From fresh Whitstable oysters to cracking claws in the Hebrides: Britain’s best coastal restaurants

Depending on how you measure it, Britain has somewhere between 7,000 and 11,000 miles of coastline (the exact figure is surprisingly hard to define with precision due to a curious phenomenon known as the coastline paradox).

That’s more than France, Italy, Spain or Denmark; amazingly, only the European coastlines of Norway and Greece are longer, and that’s largely because of all those never-ending islands.

With so much coast, it’s not really surprising there’s a smörgåsbord of places to dine along the seashore, from beachside cafés to old harbourfront pubs and Michelin-starred seafood bistros.

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We’ve chosen 15 of our favourite eateries around the UK here; a mix of well-known and out-of-the-way. Some we’ve selected for their chefs or the quality of their produce, and others for their settings, with views of craggy cliffs, coves or harbours.

Argoe in Newlyn, Cornwall

Cornwall has no shortage of top seaside restaurants, but this little diner down in the rough-and-ready fishing port of Newlyn is a locals’ tip. It’s lodged in an old whitewashed fish-packing warehouse, opposite the harbour where dayboats land their catch, so the fish couldn’t get fresher, and chef Rich Adams keeps things simple, allowing the catch to speak for itself.

£££ | Mains £50-68

The Seahorse in Dartmouth, Devon

Devon has shoals of seaside restaurants, but the Seahorse in Dartmouth is a stalwart. Now run by Ben Tonks (son of Mitch, the original chef-patron, and Rockfish founder), it’s in a pink building overlooking the quay. Have a pre-dinner drink in Joe’s Bar, then sit down for whatever has flopped in from the Brixham Fish Market that day — perhaps a whole Dover sole, turbot or John Dory, with Italian-inspired flavours. At £35 for three courses, the lunch menu is great value.

££ | Three-course lunch menu, £35; dinner menu, £60

Sandro’s in Lyme Regis, Dorset

An under-the-radar find, run by the titular chef (full name Alessandro Strillozzi), who’s returned to his roots at the same premises his mum and dad ran two decades ago. Sandro’s CV includes River Cottage, the Gaff in Abergavenny and three years as head chef at The Walnut Tree Inn, so he knows his seafood stuff, and the menu showcases his Italian heritage. His partner Vicky runs front-of-house. The location in cobbled Lyme Regis is lovely, but there are only 16 covers, so bookings are essential.

££ | Mains £27-30

The Grain Store in Weybourne, Norfolk

Foodie pitstops abound along the Norfolk coast and this restaurant at the Maltings Hotel in Weybourne deserves a detour. The focus is on sharing — small plates of Brancaster Staithe smoked salmon, Malting’s fried chicken with coriander or a deliciously crispy asparagus, goat’s curd and black garlic tart. Alternatively, splash out on a platter of lobster tail, crab, oysters, rollmops, prawns and pickled cockles. The setting in an old flint barn, with exposed brick and steel beams, adds atmosphere.

££ | Three-course lunch menu, £33; mains £24-36

The Suffolk in Aldeburgh, Suffolk

There’s something quintessentially English about Aldeburgh, with its shingly beach, colourful houses and higgledy-piggledy streets: Benjamin Britten called it home for almost 30 years. The seafront Suffolk slots right in, serving classy seafood a pebble’s throw from the beach. Formerly a pub, it’s been prettied up with banquettes, parquet and willowy lampshades. Standout dishes: lobster and chips, herring on toast, smoked mackerel rillettes or a whole brill to share.

££ | Mains £22-26

Whitstable Oyster Company in Whitstable, Kent

Never mind Margate: for oysters, head east to Whitstable and snag a table at this red-brick beauty, which sheds its bivalves from the beds opposite. The oysters are the stars, of course — served plain with a dash of lemon, dressed up with wild garlic butter or black truffle, or spiced with chimichurri — or you could go for Kentish scallops or mussels, or a whole cracked crab. For drinks, try a local Gusbourne wine, or an ‘oyster shooter’ with bloody mary or black stout.

£££ | Mains £32-59

Beach House in Oxwich, Glamorgan

Hywel Griffith is a Welsh boy through and through — from Bethesda in Gwynedd — and his Michelin-starred restaurant beside Oxwich Bay champions the best his home nation has to offer: Gower saltmarsh lamb, Swansea Bay seafood, Middle White Pork from Myrddin Heritage in Carmarthenshire, biodynamic wines from Monmouth’s Ancre Hill Estate. His signature bara brith soufflé is a wonder. Also worth visiting is Lan Y Môr, Hywel’s new venture at Coppet Hall Beach in Saundersfoot, which he runs with Gerwyn ‘Gez’ Jones.

£££ | Three-course lunch menu, £78; six-course tasting menu, £122

The Potted Lobster in Abersoch, Pwllheli

This cute spot is just the ticket for a Welsh seaside lunch: simple, tasty seafood in Abersoch on the Llyn Peninsula. Tuck into big bowls of moules marinières, crispy calamari or the house special potted fish platter (lobster, shrimp, crab and crayfish): you can’t really go wrong here. On a sunny day, the front terrace almost has the feel of a Provençal bistro. There’s a second outpost in Bamburgh, Northumberland.

££ | Mains £12-30

Stark in East Mersea, Essex

With its six-course set menu, evening-only opening and resolute refusal to cater to dietary requirements, Ben Crittenden’s cultish restaurant on the Essex island of East Mersea won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s an experience to be savoured if you can put up with the strictures. It’s open for dinner from Wednesday to Sunday: check tide times if you’re driving, as the road to the mainland is sometimes submerged.

£££ | Six-course tasting menu, £100

Lury in Hastings, East Sussex

Hastings hasn’t quite got Brighton’s culinary cachet, but it’s getting there — as evidenced by Jack Lury’s lauded little restaurant, where the young chef explores his Sri Lankan heritage with a cheffy showcase of emulsions, powders, foams, gels, hits of subtle spice and sour notes. The space is tiny — a maximum of 10 covers — so it feels more like a chef’s table than a restaurant.

£££ | Tasting menu, £90-100

The Hut at Colwell Bay, Isle of Wight

Unless you’re a regular to the Isle of Wight, you might have missed this chilled cafe near Ventnor, but it’s popular with locals who come here for morning coffee, laid-back lunches and suppers, and late night cocktails. It caters for all eventualities: go big with a surf-and-turf to share, or stay small with a selection of taster plates for the table. The food here is unfussy, and in summer, the patio is the place to be.

££ | Mains £20-48

Riley’s Fish Shop in Tynemouth, Tyne & Wear

Adam Riley opened his original fish shack on King Edwards Bay a decade ago, and he’s now expanded with this upmarket fishmonger in Tynemouth village. The open counter is stocked with catch from the North Shields fish market, five minutes down the road, and you can watch the chefs at work, or pick up preparation tips while they make your lunch. By evening, the shop becomes a bit more like a bistro, and the menu gets a little fancier.

££ | Mains £20-40

Seafood Ristorante in St Andrews, Fife

Beach views don’t get better than here, a statement of glass-and-steel beside St Andrews Bay. It’s the chicest place for a seafood supper in town, and a favourite for graduation celebrations: Orkney Scallops, Shetland crab, Aberdeen smoked salmon, North Sea turbot. While it’s not cheap, the view is worth the price-tag on its own.

£££ | Lunch menu £50; dinner menu £105

The Pierhouse in Port Appin, Argyll

Hunkered on the banks of Loch Linnhe, framed by pine forest and the Morvern hills, the Pierhouse is one of the best small boutique hotels on the Scottish west coast. Its restaurant is a belter. Chef Michael Leathley is from Newcastle, but his food shines with Scottish flavours, whether it’s an Aberdeen Angus steak, langoustines, mussels and lobsters harvested from Loch Linnhe and Loch Etive, or oysters from Loch Creran. The whisky menu alone is four pages long.

££ | Mains £22-34

Cafe Canna on Isle of Canna, Inner Hebrides

This beachside restaurant requires a pilgrimage, on a Hebridean island a two-and-a-half-hour-long ferry ride from Mallaig. Spend an hour or two hiking round the seaweed-strewn shore, then head here for hearty, honest grub: big bowls of Arisaig mussels, Canna-caught crab langoustines served in baguettes, or homemade mackerel slathered on thick-cut toast. The CalMac ferry only runs five days a week.

£ | Mains £15-25