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 Tearooms
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 wicked selection of desserts. There's also a guest piano with which to shatter the tranquil scene if you so wish. St Martin's St is off East St.
reviewed
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F
English's Oyster Bar
An almost 70-year-old institution and celebrity haunt, this Brightonian seafood paradise dishes up everything from Essex oysters to locally caught lobster to Dover sole. It's converted from fishermen's cottages, with echoes of the elegant Edwardian era inside and 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, this refined yet relaxed and convivial restaurant specialises in dishes cooked with seasonal Sussex produce sourced within 35 miles of Brighton beach.
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
Flickering candles and low beams lend this 15th-century restaurant a romantic feel. Locally sourced delicacies include carpaccio of Hampshire venison with mushrooms, and smoked trout with watercress. The two-course lunch and early-evening menu (£16, served 6pm to 7pm) is a steal. Bookings recommended.
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 main street is enduringly popular with locals despite ample competition around town. It serves a changing monthly menu of creative British dishes with Mediterranean touches – from seared Cornnish mackerel to wild rabbit and mushroom linguine, all in a bright, modern space with oak, leather and metal decor. Ingredients are ethically and mostly locally 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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Belgian Cafe
If you've never been to Belgium, you might not know that the national dish there is mussels and chips, Belgian beer can taste of fruit and Tintin hails from Brussels. But you will once you've experienced this popular cafe near the pier.
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 widescreen 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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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
An ever-inventive choice of vegetarian and vegan food keeps locals coming back for seconds and thirds at this place to see and be seen – literally by every passer-by through the huge street-side windows.
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