Riddle & Finns The Beach

Stopped in for a meal and was greeted by a lovely, welcoming team – the service here really adds to the experience. The ambience is relaxed but still feels special, with that fresh sea air right outside. The fish of the day was absolutely delicious – fresh, perfectly cooked, and full of flavour. The croquetas were a real highlight too: crisp on the outside, soft and rich inside. The potatoes were… fine, nothing to write home about, but everything else more than made up for it. With a glass of wine each, we spent about £50 per person, which felt fair for the quality and location. Definitely worth a visit if you want fresh seafood in Brighton with friendly service and a nice setting.

Went for dinner last night and genuinely had the best time. Every single dish was absolutely brilliant from the bread basket with taramasalata and mackerel pate (they should sell tubs of these for you to take home), to the crab noodle salad - a huge crab with an incredible sauce, to the delicious desert sharing platter. All washed down with a fantastic bottle of wine and spot on espresso martinis. Lastly a massive thank you to Holly who looked after us - it’s very rare you come across great service in restaurants these days and she played a big part in making our dining experience! We will return for sure…

It’s a great seafood restaurant in Brighton. We came here for our daughter’s graduation. The food is gorgeous, and also a bit pricey. The service is good, and they also put 12.5% service charge on the bill. The best dish I like most is The Mixed Green, it’s very tasty, full of garlic and butter flavour, very nice. I recommend the starter (light bites), Sautéed Squid, it is very tasty, and the cucumber salad is also amazing. Our mains, Risotto and Linguine is good, but personally I think it’s too salty, it would make it more delicious if reducing 5-10% of salt. It’s just my personal preference. Desserts are also amazing, we had Panna Cotta and Tiramisu to share, they are so delicious and tasty, very creamy not too sweet.

Enjoying cocktails and seafood dishes while watching the sunset by the beach was definitely charming. However, the taste didn’t quite live up to the price. Although we had a reservation, the place was extremely noisy during our visit, making it hard to fully enjoy our meal and time together. The staff didn’t seem particularly friendly or welcoming either as well.

Riddle & Finns The Beach in Brighton truly defies the notion that good food is hard to find in the UK. My recent visit provided an exceptional seafood dining experience. We had a group booking and opted for the set menu, which offered excellent choices. The Brighton Seared Scallops and the Seafood Linguine were particularly outstanding. The Buttermilk Pudding served for dessert was also a delightful conclusion to the meal. The service was remarkably attentive and accommodating. A member of our group required a dish exchange due to an allergy, and this was handled seamlessly and without hesitation, which was greatly appreciated. The restaurant's location directly on Brighton's promenade offers fantastic views. While the ambiance is lively and can be a bit noisy, making it less ideal for an intimate dinner, it's perfectly suited for group gatherings. The overall price-to-value ratio for the food was very good. Although the wine seemed slightly overpriced, this may be standard for the UK. In summary, I highly recommend Riddle & Finns The Beach for anyone seeking superb seafood in Brighton, especially for group dining. I would certainly visit again.

Came here for the second time during our Brighton day trip specifically for some good oysters. We tried another restaurant for lunch, but oysters there didn’t quite live up to the expectations. So we came here again for our dinner… Food: Oysters as good as always. Ask the staff for some intro and recommendations if you have personal preference. Seafood linguine is all good. But kinda regretted that we ordered the Singaporean flavor crab. The seasoning itself is quite good tbh, but the crab is not well cracked and “cleaned”. The cracker provided is definitely not enough to fully allow us to enjoy the dish. Those hard crab hair almost all sticked into my hand. Not very recommended as it got so messy at the end even though I thought I’m a master of eating crabs… Service: Quite friendly staff, whenever you have questions they’re there to help. But sometimes you don’t always have their attention as it seems quite busy. Atmosphere: Quite busy during our dinner, so could be noisy. We didn’t book in advance so we were arranged to sit at the bar. Still nice to have seats but that’s a bit narrow.

Took full advantage of a glorious sunny spring day and headed to the South Coast for a coastal dog walk from Newhaven to Brighton with our four-legged friend. We definitely earned our supper and booked an early table at Riddle & Finns on the seafront. It’s a brilliant spot—two storeys above the beach, ideal for a bit of people-watching while enjoying some absolutely five-star fresh fish. We kicked things off with oysters: fresh, fat, and seriously delicious. Then we grazed on thick-cut smoked salmon, whole crab, and prawn tempura, all served with a bread basket and a cracking taramasalata and mackerel pâté. The quality of the fish was genuinely outstanding—couldn’t rate it higher. The young team were fantastic—professional, super helpful, and dishing out top-tier banter that really lifted the whole experience. All while the sun beamed down on us from a cloudless blue sky. The perfect lunch, in the perfect spot, on the perfect day.

There’s something truly special about enjoying seafood by the sea—and few places in the UK deliver that experience quite like Brighton. Nestled along the south coast, this vibrant city is home to some top-tier seafood spots, but one in particular stands out as a must-visit for anyone craving the freshest catch and a taste of the ocean.

Great food and service as always. We have been coming to this location since it opened and the original location in the Lanes for nearly 20 years. The food and service has always been top class

Staff, food and location were superb!We very much enjoyed our time at this location. We travel often and would love to have collected a postcard or match box from here; we share them with family & friends as a recommendation for their future travels.

Fantastic location. Right on the sea front. Great staff. Worth a stop in for an oyster or champagne.

Fish and chips may very well be part of the quintessential Brighton day trip experience, but Riddle & Finns is truly a hidden gem on the beach that you shouldn't pass up if you have a hankering for seafood. Don't be shocked by the £££ price range that this restaurant has on Yelp. A glaring exception to this is the lunchtime fixed menu: two courses (a starter and a main) for £14.95! What a steal -- fish and chips at Poppie's in London is the same price. But the seafood here at Riddle & Finns was some of the freshest that I've ever had in my life (I suspect that most of it was probably caught right on the English coast). They also didn't skimp on the portion sizes, so it was a win-win situation. Based on my experience, the fixed menu is comprised of two options for each course. During my visit, the two starter options were calamari with sweet chili and mussels with chili and chorizo. The starter options were seared salmon (with spinach and crushed new potatoes in mustard sauce) and clams with capers in cream. I went with the mussels and the salmon. I was pleasantly surprised by how many mussels I got for having ordered off of the fixed menu. And the salmon was amazingly flavorful! I doubt I'll ever be in Brighton ever again, but I do hope that I'll find another restaurant somewhere else in the world that serves up such delicious seafood.

Great food service and ambiance. We tried several starters and the sea bream. All great and perfectly cooked. Christian our waiter was great fun.

Food was nice and all the staff were lovely other than the manager. On arrival we were greeted with "do you have a reservation?" We explained we didnt and he was like "nope, nothing" even though lots of empty tables. He sat us outside and when I asked if we could wait for a table inside got the reaponse, you should have reserved. We sat outside with a insect nest next to the table. The service was incredibly slow and the prices do not justify this restaurant. I went for the lobster and it was nice but overall not impressed. Wont be returning. The waiters though were lovely and the kids meal was nice. The manager could do with attending some customer service lessons. He was not friendlly or welcoming at all.

I recalled Riddle & Finns from a UK trip I took years ago so when I found myself in Brighton for another trip, I made of point of coming back here for lunch. I'm delighted to report that R&F was just as delightful on my 2nd visit as it was on my 1 st! From the minute we walked in the door, the service was flawless. The servers all demonstrated a very impressive knowledge of the available dishes and the ingredients used to make them. A dish made from the catch of the day supplements their normal menu. Additionally, there's a broad and not unreasonably priced selection of wine and champagne available. My only regret is that we couldn't get a table by the window as we came without reservations. That said, I enjoyed our lunch so much that I completely forgot about where we were sitting the minute the food arrived ;-) Tip: The tempura monkfish cheeks are simply incredible! When next I find myself in Brighton, I wouldn't hesitate to come back.

This review is so long overdue. I first contacted the guys at Riddle & Finns back in May 2015 to ask if they already took bookings for NYE (I know) after another yelper's suggestion (thank you!) and they were very nice and accommodating despite my awkwardly timed eagerness. Flash forward 7 months, on December 31st, we walked along the beach and found Riddle & Finns. Our table was ready and waiting for us exactly where I was hoping it to be, in front of the window upstairs, with a view on the beach. (Alas, there were some works in progress outside so the view wasn't as nice as it could have been, but I guess even the beach needs maintenance :D) The table (and the whole floor) were nicely decorated for NYE, and we had a basket of fresh bread to accompany an assortment of butters, sauces and horseradish. All of this would get automatically refilled every so often. Our extremely kind waitress took our order immediately: we ordered 3 different starters to share, the best of which HAD to be scallops. I can't get over how good they were, served in a shell with a very delicate sauce on top. Our main was a gigantic platter of fresh seafood, some of which I had never tried before, at the top of which was a delicious half-lobster. I had never eaten so much fresh seafood all at once before. I tried caviar too (I don't think I'm a fan) and overdosed on oysters. God I love oysters. OH AND BY THE WAY, I FOUND A FRIGGING PEARL IN ONE OF THEM. A TINY, REAL, LEGIT CUTE PEARL. And because the wine was also delicious and I might have been slightly tipsy, I forgot it on the table and it was trashed away at the end of the meal. I'm a plonker. Anyway, despite how good the food was (we also had the dessert platter at the end of it), I have to say, the best thing about this place is how kind and nice the staff is. We were the last people that evening, and we had just finished eating 10 minutes away from midnight. The stuff invited us downstairs to have a drink and join the countdown with them, offered us a glass of bubbles and toasted with us to the new year. I found it so nice and welcoming and amazing. I couldn't have chosen a better restaurant to spend NYE and I can't wait to go back this summer and eat a shed-ton of oysters and drink wine in the sun. Oh, and all in all, we spent around £140, which is NOTHING considering how much we ate, WHAT we ate, and how much we drank. Lovely place and lovely people.

Riddle & Finns is a lovely restaurant tucked away on the seafront that offers delicious seafood and great customer service. I've always wanted to try this restaurant as it's South Laines branch is always busy. My partner was able to book the beach location which was perfect. We started our dinner with clam chowder which is a difficult gem to find in England. It was tasty but I prefer the creamier and potato version. Next we had the surf and turf which was amazing. Came with skinny fries and garlic butter. And to end the night we had the sharing dessert platter which had perfect sizes of what was already on the menu. I also tried their Black Velvet cocktail which is Guinness and champagne. It was nice but the liquids separated so I had champagne initially and then Guinness towards the end. All in all we had a lovely evening at Riddle and Finns and will definitely come back!

I had a lovely crab salad which was fresh and perfectly cooked. The white meat was full of flavour and didn't need the aioli that came with it. I was less enthusiastic about the dressed brown meat which, while tasty, was a bit of a letdown after the lovely white meat. We sat outside under the umbrellas and shared a bottle of white wine. The service was spot on. Very friendly and attentive!

Food was lovely and staff friendly. Was near the door which was open so was quite cold. Despite me liking this restaurant and loving the food the reason for my one star and for not returning is as follows.... I like to know what I am paying. I will happily pay any amount for a dish or drink if it's something I want and can clearly state the price. We were given bread on arrival, we was not asked if we would like this, we were simply given it, the waiter asked 3/4 times if we would like a top up of bread. I put this down to seeing my son gobble it up. Turns out they actually charge you. The bill came and each of us had been charged. I did not agree to this, I find it sneaky and a way of making extra money as most people are not going to request it deducted off their bill. My bill was over £100 and I would happily pay that, however I do not like being taking for a fool and to me this is just greed. Be clear and be upfront. Do not do the cover charge. Oh and when asked if you do a small kids apple juice, please don't say yes and then bring over an adult one and then charge for it. The seafood linguine was lovely (to me) however my mum found it incredibly spicy and so didn't eat 90% off her meal. Despite seeing this staff didn't mention anything.

I like if can 0 star. All the details in photo.i am so tried to reply again .wast time . Tired, tired。full Plan every day in London .want join my holiday now. Hope my kids getting better soon.

We were in Brighton for the afternoon and found this place while walking along the boardwalk. We ordered the crab wok singapore style, New England clam chowder, bread and pate, half dozen raw oyster, mint tea, gin and tonic. This place was suuuuuch a great choice and we sat outside on the patio for the views. It was a little cold, but we bundled and I made sure to order tea. The waiter was very, very attentive so I was able to get continuous refills of my hot water. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Wow, what an experience! I went to Riddle and Finns for the first time last week, after being persuaded to give it a try by my friend Stephanie. I'm a complete novice when it comes to seafood, I've always been quite reluctant to eat shellfish...I don't like the way it looks, plus I have had a couple of experiences where I have dared to try it and it has been of sub standard quality...Stephanie is a bit of a seafood connoisseur, so I decided to put my trust in her and let her order some dishes from the menu for us to try. First of all we started with Champagne and Oysters! We went for a bottle of Court Garden Champagne. Locally grown and bottled in Sussex, it was delicious - not to try with a bit of sweetness, just the way I like it! As for the Oysters - I'd never ever had Oysters before so I was nervous to say the least. Steph ordered six Native Oysters (They are only in season in months that end with 'R' so I am told!) I particularly enjoyed the pickled ginger, spring onion, soy sauce and wasabi oysters. The flavour was incredible, the the oysters had a really 'meaty' texture to them. Not what I was expecting at all! We also shared some Frito Misto with Basil Mayo, Mussels (yes I ate some Mussels and enjoyed it!), Braised Octopus with Potato Salad, Pan Fried Scallops with Lemon and Parsley and Tuna Tartare. If you had asked me a year ago if I wanted to try any of those things I would have told you to get lost! Especially Octopus! To my surprise, the Octopus was the dish I enjoyed the most! It was so tender, I didn't want it to end! The warm potato salad complimented it perfectly. I would definitely eat it again. The Tuna Tartare had an asian vibe to it, again very enjoyable. You'd think after all that we might have had enough but oh no! We had to get dessert (it would be rude not to!). We shared a mint and strawberry panacotta, quite possibly the best dessert I have ever had out! The flavour of the fresh mint really cut through and complimented the strawberry in the middle. I just want to eat it again right now. To finish, we had a champagne cocktail, The Classic - brown sugar, agnostura bitters with courvoisier - perfection in a glass! Overall my first proper seafood experience was a brilliant one, and I have no doubt that I wouldn't get the same experience at other seafood restaurants. Riddle and Finns is the one to beat!

Went here yesterday and enjoyed their lunchtime two-course offer for £12.95 enjoying Tiger Prawns in a chilli dressing for starters followed by pan-fried Bream fillet over crushed potatoes and Bacon and...something else (whoops, forgot!). Portions were small however this is made up by the sheer excellence of the food which fills you up. We enjoyed a glass of Pilpou wine each which was pricey but hey, when the food is this good. The daily 2/3 course lunchtime offer changes daily btw. Overall I would give the place 4 stars however we were incredibly lucky to get one of the wonderful window tables upstairs which is why I give this 5* on this visit. With this view my visitor from London could not stop watching the sea. However, if we'd had one of the tables inside towards the back, I would have taken a star off to make it three stars. I recommend booking a window seat in advance after all, this place is on the pricey side. If a view is not your thing (or it's late) consider Riddle & Finns in the South Laine as the décor and atmosphere excels over this place.

Very disappointing and overpriced. Fruits de mer consisted of crab and langoustines straight from the freezer (definitely not fresh). The bread was sliced and obviously left out for a while before being served. Beyond the sea view and drinks, not much else going for it.

When you see "champagne and oyster" you know it's gonna cost you. It did. And overall it was worth it. Quality of the food: top The way it's cooked: for some dish it's world-class (scallops with lemon sauce... Putain, I can't remember better scallops), for others it's just average (lobster salad), hence the 4*. Cod with ink risotto was good. Wine: the Chablis is good but 40£ Service: excellent (hard to judge though we were only 4 tables on the terrace) Location: on the beach, dinner with the sunset in front of the sea... It does the trick. Bill: 140 for 2 with starter, main, wine dessert and digestive. I hope to come back to try the rest of the menu next time we have something to celebrate (and the budget).

My favourite restaurant in Brighton. I was there twice in 2 days during my stay. Very fresh and delicious food and the staffs were fantastic. We will and back next time when we are in Brighton. Recommend the fruit de la mar.

what an awesome view there!!!!! I Went there for lunch today!! All the dishes taste really ocean and I love the lobster mango salad. I think that is the best part of my lunch today.