Restaurants in Chichester

Dining out in the cathedral city

Chichester has a strong and varied restaurant scene for a city of its size, with most of the best places concentrated within the old city walls and along the streets leading off the central Cross. South Street, the Hornet and St Pancras are particularly well served, with a mix of independent restaurants, small chains and long-established family-run places that have been feeding the city for decades.

The independents are the backbone of dining in Chichester. South Street has several well-regarded restaurants offering everything from modern British menus to Italian and Mediterranean cooking. The Hornet, which runs south-east from the city centre, has become something of a restaurant quarter in its own right, with Indian, Thai and other cuisines represented alongside bistros and wine bars. Purchases on North Street has been a fixture of the Chichester dining scene for years, known for its locally sourced ingredients and seasonal menus. The area around Chichester Gate also has a cluster of restaurants and cafes serving visitors to the leisure park and cinema.

Fine dining is available at a handful of places in and around the city. The restaurants attached to the Goodwood Estate, a few miles north-east of Chichester, are among the best in the area, drawing on the estate's own farm and kitchen gardens. Closer to the centre, several restaurants offer tasting menus and more formal dining experiences, particularly around theatre season when the Chichester Festival Theatre brings a well-heeled crowd into the city.

For more casual eating, Chichester has plenty of options. Pizza, burgers, tapas and sharing plates are all available on the main streets, and the pedestrianised sections of North Street and East Street have pavement seating in the warmer months. Lunchtime trade is strong, fuelled by shoppers, office workers and visitors to the cathedral and the Pallant House Gallery.

The city also benefits from its proximity to the coast and the countryside. Fresh fish from Selsey and the harbour, game from the Downs and produce from the farms of the coastal plain all find their way onto local menus. Several restaurants make a point of sourcing within West Sussex, and this connection to the surrounding landscape gives Chichester dining a character that chain-heavy towns lack.

Booking is advisable at the more popular restaurants, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings and during the summer festival season. Theatre-goers often eat before or after performances at the Festival Theatre or the Minerva, and the restaurants within walking distance of Oaklands Park do a brisk pre-show trade from May through to September.

International cuisines are well represented beyond the staple Indian and Italian. Thai, Japanese, Turkish and Middle Eastern food can all be found within the city walls, and the overall quality is lifted by the expectations of a population that dines out regularly and knows what good food tastes like. The competitive nature of the restaurant scene means that places that let their standards slip do not survive long, and the turnover of weaker establishments makes room for new ventures with fresh ideas.

The surrounding villages also contribute to the dining options available to Chichester residents. Country pubs and restaurants within a short drive of the city, particularly in the downland villages of Lavant, Singleton and East Dean, offer an alternative setting with the added appeal of a drive through beautiful countryside. Some of these village restaurants have built national reputations, and a meal in the Downs combined with a walk is a popular way to spend a day.