The Briny: Southsea's go-to seafood and brunch spot

If you are anywhere near the Southsea seafront at breakfast hour, The Briny is the obvious place to land. It opened in 2019 and has since become one of the most reliable seafood and brunch spots in Portsmouth, sitting at Clarence Esplanade with views right over the Solent and the Southsea Promenade. It is family-run and part of the Coastal Kitchen Family, which takes in four other restaurants and a wine wholesaler along the Portsmouth coast, so there is some real local weight behind it.

The kitchen is led by Head Chef Cameron, and the menu leans heavily on British seafood while keeping a fair amount of room for everyone else. Breakfast is a big part of the draw: the Briny Breakfast and the Lamb Merguez Sausage both come in at £16, with a vegan breakfast at £15, smoked salmon at £15, avocado on toast at £12, and a Briny Bap at £7.50 for when you are in a hurry. If you are staying for lunch or dinner, the seafood bar is the centrepiece, with crab mayo, smoked salmon, crevettes, and British oysters at £4 a piece. The small plates are just as strong, from Brixham crab and monkfish skewers to a hot smoked Westbourne trout, and the large plates run from fish and chips at £23 up to a butterflied sea bass at £32 or a roast halibut at £36. There are gluten-free and vegan options throughout, so it is not a seafood-or-nothing affair.

One of the nicer touches is the sides list, where the 'invisible fries' cost £2 and go straight to St Margaret's Church Food Bank. For something more substantial, the crustacean platter is the showstopper at £130, piling a whole native lobster with oysters, crevettes, hand-dived scallop ceviche and pickled cockles. On the other end of the scale, the children's menu keeps things simple and affordable, with scrambled egg on toast at £5 and fish and chips at £9.

On the drinks side, there is a full bar to match the view. The Briny 75 is the house cocktail at £16, alongside a Tommy's Margarita at £12.50 and a Rhubarb Mule at £14, and the wine list pulls from Italy, South Africa, France, New Zealand, Uruguay, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Greece, the US and beyond, with glasses from £4.80. There is also a decent non-alcoholic range, including a Nojito at £9 and a low-alcohol Sheppys cider at £5.80.

Worth knowing before you go: the summer hours run Tuesday to Sunday, with breakfast from 09:00 to 11:30 and lunch and dinner from 12:00 to 23:00, and a takeaway window for when you would rather eat on the promenade. Summer Sundays bring live jazz from a resident saxophonist between 12:00 and 16:00. Tables are booked through ResDiary, and you will need card details to hold a spot, with a 24-hour cancellation policy. For groups of eight or more, you will need to pre-order 48 hours ahead and leave a £10-a-head deposit. It has held an AA 1 Rosette since 2022 and sits high on Google and TripAdvisor, so it is well worth planning ahead rather than turning up and hoping for the best.