Rye 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.

“Delicious local fish” – (“three fantastic plump Rye Bay scallops to start!”) – is served in “generous portions” at Paul Webbe’s “good-value” outfit. “Just a shame the dining room is rather stark”.

This quaint bistro in a row of Georgian shops has long been of note for its unpretentious, no-nonsense British cookery based on “local and interesting” ingredients sourced from fields, woodlands and waters. The menu may be a little “unchanging” for regulars, but then again they “know they are to be fed well” at this “always consistent” local gem.

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”.

This increasingly fashionable adults-only wellness retreat in a converted 1960s motel behind Camber Sands serves ambitious and “interesting” menus from MasterChef contestant Nico Fitzgerald, accompanied by what is said to be the biggest selection of English wines in the country.

Former Gusbourne CEO Ben Walgate’s impressive farmhouse winery sits on a sweeping 70-acre estate, incorporating casual wood-fired pizza joint the ‘Dutch Barn’ and this “delightful dining room with views back to Rye”, where you pick between a two- or three-course lunch on Friday and Saturday, or tackle a five-course tasting menu by night. Zero-waste pioneer Brendan Eades of Silo fame oversees the Green Michelin Star field-to-fork cooking, which is “not fussy but simply super-tasty” (“wow…eaten with them three times in the last few months” and “every time it’s different”). They also have “very comfortable rooms” on site and you can do a “very enjoyable” wine tour and tasting too.

“Paul Webbe’s original restaurant never fails to delight or impress”, and after 27 years is recording truly impressive ratings and accounting for a significant number of best meals of the year from those who visit it. Yes, “the menu these days could perhaps be called ‘old school’,” but its focus on ultra-fresh local produce – including ingredients foraged in the surrounding countryside – has always been ahead of trends, while the cooking is “consistently of a very high standard”, with “plenty of choice at each course” and it’s all delivered with “fantastic service – they remember you every time”. It’s now the flagship of a group with fish specialist venues and a cookery school in Hastings.

This “lovely little gem” in a converted fisherman’s hut “serves the freshest fish straight out of the boats opposite” on Hastings beach, which is said to have the biggest fleet of beach-launched day boats in Europe.

“Located in the historic fishing area of Hastings’ Old Town”, from which it sources its eco-friendly catch (the focus of the menu, which is split between à la carte options and the short, sampler-style ‘taster menu’), this venture (est. 2009) is part of an empire begun by wild food guru Paul Webbe with The Wild Mushroom in 1998. Added to the victuals, friendly staff and a good atmosphere make it a consistent scorer across the board and if you want to earn your supper, their fish cookery school also lets you visit the market opposite the restaurant and learn how to prepare it.

“Some of the best fish’n’chips I’ve tasted” are served in “plentiful portions” at this wooden shack “near the Hastings fishing fleet – that’s why the fish tastes so fresh”. A well-known destination in its third decade, it’s “good value”, too, and “very popular with visitors and locals” – so “avoid the busiest times”.

This “fantastic” renovated Victorian hotel opposite the station was re-launched six years ago and is now “excellent in every way”, with “exceptional” cooking – “as seasonal as food gets, simple but so much flavour” – while “the service is attentive without being intrusive”.

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.

This fish-specialist in a townhouse, from former Le Caprice chef Nick Hales, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and although it is rated on limited feedback, such as we have remains very good. The changing menu is governed by the catch from day boats launched from the beach at Hastings.

This 16th-century weaver’s cottage in the Weald was opened by former rocker Graham Garrett and wife Jackie in 2002. The “warm and cosy, ancient beamed dining room” turns out set menus that are “quite expensive but worth it” and are accompanied by “professional and charming” service from “members of the chef’s family and others”; stay in one of their “very quiet and comfortable rooms” and there’s an “excellent breakfast hamper” as a bonus. Top Menu Tip – “lovely amuse-bouches (brick tube stuffed with chicken parfait, Parmesan churros). Standout dishes include ‘Egg and Bacon’ (leek ballotine, quail’s egg, smoked eel and crispy pancetta), and a slice of braised and grilled Wagyu beef cheek with anchoïade”.

A “great” 15th-century pub (with four rooms set atop the nuttery in the garden) that’s situated in the heart of the Weald, and just a short stroll from Sissinghurst Castle, the old home of Virginia Woolf’s beloved, Vita Sackville-West, and whose gardens are run by the National Trust. “They always have good beer on” and, having extended over the years, there are five different dining areas in which to enjoy the “typical” but very sound gastropub fare, much sourced from the local area.

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”.

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!”.

This black-painted wooden pub, reminiscent of one of the net huts in nearby Hastings, had lived many lives (cowshed, hotel, potential care home) before couple Olivia & Henry took it over in 2022. The kitchen turns out “lovely food that’s more than just pub grub”, taking the seasonal route and giving it a Sussex spin.