Behind each service there’s a rhythm

The boats unloading in Brixham, the charcoal being lit, the tables being laid and menus signed for nights worth remembering. At 5pm, the staff sit down together for dinner, moments to share something good to eat, talk, laugh and get ready to welcome you. 

Hospitality here is in the details you may not notice straight away: pressed tablecloths after every sitting, polished cutlery, menus personalised for special occasions, the easy conversation when we take your order by hand, pen and paper. Our team is young, enthusiastic and full of personality, and they understand that true hospitality is as much about how it feels to walk through the door as what is on the plate.

People dining in a cozy restaurant with shelves of wine bottles on the wall, a view into the kitchen, and warm lighting.

Meet Chef Patron, Ben.

Chef patron, Ben Tonks, leads The Seahorse team, cooking with a sense of joy and generosity that runs through the whole restaurant. Ben grew up surrounded by the rhythm of busy kitchens and food markets from Tuscany to Seville to Venice, experiences that shape the way he cooks now, focused on the sea, the seasons and cooking over fire.

Smiling man with curly brown hair, glasses, and a mustache, wearing a white chef's coat, sitting at a restaurant table with white tablecloth, wooden panel wall background.

The Seahorse began with Ben’s dad, Mitch Tonks, who first opened its doors in 2008. His story in seafood started earlier, with a fishmongers in Bath in 1998, followed by FishWorks, then The Seahorse, and eventually Rockfish, now twelve restaurants along the Devon and Dorset coast. Each one a chapter in the same abiding obsession with great British fish.

Today, Mitch's son Ben leads The Seahorse with a young, spirited team, honouring the ethos his father built, while bringing something entirely their own to the kitchen and dining room. 

Two men wearing white chef jackets and glasses are standing outside next to a potted plant and a brick wall. They are smiling and having a conversation, each holding a glass of what appears to be a drink. One man has a prosthetic leg, and the other man has tattoos on his arms.

The Seahorse has that same quality you find in the great neighbourhood restaurants of Venice or Lisbon: full of locals, families, and regulars for whom it has always simply been part of life.

For more than a decade, The Seahorse has held a place in the National Restaurant Awards Top 100 - recognised consistently among the finest restaurants in the country. Food and Travel Magazine named The Seahorse Restaurant of the Year outside London award in 2025.

People sitting at a dining table during a meal, with a young boy looking at the woman reading a colorful card or brochure. A window with curtains and a hanging plant can be seen in the background.
Graphic announcing the 2015 Food and Travel Magazine Reader Awards, Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards with various logos and text in black and white.
Two chefs working in a restaurant kitchen, viewed through a window. The female chef has short dark hair and is wearing a white apron, while the male chef has gray hair, glasses, and is wearing a white chef's coat. Shelves with bottles, jars, and boxes are visible behind them.

Twinned in spirit with Al Gatto Nero

The Seahorse is connected by a shared love of the sea and family-style dining. We’re twinned in spirit with Al Gatto Nero - the beloved seafood restaurant on the Venetian island of Burano owned by Ruggero and Lucia Bovo. The two families are regularly in each other's kitchens and dining rooms, a friendship as natural as the food that sustains it.

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Artwork at The Seahorse

Much of the artwork that runs through The Seahorse, from our menu covers to pieces on the walls and outside the restaurant, is by Australian artist Bas Kennedy. Bas became a regular at The Seahorse over the years and a close friend of the restaurant, capturing the spirit of our waterside home in his paintings.

His art brings colour, movement and a sense of joy to our world on the river. His work has become part of The Seahorse’s identity: a reminder of the friendships and stories that have grown here, and of the creativity and character that sit at the heart of the restaurant.

A colorful watercolor painting of a lively seaside gathering with people sitting at a bar, enjoying drinks, talking, and being near the water with a boat in the background.