Winchelsea Restaurant Guide

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.

“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.

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.

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”.

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.

“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”.

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!”.

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”).