A POPULAR Weymouth restaurant has been crowned the best seafood restaurant in England.

Sea Beats on The Esplanade not only took home an award for best seafood restaurant in the southern region, but was also crowned best in the country at the 2022 Food Awards England.

The prestigious food awards recognise the success of local professionals and establishments that continue delivering great flavours and experiences to their customers.

Sea Beats, run by Adam Foster and Shane Timbrell, was previously crowned the South’s Best Seafood Establishment at the 2019 Awards.

Owner and head chef at Sea Beats, Mr Foster, was born in Weymouth and studied at Weymouth College: he was previously head chef at the Crab House Café in Wyke Regis, which was also nominated for the award, for nine years before opening up Sea Beats in 2017.

The establishment faced stiff competition from the The Crab House Café (Weymouth), The Crab & Lobster (Chichester), Purslane Restaurant (Cheltenham), The Cricket Inn (Kingsbridge), Dennys Lobster & Oyster Seafood Restaurant (Chislehurst) and The Company Shed (Colchester).

Mr Foster: "We do our best to create somewhere with a really good vibe and to make simple dishes with great flavours.

"There is a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into the restaurant but we love what we do."

Restaurant manager, Mike Wheeler, said: “The chefs I work for here are the best chefs I’ve ever worked for and I was confident we could win the regionals. But, I was really chuffed to find out we won the national award.

“I wanted to make sure on the night that I congratulated the team and thanked Adam and Shane who are incredibly nice and humble owners.”

Local resident, Sally Kropacek, who regularly dines at Sea Beats with her husband Nick, was delighted to hear the news that one of her favourite restaurants had won the award and said it deserved the high accolade.

She said: “The food there is superb. For them to win both of these awards is an amazing thing for Weymouth.”

A Spokesperson for The Food Awards England, said: “These awards aim to thank those that work hard within the city’s food industry and contribute to making England a great gastronomic place to visit.

“It is true that England combines tastes and flavours from all over the world and the visitors can find different restaurants, gastro pubs and bistros to meet their needs.

“These people enhance the country’s reputation nationally and internationally, and we would like to make sure that the hard work of England’s food professionals doesn’t go unnoticed.

“It was lovely to be part of this celebration and we would like to congratulate all finalists and winners for their achievements!”