9 Best Restaurants in The Southeast, England

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 monkfish in Parma ham, but it's the "nibbles" (snacks) that are really inventive—try the sausage roll, served as three thick slices with 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 £120 (double that in high season) 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 crispy, 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.

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.

This incredibly popular café serves high-quality and great-value meals and snacks from mid-morning to late afternoon daily. 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). 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).

Located 8 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 water mill; 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 that are not only well practiced at begging for crumbs but also 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 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.

This sophisticated modern bistro, with its hardwood floors and royal blue banquettes, is popular with locals for a special-occasion dinner and with the theater crowd, who enjoy the fixed-price early-bird menus. The food strikes a balance between hearty, traditional British fare (like beer-battered fish-and-chips) and contemporary international dishes (like confit duck croquette with saffron aioli). The pre-theater menus, available before all performances at the Chichester Festival Theatre, are a good deal at £25.95 for two courses or £29.95 for three—considering mains alone typically cost between £25 and £35.

Just over a mile south of Penshurst, 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.