Brighton's Best Seafood
Oyster bars, seafront grills, smokehouses and the fish and chip shops locals actually queue for
Brighton has fed people fish for as long as it has had a beach. The boats still land Sussex sole and plaice at Shoreham each morning, the old smokehouse on the arches still sends mackerel smoke drifting across the promenade, and the city's oldest restaurant is still shucking oysters on East Street. Below is where we send our guests when they ask where to eat seafood, from linen-and-champagne dining rooms to a paper-wrapped cod and chips eaten on the pebbles with one eye on the gulls.
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The Salt Room
The Salt Room sits on King's Road looking straight out at the skeleton of the West Pier, and it has just reopened after a top-to-bottom refit. The kitchen cooks over charcoal, so order a whole fish on the bone and let the grill do the talking, or share a shellfish platter built around whatever the day boats brought in. The Bloody Caesar oysters with their red-spiced rims are the way to start. It runs late on Fridays and Saturdays, takes card only, and books up quickly on sunny weekends, so reserve a terrace table well ahead. In our opinion this is the seafront dinner to build a Brighton weekend around.
English's of Brighton
Brighton's oldest restaurant has been feeding the city from its corner of East Street for more than 150 years, and it still feels like an occasion the moment you walk in. Sit at the oyster bar for a dozen with a glass of champagne, or take a table for dressed crab, whole lobster and simply grilled fish with a wine list worth lingering over. The terrace out on East Street is one of the best people-watching spots in The Lanes. Service has a touch of old-school theatre that suits the place. Book ahead, dress up a little, and make an evening of it.
Riddle & Finns The Lanes
Tucked down Meeting House Lane, the original Riddle & Finns is a champagne and oyster bar with marble counters, candlelight and an open kitchen you can watch from your stool. Oysters come raw or grilled, the hot shellfish platter arrives steaming, and the daily fish specials are cooked with real care. The Lanes branch runs mostly on walk-ins with an online waitlist, so put your name down, wander the antique shops and come back when your table is ready. It is one of the most romantic rooms in Brighton for a date night. Go early on a Saturday if you would rather not wait.
Riddle & Finns The Beach
The seafront sister to the Lanes original sits in the arches on King's Road with the beach right outside the door. The menu is the same champagne-and-shellfish idea, with oysters, dressed crab and whole grilled fish, but here you get sea air, outdoor tables and a view that changes with the tide. This one takes bookings for the inside tables, which makes it the safer choice for a group or a special occasion, while the balcony stays first come, first served. Time your visit for dusk in autumn and you will catch the starlings swirling over the West Pier while you eat. Our pick for seafood with a sunset.
The Little Fish Market
The most serious fish cooking in the city happens in a 22-seat room on Upper Market Street in Hove, where chef Duncan Ray cooks a six-course tasting menu at dinner and a shorter set lunch. There is no à la carte and no fuss, just a sequence of beautifully judged fish and shellfish courses that changes with the catch. It opens on Fridays and Saturdays only, one sitting for lunch and one for dinner, and the tables go fast, so book as soon as you know your dates. Bring someone who loves food and give the evening the time it deserves. This is the one for the anniversary dinner.
Bardsley's
Bardsley's has been frying on Baker Street, just off London Road, since 1926 and is now run by the fourth generation of the same family. It is a sit-down fish and chip restaurant with table service, fish fried to order and a menu that has not needed changing in decades: cod, haddock, plaice, mushy peas and a pot of tea. The batter is light, the chips are generous, and the welcome is warm. It is a ten-minute walk from Brighton Station and worth every step. If you only have one fish supper in Brighton, in our opinion make it this one.
The Urchin
A pub on a quiet Hove side street that brews its own beer and cooks some of the best shellfish in the city is a rare thing, and The Urchin is exactly that. The blackboard changes with the boats, but the chilli crisp oysters, the mussels in a big bowl of broth and the Malaysian prawns are the dishes we keep going back for. Pair them with a pint brewed a few feet from your table. It is small and it fills up, so book for a Friday or Saturday. Our favourite pub kitchen in Brighton and Hove, and it is not close.
Brighton Shellfish & Oyster Bar
Down on the lower promenade in the Fishing Quarter, next to the Fishing Museum, this little kiosk has been selling pots of prawns, cockles and whelks to beach-goers for years. Oysters are shucked while you wait and eaten standing at the counter or perched on the sea wall with the waves a few feet away. It is cheap, quick and as Brighton as it gets. Take a pot of prawns and a wedge of lemon and find a spot on the pebbles. The seagulls know exactly what you are holding, so guard it.
The Regency Restaurant
The Regency has stood on King's Road opposite the West Pier and the i360 for decades, and on a summer evening every pavement table is full. The menu is enormous, from fish and chips and whole grilled plaice to towering seafood platters and lobster, with portions that mean nobody leaves hungry. It is not fancy and it does not pretend to be, which is exactly the appeal. Service is fast and friendly even when there is a queue out of the door. Come for the view, the value and a plate of seafood that tastes like a Brighton holiday.
Rybka
Rybka takes its name from a Polish saying that the fish likes to swim, which explains the vodka list sitting alongside the fryers on Meeting House Lane. This is fish and chips done with care: sustainably sourced fish in a crisp batter, whole-tail scampi, house pickles and slaw, and a fridge of craft beer to go with it. Eat in the bright little dining room or take it a few minutes down the hill to the beach. The chilled vodka shot with your cod is the local move. A modern chippy that has quickly become one of our favourite stops in The Lanes.
Bocana
Bocana is a small, family-run Mediterranean seafood restaurant on Lewes Road, well away from the seafront crowds and all the better for it. The fish is landed locally and cooked simply: grilled prawns, whole sea bass, a seafood linguine loaded with shellfish and lobster when it is on. It is open through the day into the evening, does takeaway too, and the prices are kind for the quality on the plate. Ring ahead for a table on a weekend evening as there are not many. A neighbourhood spot that deserves a detour from the centre.
Captains Fish & Chips
Right on the lower promenade beside the Palace Pier, Captains is the chippy you can smell before you see it. The menu is short and traditional, cod or haddock in a crisp batter with a big scoop of chips, and you can sit inside with a view of the sea or take it out to the pebbles. Expect a queue on a sunny bank holiday, and expect it to move quickly. It is a stone's throw from the pier rides, so it works well for families. Simple, fresh and about as close to the water as fish and chips gets.
The Copper Clam
Set into the King's Road Arches with a terrace on the promenade, The Copper Clam is the place for a long, lazy shellfish lunch by the sea. The seafood platters are generous, the mussels come in big bowls, and there is usually a whole grilled fish and lobster on the board for those who want to push the boat out. The terrace faces west, so an evening table gets the sunset over the West Pier. Book for a weekend lunch in summer as the outdoor tables go first. Bring sunglasses and an appetite.
Brighton Smokehouse
Follow the smoke along the King's Road Arches and you will find Brighton Smokehouse in the Fishing Quarter, where Jack and Linda Mills have been smoking fish on the seafront for years. The hot smoked mackerel roll, straight from the smoker and into a soft bap with a squeeze of lemon, is one of the great cheap eats in the city. There are kippers, smoked salmon and whatever else came in that morning, all sold from the hatch to eat on the beach. It is a takeaway, so there is nowhere to sit except the pebbles. Go early, as when the fish is gone, it is gone.
Aberdeen Seafood
Named after the floating seafood markets of Aberdeen harbour in Hong Kong, this King's Road restaurant sits opposite the West Pier and brings a completely different take on Brighton seafood. The stir-fried beef flat noodles and the wok-fried sea bass with black bean and chilli are the dishes to order first, and the baked lobster with cheese on E-Fu noodles is the showpiece. Owner CK will happily walk you through the menu and the story behind it. Portions are generous and prices are fair for the seafront. Open every day from late morning until late, with pavement tables looking at the sea.
Bankers Fish & Chips
Bankers on Western Road is the sit-down fish and chip restaurant Brighton reaches for when the whole family needs feeding without a fuss. The batter is reliably crisp, the chips are fluffy, and the menu runs well beyond cod and haddock to skate, plaice and grilled options. Check their allergens page before you go if anyone in the group needs gluten-free, as the options vary by day. It is a short walk from the Churchill Square shops and the Brunswick end of Hove. Takeaway is quick if you would rather eat on the lawns.
The Fish Shack, Hove
Run by the Fish Galore fishmongers, this beach-hut shack stands on the stretch of Hove beach where the local fishermen used to launch their boats, and it cooks whatever the shop had that morning. Grilled fish, fish and chips and shellfish are served to picnic benches with the sea across the road and none of the central seafront crowds. It is casual in the best way: order at the hatch, grab a bench, watch the kite surfers. Hours follow the weather and the season, so check before you make the walk. Our favourite lunch stop on a stroll along the Hove end of the front.
Sea Breeze Fish & Chips
Sea Breeze on Church Road is the Hove chippy we point guests to when they are staying west of the Peace Statue. The batter is light, the chips are well seasoned, and the shop is clean and quick, which matters when there is a hungry group waiting. It is a two-minute walk down to Hove Lawns, so take the bag to the grass and eat with the sea in front of you. Portions are generous enough that a regular is plenty. A dependable local rather than a destination, and sometimes that is exactly what you want.
Wolfies of Hove
A family-run chippy on Goldstone Villas, a minute from Hove Station, Wolfies has built its name on doing gluten-free fish and chips well. Dedicated gluten-free batter days mean coeliacs get the full crisp cod experience rather than a sad grilled fillet, and the pies and sausages cover anyone who does not fancy fish. The classic menu is good in its own right, with cod, haddock and plaice fried to order. Check the website for which days are gluten-free before you go. Handy if you are arriving into Hove by train and want supper sorted within five minutes.
Little Jack Fullers
Halfway up St James's Street in Kemptown, Little Jack Fullers is the neighbourhood chippy that locals guard jealously. The batter is light and crunchy, the portions are big, and the service is quick and friendly with none of the seafront mark-up. It is a takeaway, so carry it five minutes down the hill to the beach by the Palace Pier or back to your holiday let. Go for the cod and a pot of curry sauce. If you are staying in Kemptown, this will become your regular by the end of the weekend.
Fish Galore
If your holiday let has a decent kitchen, Fish Galore in Hove is where to stock it. This fishmonger has been trading close to the Hove seafront for more than 40 years, sells day-boat Sussex fish and shellfish, will fillet and prepare whatever you choose, and can tell you exactly how to cook it. They deliver nationwide too, so you can have the same fish sent home after the holiday if you get hooked. A Saturday morning here followed by a cook-up back at the flat is one of our favourite ways to spend a Brighton weekend. Get there early for the best of the catch.
Brighton and Newhaven Fish Sales
This is where many of the restaurants on this list buy their fish. Brighton and Newhaven Fish Sales is a working wholesaler on Basin Road South at Shoreham Harbour, and its shop is open to the public, so you can buy the same Sussex day-boat sole, plaice, crab and lobster the chefs are cooking that night. It is a real working harbour rather than a boutique, with a cash-and-carry feel and prices to match. Go in the morning when the boats have landed. A short drive or bus ride west of Hove, and well worth it for anyone who takes their fish seriously.
