Brighton, Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

“Just off the front in a charming maze of streets in Hove”, Duncan Ray’s small 20-seater is “a cute spot with no fine dining trappings to make you feel awkward”. He is at the stoves alone, creating an ever-changing five-course menu of sustainable seafood: “just gorgeous fish cookery from raw to grilled – not hugely fancy, just brilliantly conceived and executed”.

One of England’s oldest restaurants: the Leigh-Jones family’s seafood period-piece, in the Lanes – run by the clan since 1945, but established in the 1890s – has a “huge number of things to recommend”, not least its “lovely fresh local oysters and mussels” and an outside terrace for sunny days.

“Overall just a fantastic experience” – a Lanes oyster bar, with a spinoff on the promenade (“both are very popular”), which wins numerous raves for “the most amazing seafood”, combined with “brilliant” service and a pleasingly “informal” set-up (communal tables) whereby “you might easily find yourself sharing a tall table with strangers”.

“Within a hop, skip and jump of the i360”, but with a “great setting right on the seafront” (and al fresco seating), this “casual, laidback” venture turns out “excellent seasonal produce” (predominantly fish) from a “small but perfectly formed menu”. Owner “Michael Bremner deserves to be as successful with Murmur as he has been with 64 Degrees”.

“Fabulous, reasonably priced seafood” is the focus at this smart corner gastroboozer with stripped wooden floors. A “great range of beers” (some brewed on-site) complements “always innovative shellfish dishes and specials”.

With its “basic, unpretentious interior and bustle”, this “traditional chippie in a seafront setting” serves “still probably the best fish ’n’ chips in town” of the conventional, un-gastro variety. Both hot and cold seafood come on “exceptionally large platters”, and “it’s the perfect place for a Sunday lunch on a stormy day looking out over the Channel”.