RFK Cuisine · Seafood · London
Best Seafood Restaurants in London 2026
Seafood · London · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 20, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026
London's grandest seafood rooms are older than most countries' constitutions — Wiltons has been shucking oysters since 1742, Scott's since 1851 — and the city still eats fish best in these clubby, white-tableclothed institutions rather than in tasting-menu temples. There is only one Michelin star among the dedicated seafood specialists, at the rooftop Angler in the City, and that tells you what London seafood is really about: pristine native oysters, Dover sole on the bone, dressed crab, a cold glass of something white. These are the seven London seafood restaurants worth booking in 2026, ranked on the cooking, the room and what the bill buys, with the dish to order and how to get a table at each.
1.Scott's
The grande dame of London seafood, a Mayfair room open since 1851 — book Scott's for the complete grand fish dinner in the city.
Scott's, on Mount Street in Mayfair, is the first booking for a grand London seafood night. It started life as an oyster warehouse in 1851 and is now, under Caprice Holdings, one of the most glamorous and celebrity-watched rooms in the city, built around a central crustacea bar piled with ice. The cooking is classic and confident — native oysters, dressed crab, Dover sole, lobster, a serious caviar list — and the point is the whole production, not novelty. It holds no Michelin star, and does not need one. Expect around £80 to £150 a head with a few drinks. For the grandest seafood occasion in London, book the dining room a week or two ahead and start at the crustacea bar.
Reserve direct; a half-dozen native oysters, the Dover sole on the bone, and a bottle of cold Chablis.
2.Angler
London's one Michelin-starred seafood room, rooftop in the City for thirteen years running — book Angler for the precise fish tasting menu.
Angler, on the top floor of the South Place Hotel near Moorgate, is the only dedicated seafood restaurant in London with a Michelin star, and it has held that star for thirteen consecutive years. The kitchen cooks sustainable British seafood with a fine-dining precision the grand institutions do not attempt — line-caught fish, shellfish and seasonal produce plated for a tasting menu or careful à la carte — in a bright rooftop room with a terrace, a world away from the clubby Mayfair model. Expect around £70 to £130 a head before wine. For the city's most refined seafood cooking and a quieter, more modern room, book a week or two ahead, and take the terrace in summer.
Reserve direct; the seafood tasting menu, the day's line-caught fish, and a glass on the terrace before dinner.
3.J Sheekey
The actors' seafood institution off the West End, fish pie and shellfish since 1896 — book J Sheekey for dinner before or after a show.
J Sheekey, down a pedestrian alley off St Martin's Lane in the middle of theatreland, has been feeding actors and audiences since 1896, its warren of wood-panelled rooms hung with signed photographs. It is a seafood restaurant at its core — the famous fish pie, lavish shellfish platters, potted shrimps, the whole classic British canon — and the buzzy, late-serving room makes it the natural pre- or post-theatre booking in the West End. The adjoining Atlantic Bar is a fine spot for oysters and a martini. Expect around £50 to £100 a head with drinks. For a lively, classic London seafood dinner around a show, book a week ahead and ask for one of the snug back rooms.
Reserve direct; the J Sheekey fish pie, a shellfish platter, and oysters at the Atlantic Bar.
4.Wiltons
London's oldest fine restaurant, oysters and game on Jermyn Street since 1742 — book Wiltons for old-world British dining at its source.
Wiltons, on Jermyn Street in St James's, has been selling oysters and serving the British establishment since 1742, which makes it the oldest fine restaurant in London and very nearly a working museum of the genre. The cooking has barely changed and that is the appeal: native oysters, potted shrimps, Dover sole, grilled turbot and seasonal game, served by long-tenured staff in a hushed, clubby room where a jacket is expected. It is formal, expensive and entirely unironic. Expect around £80 to £150 a head with a few drinks. For traditional British seafood and game in a room that feels frozen in the best possible way, book ahead and dress the part.
Reserve direct, jacket on; the native oysters, the grilled Dover sole, and a glass of vintage Champagne.
5.Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill
Richard Corrigan's 1916 oyster bar off Piccadilly, a marble counter and a master shucker — book Bentley's for oysters done properly.
Bentley's, tucked on Swallow Street between Piccadilly and Regent Street, has been shucking oysters since 1916 and has been run for two decades by the Irish chef Richard Corrigan, who saved it and restored its reputation. Downstairs is the marble oyster bar, where a resident shucker opens natives and rock oysters to order and you eat at the counter with a glass of Guinness or Chablis; upstairs is the more formal grill for Dover sole and fish stew. The bar is the soul of the place and one of the great seafood perches in London. Expect around £50 to £100 a head, less at the bar. For oysters done by an expert, sit at the marble counter and work through a dozen.
Reserve or walk in to the bar; a dozen mixed oysters, the fish soup, and a pint of Guinness.
6.Bibendum Oyster Bar
Oysters and Chablis in the prettiest room in London, the art-deco Michelin House — go to the Bibendum Oyster Bar for the best-value seafood lunch.
The Bibendum Oyster Bar sits on the ground floor of Michelin House, the 1911 art-deco landmark in South Kensington with its stained-glass Bibendum man overhead, beneath Claude Bosi's starred Bibendum dining room upstairs. The oyster bar itself is casual and gloriously pretty — oysters, shellfish, smoked fish, a plateau de fruits de mer and a glass of cold white — and it offers a way into one of the most beautiful rooms in London without the dining-room bill. Expect around £40 to £80 a head. For a long, light seafood lunch in a genuine landmark, walk in or book a table and order the shellfish platter under the stained glass.
Reserve or walk in; the plateau de fruits de mer, half a dozen oysters, and a glass of Chablis.
7.Orasay
A small Notting Hill seafood room with a Hebridean accent — book Orasay for the city's best neighbourhood fish dinner away from the institutions.
Orasay, named for a Hebridean island, is the modern neighbourhood seafood restaurant the grand institutions are not — a small, bright corner room on Kensington Park Road in Notting Hill where the kitchen sends out British and Irish shellfish and fish with a light, contemporary touch. The menu changes with the catch: oysters with seaweed butter, smoked and cured fish, whatever is good that day, plus a famous brunch at weekends. It is relaxed, well-priced for the quality and a relief from the white-tablecloth formality of the West End rooms. Expect around £45 to £90 a head with drinks. For an excellent, low-key seafood dinner away from the tourist trail, book a few days ahead.
Reserve direct; the oysters with seaweed butter, the day's whole fish, and a crisp Picpoul.
How London eats seafood
London's seafood tradition is one of restraint, not invention. The great rooms — Scott's, Wiltons, J Sheekey, Bentley's — are old, clubby and proud of cooking that has barely changed in a century, because the raw material is the point: native oysters from English beds, Dover sole, dressed crab, turbot off the bone. The city's fish has always come up from the coast and through Billingsgate, and the best kitchens still treat it simply. Against that backdrop, Angler's single Michelin star and Orasay's neighbourhood modernism look almost radical. The result is a scene defined less by chefs chasing stars than by institutions guarding a recipe for the perfect plateau de fruits de mer.
A few practical notes. The grand rooms book a week or two ahead, longer for weekends and for Scott's prime tables, and a jacket is genuinely expected at Wiltons. The oyster bars — Bentley's downstairs, Bibendum's ground floor — take walk-ins and are the value move, ideal for a counter lunch. Whole fish and shellfish platters are often priced by size, so ask. Tipping in London runs around 12.5 percent, usually added as a discretionary service charge. For the wider city by neighbourhood and occasion, use the full London dining guide.
Where not to look for it
Skip these for a serious London seafood meal
The chain "fish and chip experiences" around the tourist sights, for real seafood. The themed chippies and seafood chains around Leicester Square and the South Bank trade on the postcode, not the fish. For proper British seafood, head to one of the rooms above, or to a genuine chippie in a residential neighbourhood, not a tourist-strip operation.
Wiltons, if you want something modern or low-key. It is a wonderful institution, but it is formal, traditional and jacket-required — a particular kind of old-world experience. If you want a relaxed, contemporary seafood dinner, that is Orasay or the Bibendum Oyster Bar, not a Jermyn Street establishment that has run the same way since 1742. Save Wiltons for when you want exactly that.
Frequently asked
What is the best seafood restaurant in London?
Scott's on Mount Street in Mayfair is the best, a grand seafood room open since 1851 that is the city's reference point for oysters, langoustines, lobster and Dover sole. It does not hold a Michelin star, but for the complete London seafood occasion nothing matches it. If you want a starred kitchen, Angler at the South Place Hotel in the City has held one Michelin star for thirteen years running. Choose Scott's for the grand night out, Angler for the precise tasting menu.
Which London seafood restaurants have a Michelin star?
Angler, the rooftop restaurant at the South Place Hotel near Moorgate, is the seafood specialist with a Michelin star — it has held one star for thirteen consecutive years, cooking sustainable British seafood. Most of London's great seafood rooms, including Scott's, J Sheekey, Wiltons and Bentley's, are long-established institutions that sit in the Michelin Guide without a star, judged on a tradition of pristine shellfish and classic fish cookery rather than tasting-menu ambition. Bibendum, upstairs from its ground-floor oyster bar, holds stars for Claude Bosi's separate restaurant.
How much does a seafood dinner in London cost?
The grand Mayfair and St James's rooms are the splurge: Scott's and Wiltons generally run £80 to £150 a head with a few drinks, more if you take lobster or turbot. Angler's tasting and à la carte menus land around £70 to £130. J Sheekey and Bentley's sit a little below, roughly £50 to £100. The oyster bars are the value way in — you can eat very well at the Bibendum Oyster Bar or Bentley's bar counter for £40 to £70. Shellfish platters and whole fish are usually priced by size.
What is Scott's known for?
Scott's, on Mount Street in Mayfair, is known as the grande dame of London seafood — open since 1851, when it began as an oyster warehouse, and reborn under Caprice Holdings as one of the most glamorous rooms in the city. It is famous for its central crustacea bar, its oysters and caviar, and classic dishes like Dover sole and lobster, all served in a celebrity-spotting room. It does not hold a Michelin star, but for a grand London seafood occasion it is the first booking. Reserve the Mayfair dining room a week or two ahead.
Where is the best-value seafood in London?
The oyster bars are London's value seafood. The Bibendum Oyster Bar, on the ground floor of the art-deco Michelin House in South Kensington, serves oysters, shellfish and a glass of Chablis in one of the prettiest rooms in the city for far less than the dining room upstairs. Bentley's, Richard Corrigan's 1916 institution off Piccadilly, has a marble oyster bar where you can eat superbly without committing to the grill. Both let you eat top London seafood for £40 to £70 a head; go at the counter and order oysters.
More seafood, by city
More from RFK
Browse the full London dining guide, compare the global field on the best seafood worldwide, read the verdict on one-star Angler and Mayfair's Scott's, plan a table to impress a client, find a first-date dinner at J Sheekey, or open the full RFK cuisine index.
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