A Weekend in Hastings & St Leonards:
Things to do, where to eat and drink

A modern European neighbourhood restaurant with a stylish interior and emphasis on local sourcing and quality, seasonal produce.

Bayte has quickly established itself as one of the most talked-about restaurants in the area, drawing food lovers from well beyond the seafront. The menu takes inspiration from Middle Eastern and North African flavours, working with quality seasonal produce to produce dishes that are bold, fragrant, and generously executed.

Highlights for me were the Sarde a Beccafico, a traditional Sicilian dish of butterflied sardines stuffed with a sweet / savoury mix of pine nuts, currants, anchovies, garlic and parsley, and the Brioche Crème Fraîche w/ sweet wine and rhubarb.

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Tonka is a family-run Mauritian-inspired restaurant and bakery on the Old Town seafront, run by chef and food writer Kimberley Duke and her husband, who is from Mauritius.

Mauritian food culture is a mix of Indian, Chinese and African cuisines, and the menu is built on local ingredients wherever possible. Kim’s background is in flavour science and cookbook writing, alongside stints at some of London’s best known kitchens including Bao and Bubala.

Her debut book Weekly Provisions, on seasonal eating and using up leftovers, was praised by Nigella Lawson, and she co-founded Life Kitchen, a social enterprise running free cookery classes for people who’ve lost their sense of taste through cancer or Covid.

It’s picked up strong reviews from national food writers since opening and I can see why. The dishes have familiar flavour profiles yet feel innovative and fresh. Courgette flowers stuffed with prawn toast mix, and sweet peshwari-spiced crispy wontons served on a punchy smoked saag are great examples of this.

The melt in the mouth Wagyu Denver Steak will soon be a signature dish if it isn’t already but the highlights for me were the Tapioca Fried Chicken marinated in coconut milk, served with green chilli honey and daikon pickles, and the Green Plum Sago, which took me back to my childhood and brought a massive smile to my face.

The restaurant, which operates as a cafe during the day only seats 14 and has a great buzz about it. If you’re looking for something a bit different, this is the place.

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The Royal opened in October 2019 and has held a Bib Gourmand in the Michelin Guide ever since. In a Victorian building directly opposite St Leonards Warrior Square station, The Royal describes itself as a gastropub and dining room, with an emphasis on simple, elevated pub food built on good seasonal produce.

Owner James Hickson learned his trade at St John, Great Queen Street, The Canton Arms and Moro, and alongside the food there are draft beers, real ales, an impressive, unpretentious wine list.

House pickles and mini saucisson made for great snacks with a glass of sherry, before moving onto a fresh Heritage Tomato Panzanella, comforting Pork Belly dish with congee, pak choi, peanuts and plum sauce, and a lush Chocolate Torte with cherries and crème fraîche to finish.

At time of writing, The Royal offers dinner for a very reasonable £24 for two courses or £28 for three.

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Named after the small shellfish found on local shores, Coquina sits within the Hastings Contemporary art gallery right on the Rock-a-Nore seafront, making it a natural pairing with a visit to the gallery itself.

The sister restaurant to Bayte in St Leonards, it shares the same commitment to quality and careful sourcing, with a menu that celebrates the Sussex coast’s fantastic seafood.

The triple cooked ‘Chips’ which are actually deep fried roast potatoes are essential and I also really rated the super fresh Grilled Sardines w/ tomatoes, caper berries, pine nuts & mint, and the Hake w/ arrow leaf spinach, lentils, indulgent saffron aioli and scallop roe. To finish, Warm Almond Cake w/ bay custard and citrus ice cream was also a total winner.

Coquina feels somewhat of a hidden gem and even has a sun drenched, sea view balcony, which is a hell of a place for a coffee and homemade cake.

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An institution among Hastings Old Town regulars, if you’re looking for fish and chips, Maggie’s is THE place to go. Tucked away on Rock-a-Nore Road, it uses the freshest local catch and does the simple things exceptionally well.

Look no further than the catch of the day board, which featured monkfish, plaice, huss, and prawns on the day we visited. We went for starter portions of the juicy prawns, and plaice with chips. Both were beautifully cooked in a super light batter without a drip of grease in sight. Excellent curry sauce too.

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The pub sat closed for a period before Tess and Andrew Swan reopened it as an independent family-run freehouse in July 2014. It was named The Observer’s best place to drink in the UK in 2017 and Parliamentary Pub of the Year for the South East in 2018, and appears in Harden’s, the Good Food Guide’s Top 100 Pubs, CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide and Sawdays.

The kitchen serves modern British food built on local provenance, sourcing from the Hastings fishing fleet and Sussex and Kent farms, served all day, every day. The excellent drinks list runs to beers from small independent breweries, local cider, English and European wine, and a specialist gin and whisky range.

The walls carry a monthly changing exhibition by local artists, available to buy, and both dogs and kids are welcome. Don’t miss out on the honey glazed bacon chop, fried eggs, chips and house brown sauce.

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Greyskull is run by married couple Daniel and Sean Cloudsdale, who moved to Hastings and started with a one-day pop-up at the super cool St Andrews Mews. After two events they were offered a permanent space, and opened properly in July 2025.

Sean handles the food, which is live fire BBQ brunch and impressively, everything is cured and smoked in-house. Heritage breed bacon, south coast mackerel cold smoked then hot, black pudding bon bons, hash brown balls, fire-charred asparagus on sourdough, cold-smoked dippy eggs. The Breakfast Burger (weekend only) with home smoked streaky bacon, smashed sausage patty, egg, American cheese and BBQ sauce in a brioche bun is one hell of a hangover cure.

There’s a signature Cold Brewtini and sparkling wine on the drinks list. The Mews itself is worth a look, originally Victorian stabling and established as a market for independents in 1985. Greyskull also runs live music, supper clubs and markets in the courtyard.

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Open to non-residents as well as guests, the café at The Old Rectory brings the same charm as the hotel itself. Whether it’s a leisurely breakfast, afternoon tea with prosecco in the garden, or a light lunch, it’s a welcome step away from the bustle of the Old Town just down the road.

This place is doing things right and the quality is top tier. Bread is baked onsite by master baker, Emmanuel Hadjiandreou, coffee is roasted locally, mushrooms are grown just down the road at Basil’s Fungi Farm, and every cake and dessert is made in-house by the super talented Hattie.

Everything we tried was fabulous but the Seafood Chowder was un-real! An absolute stunner I cannot recommend highly enough. A flawlessly executed classic dish, elevated by wonderful house smoked fish. Incredible value too at £16.

Orchard Road is chef Rob Hills’ Singaporean concept, which returned to The Old Rectory in July 2026 after a three and a half year residency at The Sea Dog in Hastings. Hills’ connection to the food is personal, inspired by his late mother who grew up in Singapore in the 1960s, and developed over six research trips to the city spent in its street food culture. What started as a small cult pop-up has become a local fixture, and this version is a more refined take on the same food.

Expect freshly made bao, Singaporean butter chicken, and the signature slow-cooked beef rendang. Orchard Road dishes appear on the daytime menu at The Old Rectory Cafe, with full takeovers every Friday and Saturday evening from 6pm to 9pm, plus Sunday lunches given a Rob Hills twist. Booking is open and advisable.

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Sitting right beside the famous Net Shops on the stade at Rock-a-Nore, Sonny’s is a traditional family fishmonger and smokehouse, which is as close to the source as it gets.

They specialise in smoking fish on-site using local oak chippings, working with the day’s catch wherever possible. Pick up something to take home, or simply stop in to see what’s just come off the boats.

Super fresh oysters were £1.50 a pop, £2.50 rollmops were absolutely massive (and delicious), and the fresh and smoked fish counters had fantastic variety, including jars of smoked tomatoes, anchovies, kippers and more. Top tier stuff.

St Leonards’ very own food market, Heist brings together some of the best local street food vendors under one roof.

On one side of the space, you’ll find burgers, pizza, tacos, bao buns and more, and on the other, a more formal seafood restaurant and wine bar, Boatyard.

The bar is run by the excellent Three Legs Brewery and we lucked out by hitting Heist Market at happy hour, when all pints are just £5.

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The Selkie is a seafood bar in a converted block of public toilets in Bottle Alley, with seating out on the beach. It’s run by Conor, who also operates Oyster Boy Events, a professional oyster shucking business catering events and markets.

The menu is fresh seafood and oysters, with hot smoked salmon, prawns, mackerel, seafood platters and fish stew, alongside charcuterie plates with pickles and bread.

We stopped by, grabbed a table on the pebbles and knocked back some Mersea oysters, which start with a crisp punch of sea-salt before moving into earthy mineral notes and a long, savoury finish.

Cake Room opened in May 2017 in the America Ground, the historic pocket of Hastings around Robertson Street known for its independents. It serves homemade cakes, sandwiches, soups, loose leaf teas and speciality coffee, made fresh on site each day through a glass-fronted kitchen, with a good chunk of ingredients sourced locally. It’s fully licensed, so cocktails are on the menu too.

The walls double as an exhibition space for local artists, with a rotating programme of shows through the year, each opened with a private view. The space is available for hire, and it’s about as dog friendly as cafes get, with a resident dog, Milo who’s part of the furniture.

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Ritual has become something of a destination bar in St Leonards, earning a devoted following for its carefully crafted cocktail menu and relaxed, welcoming vibe.

The menu features some classic cocktails, and plenty with a modern twist. I loved the Mezcal Negroni, and Ritual Vogue – Jura whisky, QuiQuiRiQui mezcal, dry vermouth, amontillado sherry, Campari, honey and agave.

Feels like the kind of place you could pop into for one and end up staying till close.

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Named after the old rock reef where goats grazed in the 19th-century, Goat Ledge is a local beachfront favourite with seating up on the promenade, and down on the beach itself.

Fish baps, ice cream, waffles, cakes, beer, wine, cocktails and a great soundtrack, all with an unobstructed view out to sea. It’s the perfect spot to while away an afternoon.

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Collected Fictions opened in June 2021 as a bottle shop specialising in natural wine and craft beer, and has since become a bar as well. Co-owner Eliot draws on a background as a chef and homebrewer alongside years working in craft beer and natural wine. Everything on the shelves is hand-picked from independent producers, and rotating taps pour beer by the third, half or pint, with samples offered before you commit.

There’s deliberately no wine list. You go in with an open mind and talk to whoever’s behind the bar. The space is small, split across two rooms, and they regularly collaborate with other local independents on food pop-ups and tap takeovers.

Noah’s Goat opened in November 2024, run by Nick and Nicky Holt, who previously ran The Stag in All Saints Street for around seven and a half years. When the former Clockwork Crow site on George Street came up, they took it, drawn in particular by the caves at the back, which now house the cheese cave.

The name comes from the legend of Noah following his goat into the mountains, finding it had been eating grapes, and inadvertently inventing wine.

It’s a wine shop by day and a wine bar in the evening. The range runs to over 150 wines with an emphasis on Italian, unusual grape varieties you won’t find in the chains, and a strong English and Sussex selection.

There’s a deli and cheese counter for Sussex cheeseboards and charcuterie, plus a rotating by-the-glass list, or you can buy a bottle off the shelf and drink it there. They run tastings, quizzes, live music and private events, and were named in the Sussex Six by the Sussex Food & Drink Awards.

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A neighbourhood gem with a loyal local following, No.40 has a food and drinks that punches well above its weight. The menu is unfussy but well executed, the atmosphere is laid-back, and it’s the sort of place you can settle into for the evening.

We only had a drink here but I’m keen to return to try the small plates, which include dishes like grilled mackerel, and fennel, blood orange and sumac salad.

A multi-award-winning boutique hotel tucked into Hastings Old Town, The Old Rectory has just been included in the 50 Best Places To Stay In The UK for 2026 by The Times.

The Georgian building has been lovingly restored into a collection of individually designed rooms with a stunning and tranquil walled garden, koi pond, treatment rooms, and an incredibly talented and welcoming team.

I’ve stayed in the spacious and very comfortable Crown room, which features a freestanding bath, and toilet hidden in the bookcase, and the fantastic All Saints suite which has two light, luxurious and spacious bedrooms.

Highly recommend the buttery scrambled eggs with house smoked kipper, or hot smoked salmon for breakfast, and don’t miss the award winning marmalade too!

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Nestled between two cliffs and fronted by a beach known as The Stade, which is home to the largest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe, the Old Town is still centred around the narrow High Street, All Saints Street and George Street.

The Old Town is home to dozens of fabulously quirky and individual independent shops and boutiques. Antique dealers, artisan bakers, vintage clothing, handmade ceramics, fishmongers, chocolatiers, galleries, and bookshops rub up against some of the most characterful pubs in the south of England, all compressed into a few walkable streets connected by narrow alleyways known locally as twittens.

The Stade is a working beach, where fishing boats are hauled up on the shingle with nets drying beside the famous tall black Net Shops that are unique to Hastings. Photogenic and functional in equal measure.

The Fishermen’s Museum, housed in a former church right on the seafront, tells the story of the fishing community that has defined this place for centuries, and for younger visitors, the seafront also has a miniature train and traditional fairground rides that you’d expect from any self-respecting British seaside destination.

Hastings Old Town is bookended by two dramatic sandstone hills, each with its own character and its own rewards for those who make the climb.

The West Hill, reached from the lower end of George Street, is where you’ll find the ruins of Hastings Castle and sweeping views westward along the coast towards Beachy Head.

The East Hill, rising steeply from Rock-a-Nore at the far end of the Old Town, looks out directly over The Stade and the fishing fleet below, and offers one of the finest elevated viewpoints on the entire south coast.

Immediately east of the Old Town is Hastings Country Park Nature Reserve, which covers 853 acres of sustainably managed farmland, ancient gill woodland, heaths and grassland, plus three miles of dramatic sandstone cliffs and coastline.

The easiest way in is via the East Hill Lift, which drops you at the top of the hill and leaves the whole reserve spread out before you.

Samphire Sauna is a Nordic-inspired, wood-fired sauna out on Hastings Pier, and was the first sauna in the UK to get a permanent home on a seaside pier.

Founders Zoya Jordan and Nell Monck both came from garden and event design and are keen sea swimmers. The idea came during Covid, after they separately visited mobile saunas elsewhere in the UK and decided their hometown needed one. They started near Bodiam and ran pop-ups on the beach at Eastbourne and Bexhill before securing the pier spot.

There are several saunas across the site now, with communal sessions or private bookings, changing rooms, a covered communal space and a sun terrace facing the sea. Sessions pair heat with cold water immersion, and they’ve expanded into women’s groups, breathwork workshops and their own range of body scrubs made with another local business.

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Hastings has two Victorian funicular railways (the cliff lifts). The West Hill Lift, first opened in 1891, retains its original wooden Victorian coaches and runs through a tunnel, which is very unusual for a funicular railway.

The East Hill Lift, opened in 1902, is the steepest funicular railway in the United Kingdom, cut directly into the cliff face rather than tunnelling through it, allowing views over the fishing stade below.

A return ticket costs £5 (with no single journey option), which is a lot for the short journey but worth it for the novelty factor alone.

Hastings Contemporary sits on the seafront at Rock-a-Nore, next to the fishing stade and the tall black Net Shops that are unique to Hastings.

The gallery opened in 2012 as the Jerwood Gallery before relaunching under its current name in 2019, and puts on a rolling programme of contemporary art exhibitions through the year covering painting, sculpture, photography and film.

I’ve visited on a couple of occasions and viewed the Odyssey open exhibition, Janaina Tschape’s ‘Conversations with the Sea’ and Miguel Rothschild’s ‘Undercurrents’, which were all fantastic. Entry prices vary by exhibition, and it’s worth checking what’s on before you visit.

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Hastings Old Town has an exceptional collection of historic pubs. The oldest is almost certainly the Cinque Ports Arms on All Saints Street, a pub that has existed on this site since at least 1642, when it traded under the name The Chequers, serving the fishing community that then populated the street.

Further up the same street is The Stag Inn, a Grade II listed 16th-century pub with its own claims to antiquity, including a smugglers’ tunnel in the cellar and two mummified cats in a glass case behind the bar.

Then there’s The Crown, also on All Saints Street, an independent freehouse recently named among the 100 best pubs in England by the Good Food Guide, championing local ales, seasonal food, and rotating art exhibitions.

Finally, on the High Street, The First In Last Out (the FILO) is another freehouse with its own microbrewery, a roaring central fireplace, live music, and locally sourced food that has made it a cornerstone of Old Town life since 1988.