Last Updated on June 21, 2026
Progressive and Sustainable British Gastronomy in Worthing
5.0 out of 5.0 starsSituated on the South coast between Brighton and Chichester, Worthing has a reputation as being an old-fashioned, conservative and dare I say it, stuffy destination. But as with other South Coast towns things are changing with a younger artier crowd moving in, refugees from the soaring property prices of Brighton and London. Part of that change is Manchester-born chef Johnny Stanford’s restaurant Tern. It’s the sort of place you might expect to find in Shoreditch, Dalston or Hackney, and now apparently in Worthing.
Johnny’s CV is impressive with stints with Paul Kitching at Juniper in Altrincham, Michelin starred restaurant Matt Gillan @ The Pass, working as Head Chef at Pascere in Brighton and then fine dining restaurant AG’s at Alexander House Hotel gaining 3 AA rosettes. 26 cover Tern started life as a pop-up on Worthing Pier and after a round of crowdfunding, the plan for Tern was hatched with the restaurant opening just before Xmas 2025. With a zero-import philosophy, three monthly-changing tasting menus (5, 7 and 10 courses) and an all-British wine list, Tern is riding the wave of new British cooking which we have highlighted in recent reviews of Sally Abé’s Teal in Hackney and Tavern in Shoreditch. However Tern is a fine-dining proposition rather than the more robust British Bistro nosh served at Teal and Tavern.
Johnny has partnered with artist Sophie Harvey to create and manage Tern. Sophie’s influence is clear in the interiors of both the restaurant and the new Basement Bar. The upstairs has dark wooden floors, black leather chairs elm tables, mushroom and cream polished plaster walls. There are some lovely touches like the bespoke cutlery holders and walnut light shades and there’s an open kitchen providing some theatre.
We started things off in the Basement Bar. It has the feel of a late 1960s psychedelic dive bar but with a 90s indie soundtrack and, in line with the ethos of the restaurant, a policy of using British only spirits. In charge of the bar is Lauryn, a self-taught mixologist. This information would normally give me a bad case of the vapours, but the drinks menu seemed reassuringly intriguing so after a bit of chanting to calm me down I took the plunge.
Signature drinks include ‘Helena Kelly’, an apricot sidecar using Spirit of the Downs Sussex Brandy, and ‘Salt + Smoke’, a baconfat-washed Old Fashioned with Knepp Estate charcuterie. There’s also a bar snacks menu which is a boon as sinking cocktails on an empty stomach is a one-way road to perdition. I’m a Negroni drinker so I chose the Mister Mycelium, a Mushroom and Tarragon Negroni. Constructed with Sipello, a gooseberry-based British amaro from the Surrey Hills and a shiitake tincture, it was lighter than a traditional Negroni with a profound umami note from both the tincture and a revelatory mushroom paper garnish. It was excellent as was the Running out of Thyme, a refreshing herbal lemon and thyme fizz dotted with gin-soaked blueberries.
We ambled upstairs for the 5-course tasting menu (£65 pp with matched wines £55 pp). You know the world is changing when your wines are made in Worthing or Dorking. Our first pour was a glass of Sov’ran Imperial Cuvée 2023. Made locally from Kent and Essex Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes with the secondary fermentation taking place in the tank instead of the bottle, it was fresh and dry with apple and brioche notes.
We started with a couple of snacks. A cheese and onion toast had a rich cheesy filling offset by the sweetness of a few dobs of Branston pickle in an unironic glow up of a Welsh Rarebit.
A beautifully presented chalk stream trout tartare was topped with a hoppy IPA gel, a smoky charcoal oil and some edible nasturtiums.
A dark, rich treacle and stout bread and a soft, inviting IPA onion bread came with a prettily garnished, vegetal wild garlic butter. We moved on to a Litmus Orange wine from Dorking made with hand harvested Bacchus grapes with the wine having six weeks of skin contact. It was very elegant, lean with a gentle acidity and spice notes.
Then came a sequence of dishes that were like a series of exquisite miniatures. Sweet Isle of Wight tomatoes sat in a clarified tomato consommé, topped with sorrel leaves. The astringency of cider vinegar balanced the sweetness of the tomatoes.
A Bacchus and Sauvignon Blanc blend from Cambridge, Haters Gonna Hate from Gutter & Stars was full of citrus and elderflower flavours and was a great match with our next dish. Intensely flavoured white crab meat came with the tartness of unripe strawberry, the fresh crunch of radish, nasturtium puree and leaves, the fragrance of elderflower pearls and the gentle bite of a horseradish cream.
Davenport Horsemonden Dry from Rotherfield had a pleasingly floral acidity that cut through the evocative smoked onion sauce and surprisingly tender slow-cooked monkfish. A trilogy of pea puree, pea shoots and whole barely cooked peas that popped in your mouth completed the dish.
Dessert came from the nursery but with a savoury twist. Raspberry jelly and fruit was paired with a cool savoury flavour of a fennel ice cream and custard. The intense long baked apple and honey aftertaste of 1276 Apple Ice Wine made in Cambridgeshire from frozen apples was a great match with the dessert.
Johnny and the team at Tern are breaking new ground. This is not the performative Britishness of Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner, but an uncompromising and progressive gastronomy rooted in locality supported by the burgeoning English wine scene. We need to support restaurants such as Tern which are outside of the Metropolitan hullabaloo and it is exciting to see whether a new national culinary identity will emerge.
01903 629787
39 Warwick Street Worthing BN113DQ
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