4 Best Restaurants in England

This unpretentious neighborhood restaurant serves inventive modern European cuisine—think rabbit, pork, and pistachio terrine or brill, mussels, and fennel in a bouillabaisse sauce. Enjoy your meal with some of the best natural wines you'll find in London.

Excellent seafood and indulgent desserts are the specialties at this popular bistro, but there are steaks and a few veggie options on the menu as well. Order the fishcakes with buttered spinach or the jumbo shrimp grilled Tandoori style (with a hint of Indian spice), and save room for the Knickerbocker Glory, an old-fashioned concoction of ice cream, sponge cake, fruit, and chocolate, served in a tall glass. The restaurant is a 20-minute walk north of the city center.

The villages of England are awash with cream tea cafés, but none are as quaint and cute as the Lavenham Blue Vintage Tea Rooms. Having converted the ground floor of the 15th-century timber-framed cottage into a café, the proprietor set about making a name for the place with the best cream teas and door-stop sandwiches this side of the Broads. And if you can't manage another cream tea then indulge in a classic ploughman's lunch, a quintessential country lunch of cheeses, cold meats, pickles, and bread. 

Situated in Ambleside’s old mill yard, the Tap Yard serves craft beers fresh from the tanks. It's a lively spot in the evenings, popular with locals as well as visitors, and there's a wide menu of wood-fired pizzas, gourmet burgers, and antipasti to share. Dogs are welcome, and there's a separate children's menu.