Fairlight, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

A “totally unpretentious” venture serving “lovely, simple seafood, cooked well and at a decent price, in a little shack of a dining room down on the Hastings seafront”, and where the catch is, reassuringly, “landed on the beach just opposite”. Add in “lovely relaxed service” and is a “really enjoyable” formula all-round.

“Paul Webbe’s original restaurant is still a pleasure to visit” almost three decades after opening, the farmhouse venue having since spawned a clutch of fish-centric spin-offs alongside a cookery school in Hastings. “Reliably old-fashioned (in the best possible way)”, it combines “superb service and some first-rate cooking” which, as per the name, is focussed on foraging, including “a marvellous set luncheon with a very large choice for each course at a reasonable price in this day and age”. For several reporters this is a place to “go back to on special occasions as the quality is very good”.

This “satisfying haunt” – a smartly renovated Victorian hotel opposite the station – attracts a “relaxed regular clientele” with a “solid-if-limited menu on weekday lunchtimes, but more varied and flavourful choice in the evening”.

Former Le Caprice chef Nick Hales this year celebrates 21 years at his townhouse restaurant, where he showcases the daily catch provided by Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet at Hastings – “there are meat dishes, but the fish and seafood is what you should come here for (and I’m not a great fish-eater!)”. All reports suggest its “on top form” currently.

2025 Review: This black-painted wooden pub, reminiscent of one of the net huts in nearby Hastings, had lived many lives (cowshed, hotel, potential care home) before couple Olivia & Henry took it over in 2022. The kitchen turns out “lovely food that’s more than just pub grub”, taking the seasonal route and giving it a Sussex spin.