With a restaurant high on Jay Rayner's accolade, we knew it had to be somewhere special. The Suffolk is indeed a remarkable spot. Just a mere stone's throw away from a pebble beach this kitchen come guesthouse is somewhere we'll be ever-so happy to commute to from London. 

By now we needn't say more, whether you like it or not we still go mad over small plates. Especially if they're from Lark. This is the epitome of small place gone big: from flavour, to its ambience, Lark is making moves in the food scene. Located in a former bus stop, as you can quite possibly imagine the space isn't fabulously glamorous; it is instead cosy, warm, and inviting. From sopressini cacio e pepe, to its skate wing with mussels and peppercorn sauce; Lark's greatness comes with its fearless attitude to experimenting. And boy does it pay off. 

Ed Wilson and Josie Stead, makers of Columbia Road favourite Brawn, are behind this brick-walled Harbour Arm spot, serving Med-influenced small plates of serious quality given the narrowness of the bar-style open kitchen. Happiness is sitting outside on a summer’s evening with a Pantelleria orange wine and a full table: of Cantabrian anchovies, airily magnificent parmesan fritters or red mullet with fennel and fregula. Stay long enough – Wild Turkey 101 Old Fashioneds will help – and you might see the tide fully wax or wane.   

A creative trio that includes Gabriel Chipperfield, whose father designed the Turner Contemporary across the road, are behind this grown-up 14-room hotel – a sensitive conversion of a sea-facing hotel that first opened in 1820. There’s serious art dotted about the place, with a Tracey Emin line drawing in the ground-floor Colina bistro – serving bright Southern European small plates – and one of her neons in a nook in the two-storey subterranean bar, which regularly hosts book talks and cultural events.