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If you're in a seaside town, look for that great British staple, fish-and-chips. Perhaps "look" isn't the word—just follow your nose. On the coast, seafood, much of it locally caught, is a specialty. Try local smoked fish (haddock and mackerel) or the succulent local oysters. Inland, sample fresh local lamb and beef. In cities such as Brighton and Tunbridge Wells there are numerous restaurants and cafés, but out in the countryside the best options are often pubs.
Set just outside the medieval city walls, this historic pub turned restaurant serves locally sourced British produce with creative culinary twists. Mains include confit pork belly with burnt-ends croquettes and cod loin with creamed bacon and leak, but it's the "nibbles" (snacks) that are really inventive—try the sausage roll, served as three thick slices with housemade mushroom ketchup. It's a little pricey, but the food is excellent and the portions are very generous. There are also five appealing bedrooms available upstairs, with prices starting from £100, including breakfast.
Long lines and lots of satisfied finger licking attest to the deserved popularity of this excellent fish-and-chip shop in the center of town, where all orders are takeout. Everything is freshly fried, the batter crisp, and the fish tasty; the fried mushrooms are also surprisingly good. There's no seating, so your fish is wrapped up in paper and you eat it where you want, perhaps in the park. This place closes at 7 pm.
This incredibly popular High Street café serves high quality and great value meals and snacks from mid-morning to late afternoon every day of the week. Come early for an excellent full English breakfast or opt for a light lunch like homemade soup or Welsh rarebit (a fondue-like dish where a sauce of melted cheddar, ale, and mustard is poured over slices of toasted bread). And make sure you save room for a homemade cake or delicious cream tea (scone, jam, and clotted cream). Above the café are eight pleasant, individually themed bedrooms. Avoid peak lunch hours (12:30 to 2 pm) on weekends, unless you want to wait in line (it's not possible to reserve a table).
This excellent bistro is popular with locals for a special-occasion dinner and with the pre-theater crowd, who enjoy the fixed-price early-bird menus. The food strikes a nice balance between hearty, traditional fare and contemporary stylings. The pre-theater menus, available before all performances at the Chichester Festival Theatre, are a good deal at £23.95 for two courses or £26.95 for three—especially considering mains alone normally cost between £20 and £30.
Next to Canterbury West Station, this farmers' market restaurant with wooden tables is well known for offering fresh, seasonal Kentish food—think spring lamb leg with lemon and mint or wild bass with a crab and tarragon broth. Whatever is freshest that day appears on the menu, whether it's quail eggs, trout, or duck breast. The vaulted wooden space with stone-and-brick walls was a storage shed in Victorian times (hence the name); today the restaurant has huge arched windows overlooking the market and a butchers' stall.
Located eight miles southwest of Guildford, just a short hop down the road from Waverley Abbey and roughly halfway between the Sculpture Park and Watts Gallery, this unusually handsome country pub is in an old watermill; you can still see the working water wheel in the lobby. The menu nicely balances British pub classics and more ambitious restaurant fare; expect to find fish-and-chips and burgers alongside pan-roasted sea bass and Devonshire crab on toast. The huge beer garden is an extremely popular spot when the weather's nice, and it's also the venue for occasional open-air theater performances by local groups. Look out for the cute (but slightly intimidating) flock of ducks who are not only well practiced at begging for crumbs but will immediately pounce on any unattended meals.
A colorful, friendly old pub near the cathedral, the Old Buttermarket is a great place to grab a hearty lunch and sample some traditional English fare with a modern inflection. You can sip a pint of fresh English ale from the ever-changing selection while sampling a wild boar and chorizo pie or perhaps a warming bowl of Cheddar-crumbed mac and cheese. There's been a pub on this site for more than 500 years; historical records show that there were once secret tunnels connecting it to Canterbury Cathedral.
One mile south of Penshurt, this historic pub first opened its doors in 1520 and in many ways hardly appears to have changed today. Its big inglenook fireplace and heavy beams give it character, the views from the hilltop are lovely, and the good food (a mixture of traditional pub grub and slightly more sophisticated fare) make it a pleasure to relax inside. Come on Sunday to try the popular lunchtime roasts.
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