The Best Seafood Restaurants in Torbay: Where Locals Actually Eat

Pick any street in Torquay, Paignton or Brixham and there is a board outside someone’s door promising fresh fish. Most of it is honest, some of it is very good, a few places are genuinely outstanding. After years of eating around the bay (and asking fishermen, hoteliers and kitchen porters where they go on their nights off), here is an honest guide to the best seafood restaurants in Torbay, with prices, booking advice and a few words on what makes each one different.

The flagship: The Elephant, Torquay

Chef-patron Simon Hulstone’s Elephant on Beacon Terrace has held its Michelin star every year since 2006, which makes it the longest-running starred kitchen in the South West. The restaurant overlooks Torquay’s inner harbour from a Regency terrace, and a great deal of what arrives on the plate comes from the Hulstone family’s 96-acre farm at Brixham or from boats landing five miles down the coast.

You can eat here far more cheaply than you might expect. The three-course lunch is regularly cited as the best-value Michelin-starred meal in the country at around £24.95. Dinner with wine sits comfortably in £££ territory. Book several weeks ahead in summer, and dress smart-casual rather than full black tie.

The harbour stalwart: Number 7 Fish Bistro

Tucked into the same Beacon Terrace row, just along from The Elephant, Number 7 Fish Bistro has been run by the Stacey family since 1993. It is unfussy, properly old-school, and serves whatever came off the boats that morning, often chalked up on a specials board next to your table.

Expect to pay ££ to £££ for a main, a glass of wine and a starter to share. Service is friendly without being overbearing. Lunch runs Wednesday to Saturday from 12.15pm, with evening service most nights in high season and reduced hours in winter, so always check before you turn up. Bookings are essential at weekends.

Rockfish: from Brixham quay to Torquay marina

Mitch Tonks’ Rockfish group has two Torbay outposts (Brixham and Torquay), and both work on the same principle: simple, sustainable fish, sourced from the Brixham market that morning, sensible pricing, kids welcome, dogs welcome on the terraces. The Brixham branch is the original and looks straight down on the fishing fleet; the Torquay site at Beacon Quay has a marina view and is a little more relaxed for families.

Mains usually land between £16 and £28, the unlimited chips are unlimited (a small but cheerful detail), and the wine list rewards the curious. If you have small children with you, Rockfish Torquay is one of the easier rooms in the bay for an early-evening family meal.

Beamers, on the Brixham quayside

If you want a slightly smarter Brixham evening, walk past the takeaways and along to Beamers, run by Simone and David Cook with their daughter Sophie on the front of house. Simone walks down to the market herself most mornings; you can taste it on the plate. Dishes lean modern British with French confidence, and the harbour view through the windows is a quiet bonus.

Reckon on £££ a head with wine. The dining room is small, so weekend tables sell out a week or two ahead in summer.

For a chip-shop classic: Hanbury’s, Babbacombe

Sometimes you do not want plates and tablecloths; you want fish and chips eaten with a wooden fork. Hanbury’s of Babbacombe has been doing exactly that since 1981, on Princes Street a few minutes from the cliff railway. The fish is from sustainably managed stocks, the chips are properly twice-cooked, and there is a sit-down restaurant alongside the takeaway. Expect to spend around £12 to £16 a head for a generous meal. There is council parking right next door.

How to choose between them

The honest steer for visitors deciding where to book on a single seafood night in Torbay:

• For a special occasion: The Elephant for lunch, or Orestone Manor (in Maidencombe, just outside Torquay) for dinner with a sea view.
• For an unfussy harbourside dinner: Number 7 in Torquay or Beamers in Brixham.
• For a family meal that won’t drag: Rockfish, either branch.
• For something to walk along the seafront with: Hanbury’s, or the Brixham harbour takeaways.

A few things worth knowing

Most kitchens in Torbay are smaller than they look. That means service slows down when a coach party arrives, and walk-ins on a sunny Friday evening will usually be told sorry. Book where you can. Many places now charge a small deposit per head; this is normal and fair given how often holidaymakers no-show in the summer.

Dog policies vary. Rockfish and several quay-side places welcome dogs on terraces; smarter dining rooms generally do not. If you are bringing the dog, message ahead.

And finally: ignore the fish that is not in season. The best seafood restaurants in Torbay will rotate their boards across the year, with crab and mackerel through summer, scallops and turbot through autumn and winter, and brown crab pretty much always. Trust the specials board over the printed menu, and you will eat very well indeed.

If you fancy doing the upstream version of all this, read our guide to a foodie tour of Brixham’s fish quay next.