Best restaurants in Jersey: a local shares her favourite spots
In less than an hour, you can fly from the UK to Jersey – a British island with distinctly French flair – giving you the feeling of a proper island getaway without even needing your passport.
I grew up in Jersey and visit family three times a year, so I’ve been lucky to experience its thriving food scene and stunning coastlines. I might be biased, but for a small island, Jersey has a lot of local produce to be proud of. You’ll find many restaurants incorporating local oysters, scallops and, of course, our famous Jersey royal potatoes, into menus.
To get the most out of your trip, hire a car and explore all four coasts. With over twenty sandy beaches you will be spoiled for choice – but a trip to St Ouen's Bay to watch the sun set on the rugged west coast should be essential to your itinerary.
Faulkner’s Fisheries – for local seafood barbecue
Locals tend to think of L'Etacq as the island's most remote corner - though technically it's one of four. It's a wild, craggy stretch of St Ouen's Bay with little in the way of housing, but it does have one unexpected draw: a repurposed German bunker selling and barbecuing some of the freshest seafood you'll find anywhere in Europe.
In what has become a Jersey institution, Faulkner’s Fisheries draws a crowd on sunny days, with bright blue picnic tables strung along the sea’s edge. Fresh Jersey oysters, barbecued scallops and prawns in garlic, herb and white wine butter are all served with French bread - but the real non-negotiable, when in season, is a side of Jersey Royals, boiled and dressed in nothing more than melting Jersey butter. A reminder that sometimes the best cooking is also the simplest.
Local wines and beers are on offer too, and for me, there's only one order when you're sat this close to its namesake cove: a bottle of Stinky Bay IPA. Faulkner's Fisheries is unmissable for food lovers, and one of the most joyful ways to get to know what this island does so well.
Bohemia – for fine dining
Bohemia is Jersey's only Michelin-starred restaurant, and it's entering an exciting new era with Tom Earnshaw (Michelin Young Chef Award 2026) at the helm.
Between eight courses of beautifully presented and technically executed cooking it’s hard to choose a favourite, but a rich, spicy disk of merguez sausage, sourced from Tim Farrar’s Eshton Herdwick farm might be a favourite. A verdant green sauce and layer of crispy nettles cuts through the round garlic and cumin flavours of the merguez making a dish that ultimately steals the show.
The menu changes seasonally; but during my last visit in spring, a particular highlight was the English green asparagus, garnished with buckwheat croutons and wild garlic flowers, resting on a silky polonaise sauce.
The dining experience is elevated by unique sommelier-recommended wines and cocktails, with a whole page dedicated to Lanique-based drinks - a rose-based spirit the restaurant is proud to have rediscovered and introduced to the UK market.
The Hungry Man Café – for casual breakfast rolls
This brightly coloured kiosk is bedecked with seaside caricatures, adding a kitsch touch to the picturesque Rozel Bay. It's a local favourite for hangover-busting breakfast rolls, but high tide – when I think the coasts are at their most stunning – is the ideal time to visit. If that falls at lunch, the densely packed local crab sandwiches are well worth timing your visit around.
Christopher’s – for trendy steak and schnitzels
Christopher's is unlike much else in Jersey's restaurant scene - duck off the cobbled high street and you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd somehow landed in a New York bistro. White linen tablecloths and candlesticks suggest minimalism, but the menu has other ideas. The dry-ager in the dining room tells you what this place is about, the hanging steaks shrinking one by one as orders go in.
To start, a lively steak tartare peppered with capers and onions arrives with crisps, alongside a classic French onion soup. The menu then divides neatly into 'Steak' and 'Not Steak' - the latter a choice between Jersey lobster, fish of the day and a chicken schnitzel with a bold, herby garlic butter. Steak is the main event and it delivers, served with enough béarnaise to keep the generous heap of fries going long after the plate is cleared. The atmosphere matches the food; groups leaning in, tucking in and making a night of it.
Vienna Bakery – for Jersey wonders
Spend a little time with Jersey locals and the tides will enter the conversation before long. The island has the third largest tidal range in the world, a fact that only makes sense when you see the sea retreat to the very edge of your vision, before rolling back to the sea wall six hours later.
Even the island's recipes have absorbed the tides. Jersey wonders are a fried dough treat, handed down through generations, and tradition holds that they should be made as the tide goes out - supposedly the secret to stopping the fat from boiling over the pot. I remember my grandmother swearing by it. Whether the science stacks up hardly matters; they taste all the better for the story.
Vienna Bakery is a sixty-year-old bakery in Jersey’s Central Market, and wonders are among its most traditional offerings alongside a range of modern pastries. The duffins - somewhere between a muffin and a jam doughnut - tend to attract the most attention, and deservedly so. But give the wonders their moment too. Sweet, buttery and steeped in local history, they're one of the most rewarding things you can eat on the island.
Where to stay: The Sommerville Hotel
The Sommerville is the kind of hotel that makes you feel simultaneously at home and on holiday - which, in a place like Jersey, is exactly what you want. Perched above St Aubin's Harbour, its facilities are arranged around the panoramic views of the bay: heated outdoor pool, sun-loungers and the terrace at Tides restaurant and bar, where a cocktail at golden hour is hard to beat. My favourite corner, though, was the games room - a cosy lounge with books and board games that made every evening feel like it lasted just long enough.
The rooms are generous in size and recently given a fresh look, with a playful use of colour that gives the country house aesthetic a modern edge. Checked upholstered headboards pop against green wood-panelled walls, and the beds are large, cloud-soft and dressed in crisp white linen. Elemis toiletries in the bathroom round things off with a touch of understated luxury.
A classic inland, double room at The Somerville Hotel starts from £245 per night, including breakfast based on two people sharing.
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