit of £15 per guest which will be deducted from your final bill on the date of your visit. All deposits are non-refundable but are fully exchangeable to a future reservation with 48hrs notice.
PARTY DECORATIONS AT YOUR TABLE
We do not allow any party decorations in our café restaurants such as banners, confetti and glitter. Balloons are more than welcome, please call our reservations team who will be delighted to help.
We can organise flowers and balloons for your table with 48 hours notice from our Floristry partners, MaSK Flowers.
ACCESSIBILITY
ROCHESTER
Our Grade II Listed Rochester café is fully accessible on the ground floor (with some restrictions due to the historic nature of the building) but does not contain a lift to reach the upper levels and the Boardroom. Please let us know if you have a pram, require disabled access or need a more accessible table. Due to the historical nature of our Rochester café restaurant,we do not have space at the side of the table for the pram to remain with you, we have a safe area to store your pram during your visit.
RAINHAM
Our café restaurant at The Langton Studios is accessible on the ground floor to guests in Wheelchairs.
When booking if you could inform us you need disabled access and our team (when it arrives) will roll out the ramp and assist on entry into the building. Once in the ground floor we have an accessible toilet available.
CHATHAM
Our garden café restaurant at the Nucleus Arts Centre, 272 High Street is fully accessible, with an accessible toilet within the café. For guests in a sports wheelchair we have alternative accessible toilets available in the B Building which has a wider door than the café.
Our café Lounge in Military Road has limited facilities for guests in a wheelchair, we do have a ramp for guests to use for entry into the café restaurant. The nearest accessible toilet facilities are located in the Pentagon Centre diagonally opposite.
BOOKING SIZE, VOLUNTARY COVER CHARGE, SERVICE CHARGE & YOUNGER GUESTS
You can reserve tables from 2 to 6 guests at our award-winning locations in Chatham & Rochester. At our Rainham café restaurant we can sit 2-10 guests and can host unto 20 guests for Private dining in the Parlour. Please include younger guests in the final booking number, otherwise we may be unable to sit your party. We can’t book a single table larger than six guests at present in Chatham or Rochester. In Rainham we can sit uptown 10 guests on a single table subject to availability. In Rochester, our largest table that seats 6 is in the Boardroom. If there is no availability showing, please contact our reservations team directly as we may be able to assist. 01634 406971 (9:30am-5pm daily)
Larger tables of 5 guests + will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of £5 a head. All deposits are fully exchangeable with 48hrs notice of cancellation.
Due to the historical nature of our Rochester & Rainham café restaurant, we do not have space at the side of the table for the pram to remain with you, we have a safe area to store your pram during your visit.
A voluntary £2 per person cover charge will be applied to guests dining in the boardroom – this is a donation to the Halpern Charitable Foundation for their community outreach programmes in the Medway Towns.
A voluntary £2 per table cover charge is applied to all other tables dining in our gardens and café restaurants. This is donated to the Halpern Charitable Foundation for their community outreach programme.
A 12.5% Service Charge applies for groups of 6+, this is distributed amongst the staff equally with no deductions made by Café Nucleus.
Although we welcome younger guests at all of our café restaurants, we don’t offer a children’s menu. We have limited space for prams and buggies due to the historic nature of some of our buildings.
For Afternoon Tea you will be required to pay a deposit per head, we serve Afternoon Tea from 15:30 onwards, if you can’t see any availability we may be fully booked for your desired slot. We are taking bookings for our Afternoon Tea, Champagne Afternoon Tea and our seasonal Afternoon Teas (Spring, Summer, Winter, Festive).
ARE YOU DOG FRIENDLY ?
Well behaved pooches are welcome between 9:30am until 5pm in our collection of Café Restaurants. In Rochester dogs are welcome on the ground floor in the café bar only after 5pm on Friday and Saturday.
IS THERE A DRESS CODE?
Our dress code is smart casual. Tailored shorts and short sleeved shirts are permitted during fine weather. However in the boardroom at Café Nucleus Rochester, guests are asked to be respectful of the fact that many diners will be dressed for a celebration.
DIETRY REQUIREMENTS
All of our menus are available on our website, but should you have any specific requirements related to an allergy or intolerance, please specify at the time of your booking and we’ll try our best to accommodate your requirements. Our menus are clearly marked with GF for Gluten free available, VE for Vegan, V for Vegetarian and P for Pescatarian.
PARKING
CAFÉ NUCLEUS ROCHESTER
The nearest car park is:
Cathedral Garage Car Park
Rochester Multi-Story Car Park
Esplanade Pay & Display
CAFÉ NUCLEUS CHATHAM (272 High Street)
The nearest car park is:
YourParkingSpace Rhode Street
Rhode Street
James Street
CAFÉ NUCLEUS LOUNGE (13 MILITARY ROAD, CHATHAM)
The nearest car park is:
The Pentagon Centre
The Brook Pentagon
St Johns
CAFÉ NUCLEUS RAINHAM
The nearest car park is:
Rainham Precinct