The Smugglers Rest in Lewes

Really lovely surprise, at the end of our walk we found this lovely pub, The Smugglers Rest, nestled above the cliffs with sea views and both a dog friendly area indoors and a non dog friendly area (very helpful if youre allergic, as I am). A good selection of vegan and veggie options on the menu We were in a late lunch/early dinner time of day, so we went for a selection of starters and picky bits, including the vegan falafel, all really good Excellent service from Lily, she was very helpful with our dietary requirements and knowledge on ingredients

Amazing service, amazing food. We ate here 2 nights in a row a table of 7. Fussy kids were well looked after. Great meal

Lily was very attentive and friendly and helped with the food intolerance options. The food from Simon was excellent

Very clean and good atmosphere. LILY was a great hostess , friendly kind and helpful...Sunday lunch was excellent I recommend the Trio.

Nice local pub so much better now they have got rid of the parking nonsense. I was served by Debbie who was lovely and attentive. I had the trio roast which was lovely but I wanted the wellington which isn’t appropriate for me due to my nut allergy. Debbie was prompt on notifying me of the nut contamination and the trio was fine!

Booked The Smugglers Rest after driving past it this morning on the way to Brighton. We were looked after wonderfully by Lily and food was cooked to perfection by Simon. We'd definitely stop here again. Thank you for a great meal!

We were served by Lily who was excellent and went above and beyond to accomodate us, food was great (as usual). Many thanks.

First of all I would like to say that once I arrived the staff was nasty rude and so on I find it unprofessional knowing that customer service is the most important for me plus I find that waiting more than 3 hours for simple fries is shameful I recommend to anyone very bad experience plus their fries were not that good and arrived cold a shame I would have preferred a refund than having their fries cold and the quantity and quality of their product in no way justifies their work because their fries had the taste of freeze I am very disappointed with this restaurant if I could I would have given 0 stars

Lily was amazing with us. The Simon’s food was absolutely delicious

Good country pub, good ambience. Ellie looked after us. She was wonderful, polite and very attentive. Well done to her.

Excellent Sunday lunch cooked by Simon and served by Lily. Thank you ... absolutely first class.

So to start we arrived this Sunday 04/27/2025 around 1 p.m. and ordered different dishes like fries, burgers and salads because there was no more FISH and CHIPS so we took what I mentioned before. Even though they are very simple dishes, after 2 hours of waiting, still nothing. Every time we went to ask they said "on the way" but nothing happened, know that we have a Ferry to take at 6 p.m. and that we were still there at 3 p.m. we had to leave and cancel the order and leave with the hunger of England. I want a lot because my 7 month pregnant wife is forced to be hungry because of you. DISHONEST SERVICE! In addition to that, we see people coming after us to receive their dishes before and leaving before and above all there were people who received FISH CHIPS. What did we face? Discrimination?

Really very disappointed we waited 2 hours not to receive our dishes only received our ordered drinks, several people arrived after us received their orders and new people arrived also we received their orders. And what's more, we were lied to by saying that it happens and that a dish was not available when other people who arrived after us received this dish.

Just had a family meal here, food was good, served by Lily who was attentive, charming & efficient. Setting is informal & relaxed -ideal for Sunday lunch. Would recommend.

Horrible and expensive food. Do not recommend to anyone!!

Lily has looked after me, Simon has cooked for me, they are all amazing! My fav place ✨

Been here a few times now and it’s the same great service and same great food each time. I went for Katsu chicken and rice this time round. Was really tasty but I prefer their other meals like lasagna, roast and burgers. Got given a nice table near the window and was served real quick. Food arrived quickly and was nice and hot. Menu is really good and also offers small tapas dishes too. Will be back here again soon I’m sure.

absolutely chuffing wonderful service, great care from Georgia, Simon made some grand food.

Georgia was attentive and very polite even though she was very busy on Easter Monday. Food was lovely. Mum particularly liked the fish and chips but commented that hot food should be served on hot plates.

We went there for the first time yesterday with our daughter and young grandsons. Lovely place in an idyllic place, lovely staff, and the food was the best we have had in a long time. Excellent value for money too. Good portion sizes, looked great and all of it tasted fantastic . Good children’s menu too. We will definitely be going back 🤩

Lily service was excellent, and Simon cooked the food superbly.

Food ok, but overwhelmed with excessive black pepper, and not very hot.

Great service from lily & food cooked by Simon, lovely atmosphere & good food

Another superb Sunday Lunch at the wonderful pub. We come here a lot for Sunday Lunch as the service and food are always amazing. Today was no exception. We were looked after by Steve today, who was a delight. Steve was friendly, engaging and knowledgeable. The food arrived quickly, despite the team being busy as it is Easter Sunday. My Turkey Roast was amazing and my husbands Lamb was equally as delicious. Thank you for another superb meal. See you next week.

Lovely Roast dinner on Easter Sunday! Lily was our waitress and was very friendly and helpful! Service was great and the food was lovely! We will return

Nikki was looking after us and was friendly helpful and attentive. We had a table that was set apart so felt like our own private area which was great.

Very good food, a nice place for lunch. We come here a few times a year and it's always reliable. Service can be a little slow sometimes as they get very busy but that's a minor quibble.

Lily was friendly, engaging and highly efficient - a very good communicator

First time at the Smugglers Rest for many years. The set up is welcoming and clean and the views over the channel and cliffs are superb. A good meal enjoyed by all three of us, enhanced by friendly efficient service from Lily. We’ll be back.

It's a very nice place with delicious food, fizzy drinks, authentic atmosphere and seaview. My fish was juicy and my gin was strong enough. I met my friends here. But it's also good for dates, family dinners or birthday parties. I like this place. I will definitely come back.

Great service. Very knowledgeable and helpful is order for our first visit. Also have us a great table, will definitely be back. What a great place. Pie of the day was huge, so much meat!! Loved it

Nice seating inside- went in twice for a drink on holiday with dog. Had water and treats for dog. Well positioned from studd farm campsite - 15 min walk.

Fast service, good food, attentive staff and good value for money. All accompanied by a beautiful view

Lily's service and Amy's food were top notch.

I hadn't booked ahead but found a table and ordered a roast dinner and a pint. Food came nice and quickly, a mix of turkey, beef and pork with the trimmings. All very tasty 😋 plus friendly service from the staff 👍

We often meet our friends for lunch at the Smugglers. A lovely pub which is part of the Vintage Inns group. The food is pood srandard. The service in the form of Summer was excellent and very attentive to our needs. For anyone who hasn't visited the pub the views are spectacular overlooking the sea.

Awesome pub woth stunning sea views

It was our first time here. The food, cooked by Amy, was delicious and the service was excellent (and quick - but not pushy). It was the best vege roast we've had in a while. Our server Lily was polite and attentive. We'll be back!

Our server Summer was summer by name and summer by nature. Bright, enthusiastic, cheerful, attentive and engaging, I cannot praise her enough, she was lovely.

Nice restaurant in a beautiful location. The beer garden overlooking the English Channel is awesome. Very friendly staff, fast service. Fish'n Chips and Fish cakes were yummy, the sea bass however a little bland (sorry). But since we always share our dishes we all had something delicious. We will definitely be back.

Lovely place! Would highly recommend 👌

Always excellent food at the Smugglers. The lamb shank is wonderful!

Love this place such a nice day out on a hot day! And a big thanks to Lewis for being such a good waiter ! #willbereturning

Lovely lunch! Addison our server was great.

Amazing food, and wonderful food! Lily was very friendly and professional, and looked after us well.

Food was wonderful the chicken pie was very big and a lot of meat in it

Friendly staff member but she was the only one on duty at 3.00pm on the Monday we visited and she doubled up as the bar maid also. Food was average at best with the so-called roasted carrots accompanying my 'pie of the day' being served uncooked/so hard I could not cut them let alone try to eat them, whilst my friend's fish cakes were over cooked. The only saving grace was we had a '40% off mains' voucher so the mains only cost £10 per head + drinks at full price.

Nice pub with good atmosphere. Food was underwhelming- no seasoning and no avocado in an chicken-egg- avocado salad. We ordered some cocktails that were not great either. Very mid experience.

Great English pub we ate Sundays roast very attentive impeccable service good prices. Unique atmosphere thank you Moe!!!

Food was good, quite tasty- had the roast. Bit stingy on the amount of meat and vegetables cold.

Went friday night to see Gabriella Parrish singing. Lovely atmosphere wth g8 entertainment. Drinks & service frm bar staff was excellent. Comfy cosy seating & surroundings. Highly recommend...will return.

Great service from Steve! Lovely atmosphere and great views

Really fab food cooked by Darren and atmosphere. Nicki was a great waitress. Quick and efficient service.

Very nice food and great service from Nicki

What a good find, sat with a window view of the sea. Sophie our server was attentive and provided good all round service.

Great place, food and service. Would definitely visit again

Atmosphere very good toilets, and singer was incredible

Great pub with a beautiful view over the sea and the cliffs. The inside is cozy and warm and the food is fresh and authentic. The service was great and made me feel like at home. I had a wonderful time with my friends and I will definetly come back again very soon! Keep it up!

Lovely service as usual from Danny

Spend an impromptu evening relaxing in the in this beautifulpub, the team looked after us amazingly. The ambiance was just right and made us stay for more than we should. The food were lovely and catered for my partners allergy wonderfully. Top marks all round

Welcomed by the lovely Danny, so friendly. Lovely atmosphere… will return. Looked after by the team.

Fantastic Service, nice atmosphere. Was greeted by a wonderful man called Danny, he meet all our needs when we asked for a Pacific table :)

Visited with my Mum on a beautifully sunny lunchtime after a walk along the South Downs and Telscombe Tye. The perfect venue for a cosy warm up meal indoors if the weather is rubbish, or in this case out in the warmth of the sun, with a lovely selection of drinks and food. Great food, good prices and variety, they’ve got friendly smiley staff, the manager came to chat too - seemed really chill and looking to do that bit extra to help both of us have the best experience. Will definitely be back - looks like they’ve got some great music events coming up. Thanks

First time here and have say service was 10/10food was amazing, gorgeous place,the manager Daniele was lovely and very attentive.look forward to returning .

Delicious food and great service. Thanks very much!!

Terrible food ! Dry salad no dressing , not fresh calamari’s , slow service , dry cold garlic bread - awful

Firstly, I'll get the negatives out of the way, I understand that it's expected that customers wait at the restaurant entrance to be seated, there are three primary issues here, if there are 3 or more people standing there waiting for several minutes it blocks the entrance, not once did a staff member say someone will be with you shortly, or similar, what is a serious concern is that it's an uncomfortable, unwelcoming feeling of being a sitting duck whilst the bar staff make fun of the customers, yes, thats correct the bar staff apparently get their kicks out of making fun of the customers ! The positives, the only staff member to come out of this experience with any credit is a male server dressed in black with a North Country accent, he's a professional amongst amateurs (in my opinion) , he recognised our discomfort and offered our party an alternative table as we were next to a table of 8 - 10 rowdy drinkers all shouting over each other (sorry, I'm back to the negatives) and the Fish and Chips were as god as anything I've ever previously tasted !

Great food and great service. We’ll be back! Steve did a great job looking after us for our lunch. We will recommend to friends and family

We had exceptional service from Summer who was welcoming, friendly and very efficient. The pub has a nice ambience and felt cozy on a chilly evening. The food is pretty average, just bog standard pub grub, nothing particularly wrong with it just no thrills!

We had Steve serve us and couldn’t have been more helpful. So lovely and friendly!

Super Roast Dinner. Great service from our waitress Cherry. Lovely, happy and accurate order taking. Thanks Cherry 👍.

Great food and service. Thank you 🙏🏼

Had a wonderful lunch, served by Cherry who was so amazing, kind, social and friendly. We felt very welcomed, and the food and drinks were delicious, and the views are beautiful. Absolutely recommended.

Food terrible chicken curry. No gluten free choices. Pub under new management. Hopefully it will improve. Awaiting response after talking to new manager

Food was great. Scotch egg was very tasty as was the sticky chicken bites and the prawn cocktail. Lasagne is a firm favourite and the chicken burger was tasty and filling. Service was prompt and polite. All in all, a lovely lunch out

Another lovely family meal at the Smugwrs with excellent allergen awareness and great service from our waitress Lily. Thanks

A pretty decent visit to be fair. You always have to be wary of various reviews quoting names without much info, so I almost gave this place a miss. It was a fairly busy day and the wait at the bar was a bit longer than you’d hope for. A pint of Estrella for £6.05 isn’t the end of the world these days. Truth be told the garden/decking area felt a bit unloved and could do with a spruce up before summer, although it was generally quite pleasant on a calm day in early March. The manager chap (Irish and bearded?) seemed on the ball too and was kind to customers. A good pub by all accounts. Less on the spurious reviews would go a long way as people can spot them a mile off on Google these days!

Great food and great service from Addison, also had a happy toddler after the crayons he gave. Thanks :)

Delicious food, friendly staff and lovely ambiance! Highly recommended😊

Thank you Steve for the lovely service! Delicious Sunday roast, glad we came down

Great setting and our waitress was lovely. Food not so great! Chips and new potatoes were overcooked, singed broccoli, steak not cooked to requested doneness, mushrooms all cheese and no garlic, but worst of all, food for both myself and my daughter was tepid. Not great when you have fish! Won’t be back.

We were served by Steve & food cooked by Simon. Service was quick and food was good. Great service overall

Joe the waiter and Simon the Chef are great. We will absolutely be back. Definitely recommend

Joe was our waiter who was excellent very polite and helpful.. Simon who was our cook the food was fantastic hot when delivered to our table

Came here with family was excellent Steve the waiter was very helpful 👍

Thoroughly enjoyed our evening meal. Steve who served us was attentive and we had lots of laughs

Slay what a meal and WHAT service Lorna and Steve smashed it xxxx

Fab food.. we had a chicken & veg curry and a chicken & pancetta pie, both really good! Service was top notch, our person Steve was very friendly.. also we loved our table next to the log fire which was very cosy!

Great food, Excellent service from Steve who looked after us from start to finish, he's a true asset and a real credit to the establishment. No faults at all, a great experience Give it a go it really is worth it 👍

THAT was THE best service I’ve ever had ❤️ Lorna and Ste were excellent!!

Steve was brilliant, very professional and welcoming. I had lamb shank which was cooked beautifully - atmosphere was calming 100% recommend

We went for Sunday lunch, I'm Gluten intolerant, and although the menu doesn't mention anything about what is available, Steve assured me that I can have everything from the roasts apart from the Yorkshire puddings, Simon was the chef and the food was great as was the service, worth a visit👍

We hadn't booked but were seated, by the fire, with a view of the sea. Our meal was delicious, the staff were friendly and attentive

Large carpark, friendly staff, warm dog friendly pub....we recommend

Great lunch! Food was delicious and good choices. We had a sunny window! Thoroughly recommend!

Well looked after by Steve! He made sure we've got all need. (His voice was good too!) Signature Burger was so perfect! (Thanks, Chef Simon). We'll definitely come back again.

It was our first time having a Sunday roast here and we were pleasantly surprised. We were met by a warm and inviting waitress Lily who made sure our experience was nothing but perfect. We were recommended the roast turkey (cooked by Ryan) which was delicious! The roast potatoes were our favourite part. We definitely will return, thank you Lily and Ryan!

Amazing food, warming open fires and incredible views!

was there yesterday sunday the 9th feb. ive been to this place a few times and can say ive not had a bad meal. but i had a roast lamb and it had to be the worse meal ive ever had. the meat was so raw i struggled to even cut it with a stake knife. 4 wot looked like new potatoes but fryed and 1 carrot cut in half. broccoli was so hard and 1 yorkshire. spoiled a brother's birthday

Steve is the best waiter, has lovely conversations with you and makes you feel welcome, we have been here a few times and had him serving us everytime, really good food definitely the best place to come for a Sunday roast 😍 will be back