First there was the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and now there is The Gourmet Fish And Chip Company, serving fresh food fast in a relaxing, restaurant environment.

Formerly a cafe, The GFACC offers an upmarket and modern alternative to your local chippy, with all the familiar favourites – only with more choice, and healthier options too. All the food is freshly prepared and cooked to order on the premises by a team of chefs in an open kitchen.

A range of fish including huss (£5.75), cod fillet (£6.75, said to be the biggest seller) plaice (£7.25) and haddock (£6.75) come battered, coated in golden, crispy breadcrumbs, grilled or steamed and served on a bed of lemon.

The price includes chips or if you prefer, a jacket potato, mash or mixed salad. Traditionalists will also be happy to see good old mushy peas in abundance.

Wholetail scampi (£7.25), homemade salmon fish cakes (£5.50), cod goujons (£6.95) and jumbo sausage (with or without batter, £5.50 for two) are also available.

Starters include prawn cocktail, crab and prawn salad and smoked salmon salad (from £3.95). Organic desserts include delciously creamy and flavourful lemon, chocolate and raspberry and cranberry cheese cake (£3.75).

The brainchild of Manon and David Courtney, who enjoyed a successful songwriting partnership with Leo Sayer in the Seventies, The GFACC has given a new face to the Brighton Walk Of Fame – which is where you can see photographic portraits of a host of famous faces connected in some way to the city, from Holby City’s Amanda Holden to The Who.

Manon describes the restaurant as an every day, family-oriented place. Good ventilation and cleanliness is a priority. “We are cheap but not too cheap,” she says, “not like a chippy. We are more like a trendy hamburger joint. Nothing here is freezer to fryer, it is all freshly prepared. There is nothing sitting waiting in a cabinet.”

Battered fish, prepared with the restaurant’s own “beautiful” herb batter recipe, is deliciously light and crispy, “not at all thick and soggy”. Prawns and crab are all locally sourced, although much of the fish on the menu comes from the North Atlantic seas via Grimsby.

“The water is colder in the North Atlantic, which makes the fish meatier,” says David. So far the attention to detail has paid off. “We have been getting some fantastic feedback,” says Manon.

“We have been mobbed at the weekends. I think it is because there is nothing like this in the marina.” The GFACC is a fully licensed restaurant. It also offers an outside dining area where, weather permitting, you can enjoy your meal, or relax with a glass of wine, a beer, or a cup of Illy Italian coffee.

There is a decent wine list too which is very good value at £2.65 per glass (£9.95 per bottle). “All our wine is one make – Crooked Vine,” says David. “We shopped around but liked it so much we ordered the whole lot.”

There are three white, three red, and a rose to choose from as well as a Spanish sparkling white (£16.95 per bottle). A take-away menu is also available.

• If you are interested in restaurants in Brighton, Hove and Sussex, visit www.theargusfoodguide.co.uk