Diners' Choice: Best Ambiance restaurants in East Sussex

OpenTable

Updated September 05, 2024

Looking for restaurants with the best ambiance in East Sussex? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

The Crown Hastings

4.7

4.7 (1097)

£25 and under

British

Hastings

About the restaurant

The Crown is an independently run award-winning freehouse in the heart of Hastings Old Town, open at 11am every day. Our kitchen is open 12-4, 5 till 9.
We serve modern British food in a friendly informal environment using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. We create dishes from scratch, including homemade bread, fish from the surrounding seas and seasonal veg.
We serve local real ales & craft beers, wine and a specialist gin and whisky selection and delicious coffee.
'High Top Tables' refers to our high tables with bar stools.
You can book a table for drinks only.
Dogs are welcome, 'paws on the floors' please.
Children welcome, we have a kids menu.
For allergies & intolerances, please let your server know before ordering.
We serve our full menu on a Sunday, but it is not a traditional roast dinner.
Please call us if you are running later than your booked time.
Table bookings for 2 hours for up to 4ppl; 3 hours for 5+ people. Tables from 7pm onwards are for whole evening.

Top review

Geoff

Dined 4 days ago

Always enjoyable to visit The Crown, friendly and excellent service. Good food always different from normal pub food. Range of beers are excellent. A very enjoyable lunch.

The Sundial

4.9

4.9 (531)

£26 to £40

French

Herstmonceux

About the restaurant

The Sundial is a privately owned, relaxed and chic French restaurant with spectacular views of the South Downs in East Sussex. The Sundial’s à-la-carte and seasonal menus as well as its cuisine and ambience are typically French. Our restaurant in East Sussex is perfect for a meal with family and friends or an intimate dinner for two, the Sundial’s lounge bar, French restaurant and private dining room provide a flexible combination for parties, business meetings, seminars, wedding venues and group events for up to 60 people. Our restaurant can cater for upto 150 people as a wedding venue. If you´re looking for a Fine Dining French restaurant in East Sussex, or anywhere in Sussex, you won´t find a finer French restaurant!. Our French restaurant has a Civil wedding License offering you the perfect wedding venue in East Sussex. Restaurant also has a large car park with 16 parking spaces.

Top review

Ewan

Dined on Sep 4, 2024

We went to the Sundial for my wife's 50th birthday. We loved the warm welcome, and the excellent food and wine. Everything was cooked to perfection and the attention from the hosts was just right, friendly and efficient but not over the top. As wine lovers we were impressed with the range and quality of the wines. This isn't a budget place. It's for special occasions, where you can expect to spend considerably more than in a standard restaurant, but it is worth it.

Two Sawyers

4.8

4.8 (752)

£25 and under

Pub

Hastings

About the restaurant

The Two Sawyers is a 16th Century Inn recently refurbished and under family ownership. We pride ourselves on serving excellent beer and food.

We have a large beer garden to the rear of the pub with over 30 tables for our guests to use for both drinking and dining.

A character bar with log fires serving guest ales, beers, and wines. The restaurant serves traditional pub food twice both lunch and evening and all day on both Saturday and Sunday.

Top review

Bridget

Dined 2 days ago

Excellent service everyone friendly and helpful. Food was delicious. Price was extremely fair

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Popular dish

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Popular dish

Fish and Chips

The Hatch Inn Hartfield

4.7

4.7 (904)

£26 to £40

Gastro Pub

Hartfield

About the restaurant

As a quick note to customers we would like to inform you that all of our reservable outdoor tables are under cover and have heating. Also standard seating is indoor seating.
Proprietor Nicholas Drillsma and partner Sandy Barton have built an enviable reputation over the past 28 years in producing the highest quality, locally sourced food, complimented by an extensive wine list.
The menus reflect our customer profile in delivering quality food and service in a cosy, quintessentially English public house.
We would encourage anyone suffering with food allergens or specific dietary requests to alert us to these within the 'Special Requests' section of your reservation so as we may brief our team accordingly prior to your arrival

Top review

Louise

Dined on Sep 8, 2024

Excellent food and service. Would highly recommend but just note there is no car park but parking in road is readily available.

The Union

4.7

4.7 (1104)

£26 to £40

Contemporary British

Rye

About the restaurant

The Union is a modern British restaurant, cocktail and wine bar set in a beautiful 15th century building in the heart of Rye. Our menu is made up of small and large plates which we recommend sharing across the table. Our team will be on hand to guide you through your visit.

Our food is guided by the seasons and our menu is ingredient led so changes based on what we have available to us. We primarily use British produce and work with local suppliers to ensure we always source the very best ingredients we can get our hands on.

Top review

Diane

Dined 2 days ago

Knowledgeable staff, local produce beautifully cooked and presented. Thoroughly recommend.

First In Last Out

4.8

4.8 (165)

£25 and under

Pub

Hastings

About the restaurant

The First In Last Out (FILO), is a family run free-house in the Old Town of Hastings. Alongside our award winning beer, we serve quality food prepared from scratch. We offer lunch and dinner everyday, including our ever popular Tapas night (Monday), Indian Thali (Thursday) and Sunday roasts.

The brewery is located just two minutes away from the pub, where we produce five regular ales using a full mash-tun process. We love live music and host regular Sunday evening gigs, of which details can be found on our website.

The pub is popular with locals and tourists alike, who love to get cosy in our booth seating or warm up on cold winters' days around our unique central fireplace.

Dogs and children are most welcome.

Top review

Kelvinvip

Dined 5 days ago

Friendly welcoming staff. Delicious food and great selection of beers

The White Hart

4.6

4.6 (847)

£26 to £40

Gastro Pub

Uckfield

About the restaurant

Welcome to the The White Hart, we specialise as a Steakhouse... We love all things meat and have pioneered our own unique style of relaxed yet vibrant customer service, this is made easy with our approach to food- The best seasonal ingredients cooked utilising methods from around the world. We love what we do and we hope you do to.

Top review

Anthonyvip

Dined 4 days ago

The food was amazing. The guys were under staffed and needed some help. They worked very hard!

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4.6

4.6 (24)

£26 to £40

Modern European

St Leonards-On-Sea

About the restaurant

BAYTE, is a modern European neighbourhood restaurant with an emphasis on local sourcing and quality produce in the seaside town of St Leonards-on-Sea. The seasonal menu blends influences from across the globe, with particular reference to Italian recipes, such as hand-rolled pastas.
The meat at BAYTE is free-range and reared on biodynamic, organic Haye Farm in Devon. Vegetables are also sourced from organic suppliers, most of them from English and Japanese vegetable growers Namayasai, and Goat Grid Farm, both in nearby Lewes.

Top review

Marcus

Dined 2 days ago

Food and service were wonderful. All of the dishes were delightful.

Landgate Bistro

4.7

4.7 (1557)

£26 to £40

British

Rye

About the restaurant

We make British food with a classic or modern slant. We source our ingredients from the local fields, woodlands and waters. Everything is cooked on the premises, including the sourdough bread and the icecreams.
The Good Food Guide (2023) says: "A fittingly quaint old building, complete with original features, given a suave modern twist via grey panelling and contemporary furniture. Chef-proprietor Martin Peacock has built his menu on classical French traditions and impeccable sourcing and there’s real creativity and originality on show here. The international wine list offers a decent but not overlong selection, with accessible pricing.

Vegetarian: we will always offer at least one starter and one main vegetarian choice. However, we cannot cater for vegans.

***
Please note, due to customer allergies, we cannot allow dogs on the premises.

Top review

CliveA

Dined 4 days ago

We had an exceptional meal that was good on portion size, all courses delicious, well served and very good value for money - unfortunately we do not live in the area so will not be regular visitors but it was the best food we have had out for a long time.

The Dorset Arms Pub

4.5

4.5 (1045)

£26 to £40

Gastro Pub

Hartfield

About the restaurant

Welcome to The Dorset Arms, one of Sussex's best kept secrets..

The Dorset Arms Public House in Withyham is an 18th century alehouse situated in the outstandingly beautiful Sussex Weald. Part of the historic Buckhurst Estate, the pub is named after the Earls and Dukes of Dorset, one time heads of the Sackville family, and shares a heritage of family ownership now headed by their descendant, the present Earl De La Warr.

Showcasing the best of what Sussex has to offer, our Head Chef has fine-tuned the classics and combined them with modern British dishes to provide a diverse and exciting menu.

Top review

Graeme

Dined 2 days ago

Excellent Roast dinners, perfectly cooked. A lovely meal to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

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