South East Restaurant Guide

Dating back to 1453, the creeper-clad Talbot Inn in Ripley has welcomed many famous guests during its long life (Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton apparently dropped anchor here) and The Talbot is currently enjoying a new lease of life.

High Steet, Ripley, Surrey

Dating back to the seventeenth century, the pleasingly rustic Kings Arms Inn at Ockley has been revitalised of late and has taken on a new lease of life as a contemporary pub/restaurant.

Stane Street, Ockley, Surrey

Billed as Brighton's 'first and only taster restaurant', Graze is a stylish newcomer that has been glamorously done out with a Regency-inspired interior and slide-back doors opening out onto Western Road.

42 Western Road, Brighton and Hove, Sussex

Billed as 'the closest English pub to France', the Coastguard is spectacularly situated right by St Margaret's Bay: in summer you can sit outside and gaze across the Straits of Dover towards the French mainland.

The Bay, Dover, Kent

Housed in an historic Tudor building a couple of minutes' walk from Rochester cathedral and Rochester castle, Elizabeth's of Eastgate is moving with the times.

154 High Street, Rochester, Kent

Built in 1743 on the site of an old church house, this one-time fishermen's haunt still boasts original low beamed ceilings, inglenooks and ancient flagstone floors – although today's visitors are likely to be tourists, walkers trekking the nearby coastal path and sailors from nearby Shalfleet quay.

Mill Road, Isle of Wight, Hampshire

Once an old coaching inn on the road from London to Southampton, Clos du Marquis now offers a taste of rustic France at Stockbridge, in the heart of the Test Valley.

London Road, Stockbridge, Hampshire

Saffron is a gem of a neighbourhood restaurant in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey offering Persian cuisine. Fans talk about the authenticity of the food served with gracious style and there's also praise for the friendly, helpful staff and the delightful modern ambience of the place.

5 The Square, Richmond, Surrey

Situated 8 miles south of Dorking in the up-and-coming 'gastro village' of Ockley, the Inn on the Green is a multi-faceted set-up involving a fifteenth-century pub-with-rooms and a separate, family-friendly restaurant known as the Green Rooms.

The Inn on the Green, Ockley, Surrey

The name Hartley Wintney was recorded in the thirteenth century as Hertleye Wynteneye, which means 'the clearing in the forest where the deer graze by Winta's island' - an evocative description of a Hampshire village where the country lifestyle is so sought after and appreciated.

The Green, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire