26 best restaurants in Brighton: Find your seaside gem

Hyper-seasonal cooking right in the heart of the Brighton Lanes, Lost in the Lanes is one of those restaurants that suits all people and occasions. Whether it's a Sunday roast, quick breakfast or dinner and drinks after work, Lost always seems to deliver.

One of the best restaurants in Brighton Lanes, Embers focuses around dishes cooked over wood fire, including the likes of sticky aubergine with tahini cream, and chicken leg with honey butter and pul biber aioli. Worth a visit for the entertainment of the cooking as well as excellent food.

Da Terra's Rafael Cagali has unleashed immensely talented protege Ewan Waller on Brighton, and the results are exceptional - a restaurant worthy of Brighton's first Michelin star in decades. Maré blends Brazilian-Italian finesse with seaside ease: playful room, confident cooking, knockout crudo, lamb tacos and blistered picanha, all wrapped in a room that nails 'relaxed fine dining'. 

There's some serious talent behind the scenes at this plant-based powerhouse - in fact, the cooking is so extraordinary that it really transcends the vegan moniker. Dishes are cooked on a bincho grill over Japanese charcoal, and the smoke really takes the food to another level. We'd recommend just diving straight into the tasting menu.

The Rockwater team have done a fabulous job with this gorgeous seafront restaurant in Hove - the interiors of this multi-floor space are beautifully decorated, and the food is great too, kicking off with fresh baked pastries, before transitioning into an easy-going lunch and dinner menu.

With an unassuming little front on the main road to Hove, Wild Flor is totally unpretentious, but there’s some brilliant cooking happening behind the scenes. Bright, airy bistro interiors meet classic cooking with a touch of elevation (on last visit we ate a majestic glazed short rib with asparagus and watercress). Wines are bang on too - arguably some of the best in the city.

This is Indian with a deft, complex and creative interpretation, which goes down well with the hip foodies of Brighton. Chef Alun Sperring has taken his experience at the Cinnamon Club in London to the southern shores to create signature dishes such as red tandoori sea bream, rose water-infused mutton biryani and oxtail Madras.

Taking up residence in a beautiful Georgian townhouse near Royal Pavilion Gardens, Furna's luxurious tasting menus combine exceptional ingredients with pitch-perfect cooking. The interiors are beautifully done too, combining grand period details with contemporary touches, and wine pairings and cocktails - should you want such things - are expertly curated. Make no mistake, Furna is a true gem. 

MasterChef: The Professionals 2013 winner Steven Edwards has been a fixture in Hove for some years now, impressive with technical tasting menus. These days Etch is affordable too - the signature menu is five courses and priced very reasonably as a result, making Etch more of a regular neighbourhood haunt than a special occasion restaurant.

This meat-free diamond has been serving vegetarian food since 1993 and is a popular spot for open-minded B-towners. The food is equally open-minded and always dazzles the crowds with unusual flavour combinations and intriguing ingredient pairings, leaning towards Asia. Korean fried cauliflower, say, comes with sweet and sour sesame sauce and onigiri rice, soused daikon, kohlrabi and pickled mirin ginger jelly.

One of many excellent tapas-style restaurants in Brighton, Market is a gorgeous little space, with gleaming green ceramic tiles lining the walls and jamon legs hanging over the bar. The menus are typical Spain by way of Sussex, celebrating local ingredients and producers.

It may be chic inside, but Nostos has the heart and soul of a proper rustic taverna, with food to match. From Cretan pastries and bowls of deep-fried crispy squid to gigantes humming with rich tomato and herbs, Nostos is a knockout - it's no wonder it gets so busy. 

Dishoom Permit Room has been a smash hit since landing right in the heart of The Lanes, combining Dishoom's excellent all-day offering with a worryingly drinkable cocktail list. Over 50% of the menu is vegan and vegetarian, making this a great choice if you're planning around dietaries. 

This sophisticated little tasting menu spot in Drakes Hotel offers sublime cooking across compact, seasonal menus. Dilsk shows off some of the most inventive, delicious cooking in Brighton - at very reasonable prices, we should add - and we love the minimal, whitewashed interiors too.

Bringing a slice of Japan to the streets of Brighton, this smoky barbecue restaurant evokes the indulgent spirit of izakaya bars in Tokyo with its grilled small-plates. Chef Dave Miney cooks over the binchotan coal grill in this industrial looking site just off Brighton beach. The result? Skewers of chicken hearts, pork belly and Korean chicken wings, all oozing with umami, spice and smokiness.

The Halisco team turned their talents to sister restaurant Anakuma, applying the same high-octane fun to vibrant Asian flavours. There's some very clever cooking going on here (like the incredible katsu devilled eggs with curry sauce) and once again, the cocktails are on point too.

It might be hidden down a nondescript side street in Hove, but there is nothing nondescript about this tiny fish restaurant. It serves up absolutely terrific seafood in a seriously refined way, in the shape of a fixed-price tasting menu, which changes every month or so. Reserve your table well in advance, though – this place books out quickly.

A much-loved neighbourhood restaurant in the Hove area, Fourth & Church is always buzzing. The quick-fire small plates and tapas dishes have Fourth & Church feeling like a British version of a tapas bar, and it’s a wine merchant too so you can take any good bottles away with you.

Staunchly authentic Neapolitan pizzas from a Napoli native, owner Sergio is a serious pizzaiolo, turning out beautiful chewy pizzas from his pride-and-joy pizza oven. Nanninella had our hearts as soon as we saw it had the most Napolitani pizza of all on the menu - the 'wurstel e patatine', which combines French fries and frankfurters on a margherita. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it!

Another success story from restaurateur Razak Helalat (the man behind The Salt Room and The Coal Shed), Burnt Orange is a little more relaxed and buzzy, promising signature cocktails and music late into the night. The food is good too - think spiced calamari fritti, grilled halloumi with spiced fig honey, and wood-fired cod with green coconut curry.

This petite Latin American restaurant does a lot with a little - an old takeaway space has been carved out into a 20-seater paradise of exotic flavours, with wonderful dishes emerging from a charcoal grill in the kitchen. The drinks are good too - there are always a handful of refreshing cocktails on offer.

Chef and owner Dan Kenny brings his experience cooking at the renowned Gingerman to this progressive, boundary-pushing restaurant. There is only one weekly-changing tasting menu of between 16-20 courses, focused around micro-seasonal British ingredients and sustainable produce. Dishes change all the time, but examples might include scallop tikka masala, parfait and port, and milk bread with cheese burger butter.

Sister restaurant to Brighton’s The Salt Room, this barbecue-leaning restaurant is mostly known for to-die-for beef – locally sourced fillet, rib-eye and rump is sizzled on the restaurant’s Josper grill and served with a choice of sauces – the green peppercorn is a knock-out – alongside indulgent sides such as truffle mac ‘n’ cheese and beef-dripping chips.

Another Preston Street gem, Halisco's buzzy atmosphere and vibey Mexican food never fails to make a casual catch up into an all-out party. Great tacos and snacks are joined by an extremely quaffable list of tequila and mezcal cocktails, making Halisco extremely popular (we recommend booking in advance). 

This slick steakhouse on the Brighton sea front has an air of Parisian bistro about it, and the cooking is outstanding, from tender Wagyu short rib with beef dripping chips, to an excellent mascarpone creme brulee. Spot on service and a great English wine list completes the experience.