Take a Day Trip to These Smart Restaurants or Cosy Country Pubs
New surroundings feel almost as good as a holiday at the moment, so speed out of the city towards the coast or countryside for a day trip centred around a lunchtime feast. These spots provide the perfect excuse to escape, and they are all less than 90 minutes by train or car from central London.
Flotsam and Jetsam, Broadstairs, Kent
Best for: Sand between the toes
For those who feel the need to earn their lunch, take the direct train to Margate and then follow the coastal path that leads from the station out of town and around the headland to Broadstairs. You’ll pass sandy beaches including Botany Bay with its chalky cliffs and Charles Dickens’s summer-holiday spot of Bleak House on the way. Head to Flotsam and Jetsam for lunch, the new takeaway arm of Wyatt and Jones. The menu reaches far beyond the average chippy with battered courgette flowers, crispy crab dumplings, and monkfish scampi in squid-ink batter. Take food down to Viking Bay with its colourful beach huts and deckchairs to hire.
Address: Flotsam and Jetsam, 23-27 Harbour Street, Broadstairs CT10 1EU
Marle at Heckfield Place, Hampshire
Best for: Kitchen-garden ingredients
Arrive early enough to have a wander through the beautiful grounds of Heckfield Place and you might just see your lunch being picked before your eyes. Ingredients for the dishes at Marle restaurant are sourced from the estate where possible, with a bit of bolstering from the biodynamic Fern Verrow farm. The menu is hyper-seasonal, so this spring plates might include wild turbot with asparagus and hollandaise or grilled sirloin with crushed broad beans and pencil leeks, followed by rhubarb tart with peach-blossom ice cream. Tables will be on the Italian Terrace overlooking the upper lake, with a fire pit, sheepskins, and blankets to keep things toasty.
Address: Marle at Heckfield Place, Heckfield, Hook RG27 0LD
Flint Owl Bakery, Lewes, East Sussex
Best for: Serious sandwiches
About an hour on the train from London Victoria takes you to the pretty market town of Lewes in East Sussex. Explore the warren of medieval streets and the Norman castle before having lunch in the garden at the Flint Owl Bakery. It’s light lunch fare: artisan sourdough sandwiches, savoury tartlets, and salad pots that might be filled with brown basmati rice, courgette, cultured orange, chilli, and mint. Pick up a picnic to take on a walk through the South Downs.
Address: Flint Owl Bakery, 209 High Street, Lewes BN7 2NS
Cherwell Boathouse, Oxford
Best for: River views
It’s a half-hour walk from Oxford train station to the picturesque Cherwell Boathouse for lunch right on the riverbank. Tuck into a British seasonal menu of wild-garlic soup and tempura courgette flowers followed by lamb rump with flageolet purée, purple sprouting broccoli, and salsa verde, washed down with a bottle of crisp white wine from Oxfordshire’s Bothy Vineyard. Afterward, pick up a punt from the boathouse next door and laze away the afternoon on the River Cherwell.
Address: Cherwell Boathouse, Bardwell Road, Oxford OX2 6ST
The Hand and Flowers, Marlow, Bucks
Best for: Michelin-star cooking
Hugging the banks of the Thames, the picture-perfect Georgian town of Marlow in the Chilterns is an easy dash from London. Walk along the water’s edge through Higginson Park, the home of chef Tom Kerridge’s summer festival, Pub in the Park. But it’s his two-Michelin-starred Hand and Flowers that is the ultimate lunch destination. The pub is famed for its fish and chips. There’s also a reasonable set-lunch menu during the week, including confit duck leg with red cabbage and parsnip, as well as a classic roast served on Sundays.
Address: The Hand and Flowers, 126 West Street, Marlow SL7 2BP
Vanderlyle, Cambridge
Best for: Vegetarians
An hour’s train journey from King’s Cross to Cambridge followed by a 10-minute stroll leads you to the elegant Vanderlyle restaurant. Open four days a week, it serves a vegetable-led set menu revolving around the very best produce available from local suppliers. Dishes display a playful inventiveness – summer tomatoes might be transformed into the prettiest plate of tomato granita with kalamata-olive semifreddo and basil-oil caramel.
Address: Vanderlyle, 38 Mill Road, Petersfield, Cambridge CB1 2AD
The Crooked Billet, Stoke Row, Henley
Best for: Next-level pub food
Live fresh air during a walk through the peaceful Chiltern Hills before lunch at The Crooked Billet, a classic country pub in the village of Stoke Row. Inside it’s all log fires and beams, but there’s also a large garden for outdoor dining. Refresh with a glass of cold Prosecco or a pint of ale before sampling the menu that is more restaurant than pub fare. Start with a crispy pork-hock and celeriac roulade followed by halibut with wild-garlic polenta, finishing with homemade ice cream.
Address: The Crooked Billet, Newlands Lane, Stoke Row, Henley-on-Thames RG9 5PU
Angela’s, Margate
Best for: Catch of the day
Rock oysters, scallops, and ray with brown butter await seafood fans at Angela’s, which features a menu that changes daily according to the catch. Located just off The Parade along the beach, this small restaurant is a neighbourhood favourite, with everything sustainably sourced and served up in a welcoming environment. Finish the day with a trip to Turner Contemporary and a swim in the tidal pool.
Address: Angela’s, 21 The Parade, Margate CT9 1EX
Japanese Grill, Surrey
Best for: Sushi worth travelling for
The Japanese Grill at Beaverbrook combines foraged and garden-grown ingredients in authentic dishes such as chargrilled wagyu with juniper miso and turbot nigiri with wood ants. Head chef Wojciech Popow won first place in the Washoku Challenge at Le Cordon Bleu. Each plate is delivered with precision and care. If you missed sushi during lockdown, this is the spot to visit, only about 20 miles from London.
Address: Japanese Grill, Beaverbrook, Reigate Road, Leatherhead KT22 8QX
The Sportsman, Whitstable, Kent
Best for: A special occasion
Take the train to Whitstable and follow the coast to The Sportsman, a seemingly unassuming pub overlooking the marshlands. Chef-patron Stephen Harris meticulously sources ingredients as close to his kitchen as possible, even picking seaweed by hand. The set menu changes daily but will include local fish and oysters. The star dish is a simple plate of slip sole grilled in seaweed butter.
Address: The Sportsman, Faversham Road, Seasalter, Whitstable CT5 4BP
