10 Best Restaurants in The South, England

This family-run, centrally located restaurant has been winning rave reviews for both the taste and presentation of its creative Modern British dishes. Produce is largely fresh and local while meats and poultry are free-range and sustainably farmed. Standouts include roast Guinea fowl supreme and confit leg with shitake, squash, and spring greens, pork belly confit with black garlic, glazed carrots, and pickled turnip, and a starter of cod cheeks with fried capers and grapes. Set lunches (two courses £19.50, three courses £24.50) offer good value.

The outstanding food at this waterside hotel is defined by a menu with a strong maritime flavor that befits its location in the heart of a harbor village just outside Ryde. One of only two Michelin Bib Gourmand recipients on the island, much of the fresh produce is from the Seaview's own farm. You might start dinner with a local crab rarebit, then move on to the catch of the day with local tenderstem broccoli and saffron potatoes. The lunch menu features sandwiches and salads, plus vegan options. Food is served in a wood-paneled pub, the Pump Room and Grill, and in the Bistro, a cozy room modeled on a typical ship's Officers' Mess cabin. Luxurious fabrics characterize the chic guest rooms in the adjoining hotel.

The funkier sister of glamorous Lime Wood, this New Forest "restaurant with rooms" is a local favorite that puts the emphasis on local (with all ingredients sourced within 25 miles if not the restaurant's own kitchen garden) and seasonality. Lunch and dinner are served in a large Victorian greenhouse overlooking the lawns, and the twice-daily changing menu may include dishes like an Isle of Wight eggplant with Romano peppers or a whole Poole sea bass. You may also accompany the "staff forager" on expeditions to find shellfish or edible flora like wild garlic and berries. Overnight in one of the 26 comfortable rooms in the main building (an 18th-century former royal hunting lodge) or the converted stable block. All combine a slightly retro, shabby-chic style with modern bathrooms.

A relaxed, modern bistro midway between Old Portsmouth and Gunwharf Quays, this place is ideal for a snack, meal, or glass of wine from the thoughtfully chosen wine list. The changing Modern British menu specializes in seafood dishes like pan-roasted chalk stream trout with a Nicoise salad or ale-battered haddock-and-chips, mostly sourced from Portsmouth's fish market directly opposite the restaurant. Alternatively, opt for honey-and-sesame-glazed duck breast or sweet potato, spinach, and cauliflower Wellington. You can sit indoors, in a garden at the back, or at Continental-style tables on the pavement.

The timbered and gabled building may be venerable—it dates back to the mid-15th century—but the cuisine is Modern British, using locally sourced ingredients. The small but well-executed menu is particularly strong on game dishes, like roast wood pigeon with white onion purée, butternut squash, and puy lentils or guinea fowl with a cabbage and mushroom fricassée and truffle cappuccino. Service and the heritage charm of the surroundings enhance the quality of the food. There's also a good-value set lunch (£21.95 for two courses, £26.95 for three).

Reasonably priced and healthy comfort food is served cafeteria-style at this established, family-run favorite, including dishes like a vegan cheeseburger, a quinoa salad with grilled tofu, and torched mackerel on toast. Serving breakfast (including a great full English) and lunch, the place transforms into a busy cocktail bar in the evening.

If you're after complete tranquility, head for this early-17th-century house surrounded by two acres of grounds in the Nadder Valley. The excellent restaurant has fixed-price menus specializing in contemporary English cooking using local and seasonal ingredients (some from the kitchen garden), such as a pan-seared fillet of wild brill or roast loin of Wiltshire venison. The style is traditional and smart, and a terrace provides alfresco dining overlooking the tidy lawns in summer. Nine comfortable guest rooms may tempt you into forgoing the 10-mile drive back to Salisbury.

This airy modern brasserie on a restaurant-heavy street close to the docks is known for its melt-in-your-mouth meat dishes but also offers vegetarian options. The menu leans toward Modern British favorites like slow-cooked pork belly and pan-fried salmon with Mediterranean touches like fried zucchini or calamari.

Perched on a bluff overlooking sandy Burton Beach, this airy restaurant in a hamlet at the western end of Chesil Beach specializes in freshly caught seafood and locally raised meat and produce. The small but focused menu includes dishes like grilled West Bay lobster with garlic butter and samphire or skate wing with lemon, oregano, and brown shrimp. The restaurant is in a Victorian villa remodeled to evoke a chic 1920s feel, and the tables outside on the terrace have fabulous views across Lyme Bay. Bar food is served when the restaurant is closed. There are also eight light-filled bedrooms with views upstairs.

Oak-beamed ceilings, exposed stone walls, and inglenook fireplaces add to the charm of this restaurant in a 300-year-old former shepherd's cottage across the road from where Thomas Hardy went to school. It specializes in set menus featuring superior modern French cooking using locally sourced produce, with dishes like Portland crab salad, sticky braised beef brisket, and beetroot Wellington with eggplant caviar. Sunday lunch and afternoon tea are also available. Eight comfortable bedrooms are available in an extension overlooking gardens or fields. Lower Bockhampton is signposted off the A35, 1½ miles east of Dorchester.