Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Crawley
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Crawley restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 21 restaurants in Crawley and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Crawley restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Crawley Restaurants
1. Limes Thai Kitchen
Thai restaurant in Lindfield
67 High Street - RH16
“Really impressive and tasty food that’s a cut above usual Thai fare” and “attentive service” win praise for this local Thai, on the high street of a super-cute village. Top Tip – “top delivery” too: “speedy delivery and delicious food; and a good range for vegans too”.
2. Heritage
British, Modern restaurant in Slaugham
The Chequers Inn - RH17
In the “dream location” of this sleepy but charming West Sussex hamlet, Matt Gillan’s “romantic” restaurant-with-rooms “continues to be a strong all-rounder” offering a “very convivial and relaxing experience” (especially if you opt for the “brilliant tasting menus”). Add in “superbly decorated bedrooms” and “breakfast – the icing on the cake”.
3. Gravetye Manor
British, Modern restaurant in East Grinstead
Vowels Lane - RH19
“Truly beautiful and with superb food” – “the gracious room with stunning gardens beyond (including a unique walled kitchen garden) help make for a very special experience” at this “fabulous location” – an Elizabethan country house deep in the Sussex countryside (whose grounds were laid out in the 1880s by its then-owner, a famous landscape gardener). A hotel since 1958, it was relaunched in 2018 with a new “brilliantly architecturally conceived modern dining room” – a “light and airy space” whose “gorgeous views” mean “you actually feel it’s part of the outside”. And – having largely sunk from view in terms of gastronomy – nowadays its “quietly impressive” performance under chef George Blogg is establishing itself as one of the top 10 most commented-on destinations outside the capital in our annual diners’ poll. He “has significantly upped the kitchen’s game, with a three-course menu, perfectly prepared and exquisitely presented, incorporating wonderfully fresh herbs and vegetables” backed up by a heavyweight wine list. Top Tip – stay the night and “breakfast is every bit as good as dinner!”
4. The Cat Inn
British, Modern restaurant in West Hoathly
North Lane - RH19
This “great country pub” – a free house dating from the sixteenth century – benefits from inglenook fireplaces and beams inside and an inviting garden in the summer, and offers some “delicious” grub. It makes an “excellent stop when touring the local gardens”.
5. Interlude
British, Modern restaurant in Lower Beeding
Leonardslee Gardens, Brighton Road - RH13
2022 Review: “The hype is all true!” – “The most extraordinary selection of stunningly presented South African-influenced dishes” inspires a huge thumbs-up for Jean Delport’s cuisine at this “memorable” destination. It is set in “staggering grounds, too” – “sitting in the lovely Leonardslee Gardens, just outside Horsham”.
6. Rose and Crown
International restaurant in Cuckfield
London Road, - RH17
2021 Review: “High-quality ingredients are cooked well and provided by welcoming staff” at this West Sussex gastropub, run for six years by the family team of Mark Dennis, a food-loving former accountant, and his son Simon, a professional chef.
7. The Pass Restaurant, South Lodge Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Lower Beeding
Brighton Road - RH13
This pioneer of the open kitchen concept (launched in 2008) is nowadays in the hands of chef Ben Wilkinson. Despite its renown in foodie circles, it achieved relatively little feedback in our annual diners’ poll, hence we’ve left it unrated. But such reports as we did receive were ecstatic, and the AA have awarded the place an un-scruffy three stars.
8. Ockenden Manor
British, Modern restaurant in Cuckfield
Ockenden Ln - RH17
Chef Steve Crane’s “excellent food” has been a feature of this “delightful” Elizabethan country-house spa-hotel for 23 years. Some reporters see it as very much an “old school, ladies who lunch, white tablecloths” venue – “no fireworks, just a decent meal in a quiet, refined setting”.
9. The Grumpy Mole
British, Modern restaurant in Brockham
Brockham Green - RH3
This “great family pub” – “aka The Inn on the Green, part of the small Grumpy Mole chain” – attracts a fair number of reports and “is a delightful spot overlooking the Surrey countryside”, with a “relaxed atmosphere” and a “tempting menu” that ticks most boxes. “The only issue is that you have to book a long time in advance for Sunday lunch”.
10. Coach And Horses
British, Modern restaurant in Danehill
School Ln - RH17
2021 Review: This “delightful pub with an excellent garden” on the edge of Ashdown Forest wins solid ratings for an inviting menu of locally sourced dishes. A family-run freehouse, it also has a strong list of local beers, wines and ciders.
11. Sorrel
British, Modern restaurant in Dorking
77 South Street - RH4
“Steve Drake is at the top of his game” and “continues to turn out beautifully prepared dishes, visit after visit” according to practically all reports on this much commented-on fixture: a “smart destination suited to a special occasion” in the centre of “lucky Dorking”. There’s “a very high level of professionalism in both kitchen and front-of-house” and the result is “a brilliantly devised, modulated and presented menu” full of “inventive and original flavours”; together with “an excellent choice of wines”. One caveat, though – “check your bank balance before booking!”
12. The Haycutter
British, Modern restaurant in Oxted
Tanhouse Road - RH8
2023 Review: This “lovely” mid-Victorian boozer (believed to be the only ‘Haycutter’ in the country) earns solid ratings for its “good old-fashioned pub grub” and “brilliant” all-round performance. It is now part of the Brunning & Price group.
13. Hurtwood Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Peaslake
Walking Bottom - GU5
2021 Review: “Good Italian food in the Surrey Hills” is to be found in this substantial village pub, now operated by an Italian team that ran restaurants in Guildford for three decades. The bar menu of pizzas and pasta is complemented by a more formal menu in the restaurant.
14. The Griffin Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Fletching
“Family friendly and lively” Sussex pub-with-rooms that was taken over by the national Young’s chain in 2022, after over four decades under the Pullan family. There is the odd grumble about the switch, but most reports remain positive and its “lovely terrace” in particular continues to win approval.
15. The Dining Room, Beaverbrook
Japanese restaurant in Leatherhead
Reigate Road - KT22
“The very, very best of Japanese cuisine” is found in the unlikely setting of a luxurious Surrey Hills mansion once owned by press baron Lord Beaverbrook, where Wojciech Popow, founder of the Polish Association of Sushi Chefs, presides over a “wonderful Japanese tasting menu” that delivers “an unforgettable feast”. Through the summer guests can dine in the heated basket of a stationary hot-air balloon in the formal Italian garden, on prized cuts of o-toro tuna and Kobe and wagyu beef cooked on their own yakiniku grill – a “great and expensive experience” (£245 per person).
16. The Ginger Fox
British, Modern restaurant in Albourne
Muddleswood Road - BN6
With its “beautiful setting nestling under the South Downs” and “inventive, superbly presented dishes,” this “lovely thatched country pub” from Brighton’s Gingerman group is “well worth the trip inland from the coast”. The wine list is strong on local Sussex wines.
17. Kinghams
British, Modern restaurant in Shere
Gomshall Ln - GU5
“Set in a delightful village” in the Surrey Hills, this 17th-century red-brick cottage now houses a “delightful restaurant” where the “mild Moroccan influence on modern British food makes for a superb dining experience” (“I live in London and go specially”). “The staff cannot do enough to make your meal enjoyable – and that includes the charming owner”, Jack Forrest Foster.
18. Fetcham Tandoori
Indian restaurant in Fetcham
248 Cobham Road - KT22
2022 Review: In a village near Leatherhead, this well-established Indian (opened in 1983) – nowadays run by the son of the founder – is strongly applauded by its local fans.
19. Chez Vous
French restaurant in Warlingham
432 Limpsfield Rd - CR6
2022 Review: The French cuisine may not be cutting-edge, but it is both consistent and highly accomplished at this ten-year-old restaurant with rooms in north Surrey. Chef owners Laurent Pacaud and Martin Bradley ran the business as a catering company for ten years before that.
20. Lebnani
Lebanese restaurant in Reigate
11 Church Street - RH2
“A very nice selection of Lebanese fare” helps win an early thumbs-up for this three-year-old venue, which occupies a simple, modern café space in the town centre. In his September 2022 review, The Observer’s Jay Rayner was also a fan: “a small but perfectly judged, perfectly run restaurant with… open kitchen pumping out the smells of good things grilling over charcoal” cooker “with an especially light, fresh touch”.
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