15 Best Seafood Dishes and Places to Try in London

London might not be beside the sea, but you'd never know it from the amount of seafood available across the city.

From oysters and fish and chips to crab, mussels, lobster, smoked fish and whole catches of the day, London has a seafood scene that can take you in almost every direction.

And it isn't all expensive restaurants either.

You can find bargain oysters, traditional fish and chips, old-school seafood lunches, modern seafood bars and Michelin-starred tasting menus.

So if you're a seafood lover wondering what you should actually eat in London, here are 15 dishes and places worth knowing about.

1. Oysters - Wright Brothers Borough Market

Wright Brothers Borough Market

If you're going to start exploring London's seafood scene, oysters are a pretty good place to begin.

Wright Brothers' Borough Market restaurant is the group's original restaurant, and its current offering focuses heavily on seafood and oysters, with fish sourced from Brixham day boats.

There's also a very useful reason to know about it if you're watching your spending.

Its current Oyster Happy Hour offers £1 oysters from Monday to Wednesday, 3pm–6pm, excluding Bank Holidays.

So you don't necessarily need to spend a fortune to try oysters in London.

Try: oysters with lemon or the available dressings.

2. Fish and chips - The Fryer's Delight

If there's one seafood dish that should be on almost every London food list, it's fish and chips.

And if you want a central-London option, The Fryer's Delight in Holborn is currently rated by Time Out as its best fish-and-chip option in Central London.

The classic combination is still hard to beat:

Crispy battered fish.

Golden chips.

Salt and vinegar.

Mushy peas if you like them.

And, of course, tartare sauce.

You can also explore London's wider fish-and-chip scene, which now includes alternatives such as hake, halibut and other fish rather than only cod.

Try: traditional battered fish and chips with mushy peas.

3. Smoked eel omelette - Tollington's

If you want seafood but don't want the usual oysters-lobster-crab combination, this is where things get interesting.

Tollington's in Finsbury Park is a Spanish-style seafood bar, and Time Out's current 2026 guide specifically recommends its smoked eel omelette as its signature dish.

The restaurant also serves small plates such as pickled anchovies and devilled crab croquetas.

It's a great example of how London's seafood scene can go far beyond traditional British dishes.

Try: the smoked eel omelette.

4. Fish pie - J Sheekey

J Sheekey

Fish pie might not sound as glamorous as lobster or oysters, but London's seafood lovers know it deserves attention.

J Sheekey in Covent Garden is one of London's long-established seafood restaurants, and its fish pie is described by Time Out as iconic.

The restaurant's menu also includes seafood such as Atlantic prawns, sole and lobster.

So if you want a classic British seafood dish in a much more polished setting, this is one to consider.

Try: J Sheekey's fish pie.

5. Wild seabass ceviche - Applebee's

Applebee's | Seafood Restaurant

If you're already visiting Borough Market, you have another excellent seafood option right there.

Applebee's started as a fishmonger before becoming a family-run seafood restaurant, and its current menu changes according to what the Devon and Cornwall day boats bring into Brixham Fish Market.

Time Out's current guide specifically recommends its wild seabass ceviche with strawberry and citrus dressing.

It's a good choice if you want something fresh and light rather than fried or heavily cooked.

Try: wild seabass ceviche.

6. Mussels with cider - Parsons

Parsons

Sometimes you don't need lobster or a giant seafood platter.

A big bowl of mussels can be exactly what you want.

Parsons in Covent Garden is a small seafood restaurant where daily specials are displayed and fresh fish is cooked simply.

Time Out specifically recommends its mussels and cider

It's also a good option if you want a proper seafood meal without necessarily going for one of London's most expensive seafood restaurants.

Try: mussels with cider.

7. Seafood platter - The Seafood Bar

The Seafood Bar

If you can't decide what seafood to order, there is a simple solution:

Order a seafood platter.

The Seafood Bar in Soho has a large fruits de mer platter featuring a mixture of seafood including lobster, oysters, langoustines, crevettes, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, Devon brown crab and shrimp

This is particularly good if you're going with friends because you can try several different things in one meal.

Instead of choosing between crab, oysters and lobster, you get a little bit of everything.

Try: the fruits de mer platter.

8. Smoked fish and fish pie - Sweetings

Sweetings

If you want to experience old-school London seafood, Sweetings in the City is one to know.

The restaurant has kept a traditional style, serving seafood classics including smoked fish, smoked trout, whitebait, crab and lobster.

Its fish pie is the signature dish recommended by Time Out, while crab and smoked-fish rolls are another option.

This is the sort of restaurant to choose if you want your seafood with a bit of London history and tradition rather than a modern tasting-menu approach.

Try: the fish pie or crab and smoked-fish rolls.

9. Devon brown crab - The Oystermen

The Oystermen Seafood Bar & Kitchen

Crab deserves more attention than it gets.

At The Oystermen in Covent Garden, the current seafood offering includes whole Devon brown crab, alongside oysters, mussels and a catch-of-the-day selection.

If you enjoy sweet, delicate crab meat, this is a good one to look for.

And if you're not sure about ordering an entire crab, there are other seafood options on the menu.

Try: whole Devon brown crab if you're sharing.

10. Langoustines and razor clams

Maresco

For something a little different, head towards Soho.

Maresco's approach to seafood is inspired by Scottish seafood given a tapas-style treatment. Londonist's current 2026 guide highlights dishes such as langoustines and razor clams, alongside small plates including boquerones and fideuà.

This is a good choice if you prefer ordering several smaller dishes rather than committing to one large seafood main.

Try: langoustines or razor clams.

11. The catch of the day

Kima

Sometimes the best seafood dish is simply whatever is freshest that day.

Kima in Marylebone takes a “fin-to-gill” approach to fish, with its tasting menu using the catch in different preparations. Time Out's current guide describes the restaurant as Greek and highlights its approach to using the whole fish.

That makes it particularly interesting if you're tired of ordering the same salmon, cod or prawns everywhere.

Try: the fin-to-gill tasting menu.

12. Cornish cod cheek skewer

Faber Wine & Seafood Restaurant

Here's one for people who want to try something they probably wouldn't order at home.

Faber in Hammersmith focuses on day-boat catches and changes its menu according to what is good and available.

Time Out specifically names its Cornish cod cheek skewer with chunky tartare sauce as the signature dish.

Cod cheeks aren't something you see everywhere, which makes this a fun choice for seafood lovers who want to try something different.

Try: the Cornish cod cheek skewer.

13. Whole fish Estiatorio Milos

For a Mediterranean approach to seafood, Estiatorio Milos is worth considering.

Visit London's current seafood guide highlights its fresh fish, oysters, ceviche and fish baked in salt.

The restaurant's approach is particularly suited to people who like their seafood relatively simple, allowing the fish itself to remain the focus.

Try: fresh fish baked in salt.

14. Michelin-starred seafood tasting menu

If you want to take seafood to the other extreme, there's Behind in London Fields.

The restaurant holds a Michelin star and operates as a small chef's-counter restaurant where the menu changes according to the daily catch.

The current Time Out guide describes its 10-course menu at £125, with a six-course lunch version at £64.

This isn't about ordering one particular permanent signature dish.

It's about letting the kitchen decide what to do with the seafood available that day.

And that's exactly what makes it interesting.

Try: the changing seafood tasting menu.

15. Oysters at Bentley's a London seafood institution

Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill

If you want to finish with one of London's classic seafood institutions, make it Bentley's.

The Mayfair restaurant dates back to 1916, and its current offering remains heavily focused on oysters, fish and seafood.

Time Out notes that the restaurant shucks around 1,000 oysters a day, with even more when native oysters are in season.

So if oysters are your main reason for going rather than simply an appetiser before dinner, Bentley's is one of the London names worth knowing.

Try: oysters, then explore the wider seafood menu.

So what seafood should you actually try first?

If you're new to seafood, don't feel like you need to start with something expensive.

Try:

Fish and chips - The Fryer's Delight.

Mussels - Parsons.

Fish pie - J Sheekey or Sweetings.

Prawns or simple fish - look for a restaurant's catch of the day.

Once you're more comfortable, move on to:

Oysters

Crab

Langoustines

Ceviche

Whole fish

And if you're already a serious seafood lover, go for something less predictable.

Try smoked eel, cod cheeks, razor clams or a daily-catch tasting menu.

That's where London's seafood scene gets particularly interesting.

Where can you eat seafood without spending a fortune?

Seafood has a reputation for being expensive, but you don't necessarily need a huge budget.

Fish and chips is the obvious option.

And oysters can sometimes be surprisingly affordable.

Wright Brothers currently offers £1 oysters Monday–Wednesday from 3pm–6pm at Borough Market, excluding Bank Holidays.

Time Out's current 2026 oyster guide also lists several other London restaurants with discounted oyster hours.

So you could actually make an oyster date in London without turning it into a luxury dinner.

One thing to remember about eating seafood in London

Unlike some foods, seafood can change considerably depending on what's available.

That's why some of London's best seafood restaurants don't have a menu that stays exactly the same every day.

Applebee's, for example, changes its menu according to what the Devon and Cornwall day boats bring into Brixham.

Faber also changes its menu around the day's catch.

And Behind's tasting menu is dictated by the daily catch.

So one of the best questions you can ask when you're sitting down is:

“What's particularly good today?”

You might end up ordering something you hadn't even considered.

London might not be beside the sea, but you can still eat very well

You don't have to get on a train to Brighton or drive to the coast every time you want good seafood.

London has historic oyster bars, old-school seafood restaurants, fish-and-chip shops, modern seafood counters, neighbourhood restaurants and Michelin-starred kitchens.

You can have £1 oysters in Borough.

You can eat a classic fish pie in Covent Garden.

You can try smoked eel in Finsbury Park.

You can share Devon brown crab.

You can eat langoustines and razor clams in Soho.

Or you can let a Michelin-starred chef decide what seafood you're eating that day.

That's what makes London's seafood scene interesting.

There isn't just one way to eat seafood here.

And if you're a seafood lover, you could probably spend quite a while working your way through this list.

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