445 Best Restaurants in England

The imaginative, bistro-inspired menu varies each day at this café and wine bar set in a 15th-century building. Tempting British and European-style dishes include confit leg of duck bigarade with dauphinoise potatoes and seared beef fillet Stroganoff. To dine before curtain time, arrive early or make a reservation. The building, largely unaltered since the late 1400s, has lovely flagstone floors and oak beams.

This is the perfect antidote to all those meat-heavy English breakfasts—waffles, waffles, and more waffles on an imaginative menu. Breakfast choices include toppings like bacon and bananas, while later in the day you can order them with anything from hummus and avocado to free-range sausage. Or, skip to dessert and order yours topped with chocolate and honeycomb mousse, or "banoffee" sauce (a heavenly mix of banana and toffee)—sugar rush heaven.

Indoors or out, you can enjoy a great budget meal at the 16th-century Kingsbury Watermill, near the Verulamium Museum. The organic flour for the sweet-and-savory Belgian waffles comes from Redbournbury Watermill, north of the city. In the main dining room, you can see the wheel churn the water of the River Ver. It's also open for early dinners (until 9 pm) Wednesday through Saturday.

A 17th-century thatched-roof building with foundations made from sarsen stones, this traditional inn and pub (Dickens mentions the building in Pickwick Papers) is a two-minute drive from the Avebury stone circles. With a beer garden that has views of Silbury Hill, it's something of a tourist hub in high season, but lunches and dinners are still excellent. Dishes include roast fillet of sole and a Mediterranean tart, along with pub favorites like steak and ale pie and stuffed baked potatoes. Traditional roasts are served on Sundays. Recent innovations include meatless burgers.

This canteen-style outpost of the eco-conscious chain serves mildly spiced Mexican food like a buttermilk fried chicken taco or ancho mushroom enchiladas, plus the usual burritos and quesadillas along with rainbow bowls. There's also a street-food truck parked beside the river.

Run by chef couple Ben Hall and Carla Ernst, the Walrus creates culinary excitement in this sleek modern space through its ever-changing menu, which is genuinely committed to using local and seasonal produce. All the vegetables come from the restaurant's walled garden in nearby Ford, and the resulting dishes are beautifully presented and impressive. The tasting menu is available at all times, though diners can order from the à la carte menu on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday lunchtime. For something more spontaneous, food and drinks (including delicious cocktails) are now served in the bar, for which no booking is required.

The excellent café–restaurant upstairs at Watershed overlooks part of the harborside and serves sandwiches and hot snacks all day, along with coffees, cakes, and beers. For meals, note your table number and order at the bar. Food is served until 9 pm (8 pm on Sunday and Monday)

Superbly positioned right on the beach close to Bournemouth Pier, this fish restaurant serves the best seafood in town, whether grilled, baked, or in fish pies and stews. The menu may include dishes like tempura halibut, pan-fried sea bass, and a locally caught fish of the day, plus shellfish such as local oysters, crab, mussels, clams, and lobster. There are a few non-fish dishes such as an aged West Country sirloin steak. Simple wooden tables and a large glass front lend a modern, minimalist feel, and there's a narrow deck and terrace for open-air dining. In summer, pick up ice cream and snacks from the adjacent stand.

This popular pub and inn dating from the 17th century specializes in updated British cuisine with choices ranging from local venison to fresh fish. Its decor successfully combines traditional features with modern style and comforts. The courtyard garden is a delight in summer, and there's also a snug coffee lounge. The inn offers 14 stylish, uncluttered bedrooms and a spa.

Near the main row of shops and cafés in Ironbridge, this river-facing pub with a large outdoor terrace offers relaxed dining and light lunches in its bar area and a more refined but hearty menu in the country-style dining room. Staff are friendly and helpful, ingredients are of a high quality, and the pub also has some comfortable rooms for those looking to stay the night.

Traditional British food with an imaginative twist is the draw at this former coaching inn. The hearty, house special fish pie is excellent, or you may opt for a plate of fresh local mussels. You can dine in the bar, the airy conservatory, or the more intimate Long Room. There are also cozy guest rooms with sea views starting at around £150 for bed-and-breakfast in the high season.

This friendly coffee shop at St. Katharine Docks serves outstanding breakfasts (with fresh juices and baked goods) plus homemade soups, cakes, and light bites for lunch. In an area too readily associated with chains, this charming independent eatery is a breath of fresh air, particularly for long, leisurely brunches when the sun is shining.

This chic, contemporary café serves delectable baked goods, all-day breakfasts, and tapas-style light bites. Come for the Turkish eggs, poached with yogurt and dill, or try the fancy bacon roll with spinach and chili jam. Or you could just drop by for a delicious slice of fresh cake and a darn fine cup of Joe. There are also beautifully minimalist rooms here if you want to stay over.

Claiming to date from 1715, this narrow, atmospheric bar in a quiet alley off bustling Briggate retains 19th- and 20th-century features, like beveled mirrors, copper-topped tables, Art Nouveau stained glass, and mosaic tiles. It serves superior pub food with an emphasis on the local and seasonal, like a grilled eggplant tabbouleh or homemade beef-and-ale pie. Beers from local microbreweries are featured, and the prices are friendly. There's also a pre-theater fixed price (£25) menu.

This pub-café-restaurant serves everything from breakfast (on weekends) to full evening meals in its old-fashioned dining room. The produce comes from the local markets, and you can expect dishes such as rib eye with triple-cooked chips (thick-cut fries) or sea bass and crab risotto.

Lords, ladies, and other assorted aristocrats blow the family bank at this Edwardian bastion of traditional English fine dining on Jermyn Street (the place first opened near the Haymarket as a shellfish stall in 1742). Posh patrons tend to order half a dozen oysters, followed by grilled Dover sole, Blythburgh pork from the carving trolley, or fabulous native game, such as roast partridge, grouse, or teal. There is also soft herring roe on toast, plus pleasing desserts like Peach Melba or sherry trifle.

Here at one of London's top Japanese restaurants, head chef and cofounder Yasuhiro Mineno creates fresh, colorful, and exquisite sushi, sashimi, salads, and carpaccios. Tofu foam-topped miso cappuccino comes in a Victorian cup and saucer, while nigiri might include signature flourishes such as truffle shavings on fatty tuna. But there's a lot more than sushi here, including sensational small plates such as Robata-grilled black cod marinated in soy sauce. The £16 salmon nigiri set lunch is a relatively affordable way to sample Yashin's below-the-radar brilliance.

Some claim this is England's oldest pub, but it should come as no surprise that the title is hotly contested. Still, this octagonal building certainly looks suitably aged and makes a cozy stop for a pint and good home-cooked food. The building was moved to this location in the 16th century, but the foundations date back 800 years before that. Be prepared for crowds. Along with its traditional pub classics, the pub serves pizzas Friday through Sunday. 

This colorful and inviting restaurant, where diners are "shaded" indoors by a faux cherry blossom tree, mainly serves Thai food, but the eclectic menu is also scattered with Japanese, Chinese, and Indonesian dishes. A rather dizzying culinary trip around Asia can take you from Thai green curry to sizzling Mongolian lamb to Japanese teriyaki beef. There are also some less familiar dishes like cod fillet wrapped in banana leaves and served with chili and lime. This place is a local favorite, so make reservations if you're coming on a weekend.

In St. Mary-le-Bow's Norman crypt, this café is packed with City workers weekdays 7:30–2:30 for a menu covering breakfasts, scrumptious light lunches, and delicious cakes. It's also open for dinner Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

This is a cluster of small shops specializing in jewelry, art, clothing, and ceramics by designer-manufacturers, with an adjoining cluster of informal restaurants and cafés, most with outdoor seating. A project of the Coin Street Community Builders, a social enterprise group, it bustles with activity. The same group converted the nearby Oxo Tower Wharf, an art deco warehouse with three levels of designer studios that also serve as retail outlets. The Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie, a pricey restaurant operated by the swish department store Harvey Nichols, occupies the top floor, and you can see the same spectacular views from an adjacent free public viewing area (open daily).

Overlooking The Mall, this café and bar offers a tasty, reasonably priced lunch and dinner menu, with coffees and snacks available throughout the day. Like the venue itself, it's open 11–11.

With its walls covered in Gilbert Spencer murals, the Royal Academy's café is almost as beautiful as the art hanging in the galleries. The accent is on variety, with hearty dishes like fish pie, cold cuts, and upscale salads and sandwiches. It's open daily 10:30–5:30.

Just steps from Market House and at the heart of village life, the Snooty Fox is a bustling inn and restaurant that makes the most of quality ingredients from local producers in the Cotswolds. Real ales and local ciders are served at the bar, and teas, coffees, and hot and cold meals are available all day. During winter the roaring fire adds to the ambience in the restaurant, and there's a patio to use in summer.

Bringing the outside in, this café and restaurant is in the Wallace Collection's glass-roofed courtyard. It's open (daily 10–4:30) for breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea, and for dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings (last seating is at 9:30 pm). The menu includes lamb rump, pan-roasted lemon sole, and other tasty offerings. If you don't want to strain your budget too much, you can just linger over coffee in the gorgeous surroundings.