Best Restaurants for Outdoor Dining in Lewes

Fantastic meal, service, venue. We had the sharing board for two as part of the Sunday menu. Not only was it great value, everything was cooked to perfection. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I had a wonderful experience earlier today at the hengist. My husband and I saw the new Sunday lunch menu on Facebook and just had to book!!! Despite reading some of the previous reviews regarding the food, we decided to give it a try for ourselves and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!!! Immediately when we walked in we were hit with this bubbly, warming atmosphere. A lovely lady named Julia greeted us at the door with a welcoming smile, she offered to take our jackets and took us to a beautiful table by the fireplace . My husband had the scallops and the pork, whilst I had the delica pumpkin and hispi cabbage. The portion sizes were perfect for us, and the food was delivered to us so quickly! Julia, Ollie and Leah delivered such an amazing service, being extremely attentive but also giving us the much needed time to ourselves. Leah was exceptionally polite and made us feel like royalty! After our delicious meal (too stuffed for pudding unfortunately but the table next to us had sticky toffee pudding that looked divine) we were asked if we wanted a hot drink, which was lovely to hear as not many places offer them anymore. On our departure, we were handed our jackets by the owner (Kieron) who asked us how our experience was (amazing!) and we got to chatting about the new chefs and the cocktails. Its clear to see just how much thought and passion is put into this beautiful restaurant and how hard the staff work to deliver a one of a kind service and experience. I would definitely recommend the Hengist to anyone, such a hidden gem with excellent staff and glorious food! We will definitely be coming back to try the grill night.

The first time we visited the Cat I said “this is the nicest pub I’ve ever been to. Today was the same - the most striking first impression is the team who run the dining areas: they obviously enjoy what they’re doing and love working together with a happy buzz. And the food is delicious, the venison haunch especially. Looking forward to eating here again soon - Nigel and the birthday party.

Our second visit to Fork didn’t disappoint! A real gem of a restaurant with excellent food, attentive and friendly service coupled with good value! The fixed menu @ £39.50 provided a diverse set of choices to suit all palates cooked in an open-plan kitchen on full display to the diners. As a wine nerd it was also fantastic to take advantage of a £15 corkage fee which is extremely reasonable. I had scallops in a celeriac purée to start, pork tenderloin with pancetta and then an apple pie to finish. All superbly cooked and presented. We will most definitely be back!

We were served by a lovely lady at the bar who was taking all the orders on her own, who I think was quite new to the job or to recent changes to the menu maybe. I felt for her having no support. She was very apologetic for any delay in taking orders and I could see it upset her that she couldn’t do her job to her full potential. But she certainly gave it her all. One guy seemed to bring the food to the tables and I didn’t see any other waiting staff. They were both really lovely friendly people. And it didn’t affect our visit. But I did feel they could have done with another pair of hands to support them. The food was lovely. The kids burgers were a good size and a nice quality meat. The pub itself is cosy and friendly. We will return. Thanks.