A European and Balkan restaurant will open in the place of a former Turkish eatery which shut at short notice.

Family-run Eagle Grill and Bar is set to take over the vacant Gem of Kent unit in Maidstone High Street.

The Middle Eastern restaurant had once been one of the town centre’s most highly-rated, with a score of 4.4/5 on review site TripAdvisor.

One of our food reviewers even gave it a visit in August and raved about its delicious mezzes, which were “well-presented and full of flavour”.

But over the summer, it “temporarily closed”. Various reports suggested they had shut for holidays, and others believed it was undergoing a refurb.

The eatery has not reopened since and no official reason has been given for its closure.

A spokesperson for the new Eagle Grill and Bar taking over the unit said they had bought the premises and began renovations about six months ago.

They said they did not know the reason for the previous owner’s closure.

He said: “We were looking for ages, and then we found this place.

“We’re still doing some work inside – we’ve done everything from scratch. From the kitchen to the ceiling to the floor, basically, everything is new.

“We’re just looking forward to opening.”

An exact date is yet to be revealed, but they hope to welcome customers from the end of next month.