Restaurants in Southeast England
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A
Nasza
This friendly Polish eatery called ‘Our’ serves some of our favourite comfort food, including pierogi (dumplings stuffed with meat or cheese and potatoes), bigos, a ‘hunter’s stew’ of cabbage and pork, and golabki (stuffed cabbage).
reviewed
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B
Seven Dials
Housed in an imposing former bank, this formal and crisply set-out restaurant is praised for excellent seasonal fish dishes. It's almost a mile from the seafront but worth the walk or taxi fare for a special occasion or well-deserved splurge.
reviewed
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C
Lemon Sole
At Lemon Sole you get to pick your own piece of fish at a counter then choose how you want it cooked. Try the seafood chowder, devilled mackerel or stunning shellfish platters (£45 for two). It's all tucked away in a lemon-yellow interior with a whole wall full of wine bottles at the end.
reviewed
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D
Pokeno Pies
Bang goes the greasy image of the great British pie shop: this is guilt-free comfort food at its best. The slick glass-fronted café-takeaway has cornered the local market in affordable and surprisingly healthy gourmet pies. There are over a dozen fillings, from richly flavoured Mediterranean lamb to Moroccan aubergine and feta.
reviewed
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E
St Martin's Tea Rooms
A little cocoon of nooks and crannies tucked away in a part-18th-century, part-medieval town house, this passionately organic cafe serves freshly ground coffee, wholesome, mostly vegetarian, food and a sinful selection of desserts. There's also a guest piano with which to shatter the tranquil scene if you so wish.
reviewed
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F
English's Oyster Bar
A 60-year institution, this Brightonian seafood paradise dishes up everything from oysters to traditional scampi to lavish lobster thermidor. It's converted from fishermen's cottages, with echoes of the elegant Edwardian era inside and buzzing alfresco dining on the pedestrian square outside.
reviewed
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G
Riddle & Fins
We’re told that Gordon Ramsay called the fare served in this elegant oyster bar hidden in The Lanes ‘seafood as it should be’. We don’t care about that, but we’ll come back for our favourite bivalves (from £10 a half-dozen) and more bubbly.
reviewed
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Due South
Sheltered under a cavernous Victorian arch on the seafront with a curvaceous front window and small bamboo-screened terrace on the promenade, this refined yet relaxed restaurant specialises in dishes cooked with local, environmentally sustainable and seasonal ingredients.
reviewed
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I
Blake's of Dover
This snug but stylish English restaurant has an intimate cellar bar with fine wines, malt whiskies and microbrewed ales, or you can stay above ground for the sophisticated wood-panelled restaurant, serving locally caught fish dishes on candlelit tables.
reviewed
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J
Loch Fyne Restaurant
Winchester's branch of this quality seafood and fish chain is housed in a stunning Tudor jailhouse, full of twisted beams, wooden galleries and beautiful fireplaces. Depending on which section you're in, the atmosphere can be both lively and romantic.
reviewed
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K
Dino's
Over a hundred bottles hang from the ceiling - their corks forming an arch and decorating the front desk - of this wonderfully authentic family-run Italian restaurant. What it lacks in natural light, it makes up for with delicious freshly made pasta.
reviewed
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Chesil Rectory
Duck through the hobbit-sized door, settle down amid the 15th-century beams and savour perfectly prepared modern British cuisine, cooked up by the former head chef at Fortnum & Mason. New Forest rabbit, seared scallops, truffles and local watercress all feature on an assured menu. The 2-course evening menu (served 6pm to 7pm) is a snip at £15.
reviewed
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M
Agora Restaurant
This familial little Turkish hookah bar is tucked into an old beamed building and serves up tasty Greek and Turkish food, washed down with Ouzo and Raki. It's a favourite place to take the kids, and there's a children's menu at the ready.
reviewed
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N
Green Room
When only a comfy couch and a strong dose of caffeine will do, this funky coffee shop offers both in abundance. Contemporary design and a mellow modern soundtrack preserve the serene atmosphere even when busy, which it almost always is.
reviewed
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O
Woodies Wine Bar & Brasserie
This classy but relaxed, lively but romantic restaurant has a darkly beamed front and a rustic-chic conservatory dotted with citrus trees and entwined with grapevines and fairy lights at the back. It serves quality Mediterranean food.
reviewed
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Lussmanns Eatery
This bright, modern restaurant just off the High St is enduringly popular with locals despite ample competition around town. It serves a menu of mainly Mediterranean dishes, all in a bright, modern space with oak, leather and metal decor. Ingredients are ethically sourced with plenty of information on the menu about where your food has come from. Book ahead.
reviewed
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P
Wai Kika Moo Kau
Say its daft name fast and you'll get a clue to the ethos of this primarily veggie-vegan café. It spills onto the pedestrian street outside so you can sip your soyachino or tuck into meat-free specials as the shoppers pass by.
reviewed
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Café Belge
A fabulous position near the pier with large windows facing the seafront, a ridiculous choice of seafood dishes with an emphasis on mussels, and three-score choices of Belgian beer make this a hard restaurant to resist.
reviewed
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Q
Waffle House
Everything in this Saxon-era low-beamed snug comes with a Belgian waffle made with organic flour. Choose from savoury delights such as ham, cheese and mushroom, or satisfy your sweet tooth with a banoffee waffle. Yummy.
reviewed
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R
Fish Café
A contemporary renovation of an old antiques warehouse, furnished in calm shades with chocolate high-back chairs, this restaurant focuses on its modern local fish and seafood dishes, cooked simply but to perfection.
reviewed
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S
Al Fresco
Housed in a curved-glass structure with a huge, staggered outdoor terrace, the show-stopping feature here is the wide-screen vistas out across the Channel and along the seafront. The pizzas, pastas and Italian meat dishes make a tasty accompaniment to the views.
reviewed
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T
La Capannina
Many people say this is the best homestyle Italian restaurant in Brighton and we tend to agree. Pizzas (£5.75 to £8.80) are baked in a wood-burning stove and the gnocchi and raviolis are made in-house.
reviewed
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U
White Vine House
Fine dining in a fine setting can be had at this elegant vine-covered Tudor building, with an exquisitely painted dining room and a reputation for cooking the freshest local produce. It also has pristine rooms.
reviewed
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V
Food for Friends
This airy, glass-sided restaurant attracts the attention of passers-by as much as it does the loyalty of its customers with an ever-inventive choice of vegetarian and vegan food. Children are also catered to.
reviewed
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Fleur de Provence
For a glimpse of Southend's sophisticated side head away from the seafront to this chic Continental restaurant behind frosted-glass façade, with pastel blush walls, blonde-wood floors and romantic ambience.
reviewed
