Cuckfield, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“A lovely setting overlooking the gardens towards the South Downs” helps set up a “top-class experience” at this Elizabethan country house spa-hotel: “decor… ambience… service… food all are first rate”. Mind you, “there‘s nothing flash/super-creative about any of this: they know their market and it’s just really well executed”.

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”.

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”.

“Ben Wilkinson, previously of ‘Cottage in the Woods’, Linklater, has brought his fabulous clean cooking south” with the “very inventive” seven-course menu for £145 per person that he delivers at this well-known chef’s table experience within a boutique hotel set in 93 acres with views of the South Downs, which he joined in late 2022. In short order it has become one of the more accoladed restaurants in the UK, having won a Michelin star and 4 AA rosettes (the latter actually being the rarer accolade) and all of the feedback that we receive rates the experience as very good or better.

This “extremely popular” 16th-century free house with four bedrooms, in a hilltop village in the Sussex Weald, has everything you want in a country pub, from “very good cooking” and beamed interiors to “a lovely pint of Harvey’s”.

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.

“For us, as garden lovers, a magical place” – this Elizabethan country house in the Sussex countryside sits in grounds laid out in the 1880s by the famous landscape gardener who then owned the property (and has been a hotel since 1958). “It‘s probably best to enjoy Gravetye in the summer when it is delightful to wander round the beautiful gardens with an aperitif” and to get the most out of “the modern, conservatory-style dining room, which is simply dazzling in design, creating a feeling of almost being in the garden”. Since its 2019 relaunch, there has been a major upgrade to the cuisine here, with chef George Blogg preparing “beautifully balanced dishes with assured use of ingredients”: “seasonal produce is allowed to shine and sing”. (The food would score even higher if the odd reporter did not find it “a bit safe”). Staff generally “can’t do enough for you” but ratings slipped slightly this year on one or two “hit ’n’ miss” experiences in this regard. No complaints of any significance were highlighted, and the general impression is that a meal here is “so smart, and of such quality”.

This “lovely thatched country boozer” with a pretty beer garden and great views of the South Downs is highly popular in our annual diners’ poll as an “absolute go-to place for the most excellent, innovative and delicious pub food”, in “a lovely quiet spot”. It’s the country cousin of the high-quality Gingerman group in Brighton, seven miles away – and does a roaring Sunday lunch trade.

“In a delightful village”, this “scenic” gastroboozer-with-rooms continues to please, two years after longtime owners the Pullan family handed the keys to the Young’s group; the “best atmosphere is in the bar” (as opposed to the annexe), though the “great garden” remains the standout here, offering lovely views of the Ouse countryside.

2023 Review: Isaac Bartlett-Copeland’s ambitious and ultra-local operation in Brighton’s boho North Laine is “so original and never the same twice”, with its ‘taste of Sussex’ menus and an all-English list of wines. The “NYC vibe” goes too far for some tastes (“well-meaning front of house told us everything, and I mean absolutely everything, about every dish…”)

“The attention to detail is amazing, with top-notch food and wine pairings” say fans of this “favourite destination restaurant” – Stephen Edwards’s conversion of a former bank arguably “feels like a converted pub”, but “is so unexpected and elevated it fits well with the vibe of Hove”. Choose from either a five-course menu for £50 per person, or a seven-course menu for £75 per person: “flavours are fun and refreshing, from seasonal and playful tasting plates” – “truly spectacular cooking and would be three times the price in a central London restaurant”. Many local diners report their gastronomic highlight of the year here. Top Menu Tip – “the marmite bread is to die for (if only the whole meal could’ve been made of that!)”

Eat “surrounded by bottles in this friendly and informal bistro”, which also doubles as a wine bar and shop. Reporters love the “inventive small-plates food and excellent wine list” – especially the set menu, which is “full of more adventurous things you might not normally order à la carte”.

This “amazing neighbourhood restaurant will have you coming back for more” of its “brilliant modern British cooking in a relaxed bistro setting”. Founded five years ago by a trio of local hospitality veterans, Rob Maynard and James & Faye Thompson, it is “very much in tune with modern Hove, but in a very unprepossessing location” – and with “very sensible prices”, including a £22 per person set menu that runs alongside the à la carte. Many diners recommend the wines here (“one of the rare restaurants which do not force you to ‘kill’ red wine too young, offering good mature reds for fair prices”).

“A dependable favourite ever since it opened” – this “elevated pub” near Hove seafront is part of a hugely popular four-strong local chain; with its “upmarket take on sausages and mash with kale or a lovely slow-cooked beef pie”, it’s “more akin to a restaurant (with a nice bar attached)” than a boozer, and a “buzzy atmosphere” is guaranteed. Top Tip – stay over in their “quirky rooms” (in either the main building or self-catering mews houses); one reporter who did so “could not think of eating anywhere else” after the first night (resulting in “six meals, including terrific breakfasts, in three days!”).

Chef Ben and his wife Pamela McKellar’s flagship restaurant (est. 1998) is a “cosy side-street gem” that has “maintained its high standards through all its years, and against a rising tide of local competition”. In fact, some think it has “upped its game again on quality and imagination, although that has come at a (literal) price”. Top Menu Tips – “the bread and the soufflés remain things that cannot be passed over”.

“A bustling destination, with a nice view of rolling sea and big horizon” – this “very buzzy seafront room” sits within sight of the skeletal remains of the West Pier and remains one of the most popular dining options in the city. On the downside, there is a view that “the best aspect are the vistas over the water, with food that’s reliable rather than sensational and too expensive”. Most of the many reports, though, are more positive, saying, “if you particularly enjoyfFresh, beautifully cooked fish, this is the place”.

Opened in 2011 by restaurateur Razak Helalat, this “brilliant” steakhouse (with London spin-off) was the first venture for the ever-expanding Black Rock group, whose latest siblings include Italian restaurant Tutto and boundary-blurring bar/restaurant Burnt Orange (see also). In September 2024, it made a bold and long-planned move into a swish (and big for Brighton) 142-cover location in a (“deservedly”) prominent Lanes setting. In addition to an expanded bar-operation, the NY steakhouse-style venue will morph its cooking-over-fire philosophy into a less meat-heavy approach, with somewhat more emphasis on fish and veg. Ratings have been maintained from the old location, but this could be a major step-up for the business.

“Exceptional seafood, ultra-fresh off the boat” is the order of the day at this classic oyster bar down “one of the cutest winding alleys in the Lanes” – “every Brightonian has either been in this place or stared longingly through the window” since it opened almost 20 years ago, and it’s “definitely a must-stop for visitors to the town”. “The USP is that you can choose your fish from a board showing the day’s catches. When it’s gone, it’s gone (but it’s annoying when the board isn’t kept up-to-date – we missed out on the Dover sole!)”. There’s a newer branch in the Rotunda on the Promenade (see also). Top Menu Tip – “the seafood risotto”.

The “perfect place for a celebratory meal” – a decade-old Lanes favourite by GBM winner Michael Bremner where “it’s great sitting at the pass watching the chefs at work”, though half the seating is also allocated elsewhere if that’s too much drama; you can choose to make a meal of the small plates, or sample more of the “interesting” and “flavourful” dishes on the “amazing tasting menu” (“where as much attention is paid to the vegetarian options as the meat and fish”). As feedback on the venue was thin and included (unusually) the odd off-report this year, we‘ve left it unrated.