Lewes eats well for a town of seventeen thousand, mostly because it has kept the chains out. The High Street is independent shops and pubs, and nearly everything below is within ten minutes’ walk of the apartment. These are the places in our guest handbook, which is to say the places we go ourselves. Book at weekends.
Pubs
The Pelham Arms is directly opposite the apartment, a seventeenth-century High Street pub with its own ABYSS microbrewery out the back. Known for burgers, smoked dishes and a good spread of plant-based and gluten-free options. It is also where the walk back from Ditchling Beacon ends, which is not a coincidence.
The Swan in Southover calls itself a little pub with a big personality, which is about right: homemade food, well-kept Harvey’s, vinyl on the turntable, an award-winning garden and a very good Sunday roast. Ten minutes’ walk, near the station.
The Rights of Man on the High Street is named for Thomas Paine, who lived a few doors up. Wood panelling, art-deco lamps, a roof terrace in summer, Harvey’s on the bar, and a menu that runs from sandwiches and tapas to fish and game. The Sunday lunch has a reputation.
The King’s Head in Southover is a gastropub with cosy corners: pulled-pork sandwiches, big cheese boards, and another strong Sunday roast.
Restaurants
No. 34 is a wine bar and restaurant built around low-intervention wines and simple seasonal plates: cheese and charcuterie, a short list of mains and good desserts.
Fuego Lounge is the café-bar with the green frontage on the High Street. Breakfast through to cocktails, tapas and burgers, separate children’s, vegan and gluten-free menus, and big windows for watching Lewes go past.
Chaula’s is a Gujarati restaurant, which is rarer than it sounds: freshly made dishes from Gujarat alongside the familiar favourites, and very good for vegetarians and vegans.
Erawan Thai has eighteen or twenty seats, bring your own bottle, beautifully presented food with edible flowers, and a loyal following. Book; it’s tiny.
ASK Italian is the one chain on the list, and a useful one with children: pizza, pasta and risotto near the castle, with vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.
Cafés and a night in
The Needlemakers, a Victorian factory turned into a warren of independent shops, has a courtyard café; Depot, the town’s cinema and arts centre, has a café-bar that is good with or without a film. The farmers’ market on Cliffe Precinct on Fridays and Saturdays is the place for Sussex cheese, bread and whatever’s in season, and the makings of a Glyndebourne picnic.
For a night in, which with a kitchen like the apartment’s is not a hardship: Waitrose on Eastgate Street is five minutes’ walk, open late most days; Tesco on Brooks Road is bigger and open until midnight Monday to Saturday. Harvey’s shop on Cliffe High Street for the beer, and the market or the vineyard shops for the wine (see Sussex wine and breweries).
Two practical notes
Many kitchens in Lewes stop taking orders around nine, so if you’re coming back from Glyndebourne or a late train, eat first or cook. And on Bonfire Night the pubs are ticket-only or closed, so plan a night in.
Last checked September 2026. Opening times and prices change; the links go to the official sources.
Header photo: Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.