Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Rye
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Rye restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 23 restaurants in Rye and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Rye restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Rye Restaurants
1. The Crown Hastings
British, Modern restaurant in Hastings
64 - 66 All Saints Street - TN34
“A tasty range of dishes” made from “simple ingredients treated with respect and creativity” is the recipe for happy dining at this “busy” and well commented-on pub in Hastings Old Town. Tess & Andrew Swan celebrate 10 years as owners this year, having created “a very pleasant environment” – they’re “really trying to push things, and succeeding”.
2. The Garden Room Restaurant & Bar
British, Modern restaurant in Hythe
Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve, Aldington Road - CT21
The Garden Room Restaurant & Bar is nestled within 15 acres of landscaped gardens at the historic Port Lympne Hotel, and surrounded by 600 acres of wilderness, dotted with some of the world’s most rare and endangered animals.Originally the stable yar...
3. Mermaid
British, Modern restaurant in Rye
Mermaid St - TN31
The “historic location” (a 600-year-old building with mullioned windows and many a beam) certainly adds to the charms of this old smugglers’ inn – “a little old-school, but that’s all part of the experience”. It’s been under the same owners for three decades, and while it’s not the main draw, the “lovely food” also has its fans.
4. Webbe's at The Fish Cafe
Fish & seafood restaurant in Rye
17 Tower Street - TN31
“If you like fish, come here” – chorus the many fans of Paul Webbe’s “reliable” spot, which serves some of “the freshest seafood ever” at “good VFM” prices – such as a “stonking portion of sprats with super-light batter for under a fiver” and “scallops which melt in the mouth”. “Acoustic panels have been fitted to the ceiling to absorb noise” but the setting can still appear a little bare.
5. Landgate Bistro
British, Modern restaurant in Rye
5 - 6 Landgate - TN31
This “really lovely small restaurant”, housed in interlinked Georgian shops, has “been excellent for years” owing to its “short, interesting menu” of locally sourced British food (some foraged) and its “charming and efficient service” too.
6. The Globe Inn Marsh
British, Modern restaurant in Rye
10 Military Road - TN31
2023 Review: “If only every pub was like this!” – “a quirky place” a short walk from the town centre which makes the most of its olde-worlde decor. The food is “competent and innovative”, and there’s a “good range of drinks”.
7. The Gallivant
British, Modern restaurant in Camber
New Lydd Rd - TN31
“You wonder what’s in store when you driving up to The Gallivant” – built in the 1960s as a beachfront motel by Camber Sands – but “you enter an oasis of calm, with a light and airy restaurant” serving “outstanding and interesting food” from MasterChef contestant Nico Fitzgerald. The venue operates as a wellness retreat, whose “friendly and knowledgeable team” provide a “truly relaxed environment”.
8. Tillingham
British, Modern restaurant in Peasmarsh
Dew Farm, Dew Lane - TN31
On a 70-acre estate with views to Rye and the Romney salt marshes, Gusbourne CEO Ben Walgate’s farmhouse winery-with-rooms (and tents in the grounds if preferred) enjoys a “superb setting” and “the space itself is fabulous”. New chef Brendan Eades worked at zero-waste pioneer Silo, so a field-to-fork ethos prevails (already winning them a Green Michelin star); despite limited opening hours (lunch Fri-Sun, a 6-course tasting menu by night) it garners a large volume of positive reports – as does the “perfectly good” sourdough pizzeria in the barn opposite.
9. The Wild Mushroom
British, Modern restaurant in Westfield
Woodgate House, Westfield Lane - TN35
This “pleasantly traditional and old-fashioned restaurant” “has been a favourite for years” – and is these days “serving a more modern style of food” without losing any of its attractions. It was chef-patron Paul Webbe’s first opening more than 25 years ago, and has been followed by his fish specialist venues in Hastings and Rye.
10. Rock a Nore Kitchen
British, Modern restaurant in Hastings
23a Rock-A-Nore Rd - TN34
This “tiny converted fisherman’s hut by the harbour” serves “amazing fish, straight off the beach-launched day boats, so it couldn’t be fresher”. “Exceptional cooking” is backed up by a “delightful owner”, “brilliant service” and a “very good wine list”. Not surprisingly, it’s “essential to book”.
11. Webbe's Rock-a-Nore
Fish & seafood restaurant in Hastings
1 Rock-a-Nore Road - TN34
East Sussex luminary (and foraging pioneer) Paul Webbe’s Old Town venture (est. 2009) offers “a good selection of mainly seafood to reflect its position on the seafront (but also meat and veggie dishes for those who need them)”. “Friendly service and a reasonable atmosphere” contribute to its continuing success.
12. Maggie's
Fish & chips restaurant in Hastings
Rock-a-Nore Road - TN34
This family-run chippy in a wooden shack right on the town’s fishermen’s beach is now in its third decade, and wins plaudits for its “excellent fresh seafood”, straight off the boat. “Friendly staff” and “generous portions” make it a “great location for a family seaside lunch” – although it’s at its “best when not too busy”. “Booking is highly recommended – you may have to wait for a dull midweek in the ‘off’ season to get a walk-in table!”
13. The Royal
British, Modern restaurant in St Leonards-on-Sea
1 Saint Johns Road - TN37
This “beautifully presented pub” – a run-down 1860s hotel until a renovation five years ago – offers “great service” and a “hearty menu with generous portions”. “The choice of dishes at lunch seems more limited in recent months” – “sign of the times?”
14. Three Faces of Del Parc
Spanish restaurant in St Leonards-on-Sea
1 Western Road - TN37
2022 Review: Owners Alan McNally and Steve Morrish (who have collectively worked in some of London's trendier spots: Crispin, Leroy, Lyle’s and The Clove Club) run this tapas, eatery and deli with the aim of creating a “Balearic vibe”. No feedback as yet, but on paper it looks well worth a try.
15. St Clement’s
British, Modern restaurant in St Leonards-on-Sea
3 Mercatoria - TN38
“On top form” since the pandemic, this low-key spot in a townhouse away from the seafront, founded by former Le Caprice chef Nick Hales almost 20 years ago, does not generate a huge volume of feedback in our annual survey, but what we do receive is uniformly positive. The menu favours locally caught fish and seafood.
16. The West House Restaurant with Rooms
British, Modern restaurant in Biddenden
28 High St - TN27
Former rock drummer Graham Garrett’s quirky 16th century restaurant-with-rooms in a “lovely village” in the Kent Weald has been beating off the competition since back in 2002. The set menus showcase some “very good cooking” based on “top-quality ingredients” – and while “just a few tables can mean there is a certain formality to it all”, it’s “none the worse for that”.
17. The Three Chimneys
British, Modern restaurant in Biddenden
Hareplain Rd - TN27
This “delightful country pub” has a characterful fifteenth-century setting and five modern bedrooms in a converted nuttery above the gardens; it won praise this year for its “interesting and well-executed” locally sourced cuisine – served across five different dining areas – and even one reporter who had an off-visit rated it “very good”.
18. The Milk House
British Modern restaurant in Cranbrook
The Street - TN17
2023 Review: This former coaching inn “offers a good range of well-cooked dishes in its small dining room” – “pre-booking is advisable as it’s close to Sissinghurst Castle and Gardens”. In the summer, “a pop-up pizza hut is open in the garden for a more casual dining experience”.
19. Tatner's Street Kitchen
International restaurant in Rye
24 Wish Street - TN31
2023 Review: “The most intensely tasty, well executed and imaginative street food outside of Shoreditch”, say fans of this new permanent home for a popular food truck familiar to visitors to Camber Sands: “great service and reasonable prices complete one of the best places for proper eats in this gorgeous little gem of a town”. Top Menu Tip – “the chilli brisket or buttermilk chicken burger with maple bacon and satay mayo will transport you into raptures to say nothing of the spicy chips with scotch bonnet jam that always remain crispy no matter the additions piled on!”.
20. The Cove
British, Modern restaurant in Fairlight
53 Waites Lane - TN35
Opened on April Fool’s Day 2022, but set on a site which has seen many incarnations (it was converted into a hotel from a cowshed back in the 1920s), this “wonderful” new arrival from husband-and-wife team Olivia and Henry is already a local hit. Chef Nick Hales oversees the “unfussy and well-executed” menu – “defo more restaurant than pub” in quality – with the “catch of the day supplied by a local fishmonger” and greens grown 400 yards away. Bonus points for the staff (“nothing was too much trouble”).
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