A thoroughly modernised coaching inn and staging post in the heart of Cuckfield, The Talbot offers all manner of opportunities throughout the day. Pictures and decorative exhibits by local artists
are dotted around the place, and the bar keeps it local with Sussex ales alongside guests from further afield and a host of continental beers to go with light lunches, salads, sandwiches and
pastries. Formal meals are served in the first-floor restaurant – a high-ceilinged, angular room with clean surfaces, bare tables and a menu that mixes modern European ideas with a smattering of
true-Brit standards. Starters of pan-fried chicken livers with green bean salad or crispy ham hock with creamy mustard lentils might give way to salmon, fennel and spinach Wellington, battered
haddock and chips or char-grilled chicken breast in a sesame bun – plus desserts such as apple crumble.