Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Cuckfield
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Cuckfield restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 67 restaurants in Cuckfield and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Cuckfield restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Cuckfield Restaurants
1. The Set
British, Modern restaurant in Brighton
50 Preston Road - BN1
“An absolutely stunning concept (14-16 mini plates) with great creativity and execution” – Dan Kenny aims to provide ‘a tasting menu of big-flavoured, umami- and fat-led food’ at his 12-16 cover venue, not far from Preston Park and underneath the viaduct: an experience you are advised to allow about two and half hours for. All who comment are fans, although it can appear “interesting but expensive”. On the plus side, one fan notes: “I have recommended it to everyone I know, and everyone who has been so far has always booked again”.
2. The Chilli Pickle
Indian restaurant in Brighton
17 Jubilee St - BN1
“A favourite Indian restaurant in Brighton” – “although its modern Indian street-food based cooking and bright flavours are now widely copied, it’s still one of the best specimens”. “The decor is bright and friendly, but there’s no disguising the canteen-like vibe of the huge dining room so it’s not the place for a long and relaxed or romantic meal”. “Consistently good quality food” though means more reporters “love this place!” (“despite increasing local competition”). After 14 years as part of the MyHotel, owners Dawn & Alun Sperring have announced their intention to move premises after the summer is over: no news as yet on the new site.
3. English’s
Fish & seafood restaurant in Brighton
29-31 East St - BN1
“The terrace is fabulous on a sunny day at this traditional seafood operation” – a feature of the Lanes since the 1890s and owned by the Leigh-Jones family since 1945 (and as such, one of the UK’s most venerable restaurants). Diners differ, though, on its overall performance although even fans concede tables are “squeezed in”. To its biggest fans its straightforward menu of oysters, crab, caviar lobster and other fish and seafood (plus items like steak and a handful of non-fish dishes) is “not the cheapest, but provides the best value in Brighton as it’s always reliable and doesn’t try to do too much”. Sceptics “expected more from this long-term fish specialist”, either judging it “plain and old fashioned” or even an “(expensive) tourist trap”. Perhaps the best overall verdict is that “quality varies and it’s best to stick to the standards”. Top Menu Tips – “fish pie is still the star for me…”; “love it for its very fresh oysters”.
4. Terre à Terre
Vegetarian restaurant in Brighton
71 East St - BN1
“Simply the best vegetarian food for miles around”, say fans of this “charmingly staffed” veteran of the Lanes whose reputation extends beyond Brighton to the capital and beyond: “with food like this you really don’t miss meat or fish”, thanks to the “creative dishes that you just can’t get anywhere else”. “Only slightly negative: is the menu smaller than it used to be?”
5. 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”.
6. Ockenden Manor
British, Modern restaurant in Cuckfield
Ockenden Ln - RH17
“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”.
7. 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.
8. 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”.
9. 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”.
10. The Pass Restaurant, South Lodge Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Lower Beeding
Brighton Road - RH13
“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.
11. The Cat Inn
British, Modern restaurant in West Hoathly
North Lane - RH19
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”.
12. 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.
13. Gravetye Manor
British, Modern restaurant in East Grinstead
Vowels Lane - RH19
“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”.
14. The Ginger Fox
British, Modern restaurant in Albourne
Muddleswood Road - BN6
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.
15. The Griffin Inn
British, Modern restaurant in Fletching
“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.
16. Urchin
Fish & seafood restaurant in Brighton
15-17 Belfast St - BN3
It’s “unexpected for a local, suburban boozer sitting next to a school”, but “Brighton’s seafood gastropub” marches to the beat of its own drum, turning out “exceptional” dishes (“emphasis on shellfish”) plus craft beer “brewed in the premises” downstairs, “which adds to the fun”. Taking into account the “upscale” setting, too, you’ve got all “the ingredients for a Perfect Sunday!” (when the idiosyncratic venue pays tribute to paella).
17. MEATLiquor
Burgers, etc restaurant in Brighton
22-23 York Place - BN1
“Ambience is not key when you just want to stuff your face!” – you “just get a great dirty burger” at these tongue-in-cheek diners, whose signature offering is the ‘Dead Hippie’. Founded 16 years ago from the back of a truck by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis, at the time a technician with the English National Ballet, it now has 15 London outlets and a national delivery operation.
18. Isaac@
British, Modern restaurant in Brighton
2 Gloucester Street - BN1
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…”)
19. Etch
British, Modern restaurant in Brighton
214-216 Church Rd - BN3
“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!)”
20. La Choza
Mexican restaurant in Brighton
36 Gloucester Rd - BN1
2023 Review: Decked out with neon lights, graffiti, sugar skulls and vivid flowers, this ten-year-old cantina has also spawned a (larger) Hove spin-off. Such feedback as we have says its “great value, with really enjoyable food” – more reports please!
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