The Seahorse

Moored on the Dartmouth quayside, the Tonks family flagship is currently helmed by Mitch's son Ben, who is maintaining its ‘very high standards’ and commitment to daily deliveries of local produce (particularly seafood). The Seahorse has always radiated a balmy sense of the Mediterranean, partly for the sunny good cheer with which the place is run, and partly for the orientation of the cooking (as well as the wine list). If the best preparations of the freshest fish are ever the simplest, the menus here offer an object lesson in what is still a culinary discipline.

Torbay scallops, charcoal-roasted and dressed with a lick of white port and garlic, are a favoured way to start, unless you prefer a plate of red mullet ‘con saor’, pickled with onions and hazelnuts. Wine plays its ancestral role in seasoning and enriching the dishes: Dorset shellfish is steamed with Trebbiano and porcini, while fillet of cod is cooked in a paper packet, sauced with Lugana, and spiked with pepperoncini chillies, capers, and basil. A whomping £50 buys a whole Dover sole cooked on the bone, with nothing more complex than some rosemary and a meunière dressing. There are steaks, Middle White pork chops and whole roasted quail with salsa dragoncello if you’re not quite in the maritime mood, while desserts maintain the theme of elegant simplicity – perhaps amaretti cream or salted honey ice cream dressed in Pedro Ximénez and sultanas. 

The fixed-price lunchtime ‘menu del giorno’ offers excellent value, while Ben Tonks’ latest venture is a series of monthly ‘open table’ gatherings in the private dining room (aka the Cantina). An excellent Eurocentric wine list does justice to the food, with wines by the small glass from £6.75 and a 'knowledgeable sommelier’ on hand to proffer advice.