Langney, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“The only true fine dining restaurant in Eastbourne” – Hrvoje Loncarevic “continues to gradually restore the reputation of the fine dining room of the elegant Grand Hotel”: a large, 150-bedroom grande dame of a property on the seafront and “an excellent venue for business or celebrations”. “Beautifully laid out courses” are provided by “service of the high level you’d expect from a five-star hotel, and the wine list has a very broad range of fine vintages”. “We had a table in the window overlooking the garden on a lovely summer’s evening, all the while being accompanied by an excellent pianist playing a mixture of standards and modern jazz”.

In a medieval village at the foot of the South Downs, a “fifteenth-century inn transformed into a delightful boutique hotel and restaurant” by hospitality guru Olga Polizzi, who acquired it in 2021 for her now three-strong chain. Most (if not all) reporters laud River Café alumnus Tim Kensett’s “delicious” locally sourced food, though “what makes this place is the service and setting” (the “very sophisticated” decor includes Bloomsbury Set artworks, and, in the dining room, a striking monochrome Elizabethan-style floor).

“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.

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?”

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”.

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.

This “tiny restaurant with big-flavoured food” was opened without much pizzazz in 2021 by former Ledbury and Dairy chef Richard Falk, and has attracted positive reviews from the Guardian’s Grace Dent and the Telegraph’s William Sitwell. It has yet to generate much feedback, but what there is, is uniformly positive.