A hip holiday cottage in Rye, England
Probably the best hot chocolate you’ll ever have: select a type of chocolate (from white to super-strong dark), then add extras like orange zest, cinnamon and even a shot of booze. In summer they serve incredible chocolate milkshakes too. Very bad. But very good.
An all-day dining spot in one of Rye’s loveliest buildings, a 16th-century house with a handsome Georgian frontage. As well as serving breakfast and lunch, it is also a base for The Lazy Baker, who sells the most delicious bread over the counter; the bread is also a significant feature of the menu, from eggs benedict on sourdough for breakfast to healthy and hearty sandwiches. The two dining areas feature original fireplaces and Elizabethan panelling, contrasting with chic modern furniture and lighting.
Occupying a prime spot at the foot of pretty Mermaid Street, this cafe could be thoroughly mediocre and still turn a profit – but thankfully, it’s a little wonder, with jolly, slightly beachy decor that’s thoroughly welcoming. The front counter groans with cakes, pastries and other treats; pop in for a takeaway coffee or ice-cream, or take a seat for a great breakfast (prepared by the hotel kitchen upstairs), a cream tea or a light lunch – the Scotch eggs are recommended.
Pop down to the harbour for a fry-up or lunch at this little cafe. It does the full English and various breakfast permutations, plus family-friendly food like burgers and paninis at lunch. You can burn it off afterwards with a walk round the Rye Habour nature reserve next door.
Set on a tiny cobbled side-street, this is the place to go for the traditional afternoon tea treatment. A good selection of loose-leaf teas are served, along with cakes, scones and light lunches such as toasties and jacket potatoes. There’s a little garden out the back to enjoy it all.
Passionate staff and great local ingredients add to up the perfect neighbourhood bistro. It offers a great set dinner on Wednesday and Thursday (also available weekend lunchtimes). Leave room for the English cheeses, if you can.
This modern and airy Arts and Crafts-era former warehouse can make a nice change from the low beams and crooked staircases that characterise many of Rye’s eateries. The open kitchen serves up the freshest fish and seafood, including rock oysters, Hastings crab and Rye Bay fish stew
A friendly bistro in a stripped-back former pub, keeping it local with a menu that features Dungeness crab and marsh lamb, plus a selection of 28-day aged steaks. Save room for the dark chocolate mousse or the blowtorched Burwash rose, one of Sussex’s most celebrated cheeses.
Every town needs a no-nonsense, family-friendly Italian, and this is Rye’s, serving pizza and pasta galore, plus seasonal specials. It’s probably Rye’s most child-friendly restaurant – the colouring-in sheets and crayons are in place a millisecond after you’ve sat down, there’s a crowd-pleasing kids’ menu, and the staff take the time to check things like whether you’d like your children’s food to come out of the kitchen first.
You can get fish and chips in loads of places in Rye, but (after extensive research) we think this is the best. In addition to being a takeaway it has a licensed restaurant. If you’re taking away, jump the queue on a Friday night by ordering online and collecting.