Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in Sedgefield
Hardens guides have spent 34 years compiling reviews of the best Sedgefield restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 5 restaurants in Sedgefield and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Sedgefield restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Sedgefield Restaurants
1. The Orangery, Rockliffe Hall
British, Modern restaurant in Darlington
James Close with wife Maria closed his acclaimed Co Durham restaurant the Raby Hunt (a regular on our UK Top 100 list) after 14 years and relaunched in the Orangery of nearby Rockliffe Hall in mid 2024, after our annual diners’ poll had ended. Initially billed as ‘A modern bistro by James Close’, from October 2024 the site has launched new tasting menus – ‘Expresssion’ (£105 per person) and ‘Experience’ (£170 per person) – that aim to take the diner on a ‘global culinary journey’. The ultimate aim is clearly to establish the dining room as one of the best in the UK.
2. Oven
British, Modern restaurant in Darlington
30 Duke St - DL3
“Always buzzing”, this “family-run” fixture is very consistently praised in reports for its “great pizza menu” while also offering British and international classics. (After two decades, the owner-operators put it up for sale in summer 2024.)
3. The Bay Horse
British, Traditional restaurant in Hurworth
45 The Grn - DL2
With its pretty garden and handsomely fitted-out interior, this period gastropub has been no stranger to national awards lists since launching in 2008. It is rated consistently well in reports and even a sceptic whose commentary found it “perhaps a little overpriced” still rated it soundly across the board.
4. Rabbit Hole
restaurant in Durham
17 Hallgarth Street - DH1
Promising feedback on this “delightful, small, and intimate” Chinese joint down a cobbled side street near the town centre: an established business that was reformatted in 2023 with Shanghai speakeasy styling: “it feels very plush and with above-average Cantonese-fusion food”.
5. Faru
British, Modern restaurant in Durham
26 Silver Street - DH1
“The restaurant Durham city has been crying out for”, say fans of this ambitious 2023 yearling in the city centre: “a recent addition to the local dining scene run by ex-head chef from House of Tides and his wife”, Jake & Laura Siddle, who serve a 10-course tasting menu for £98 per person (the name is old English for ‘Journey’). One diner – particularly impressed by the wine selection – felt that “whilst aiming for their first Michelin star, they have a way to go with too many of the courses ‘snack sized’ to fully warrant the price and service that, though friendly, was lacking”. But others are impressed by what they see as a polished overall experience and, in any case, all reports agree that this is an “interesting” venue that “definitely shows promise”.
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