The Seafood Bar serves up fresh oysters, lobster, crab and so much more

If you love seafood as much as I do but live in London and not near the coast but really craving seafood then look no further as The Seafood Bar within London on Dean Street is the restaurant to visit. They are an AWARD WINNING restaurant founded by the De Visscher family, who have been fishmongers since 1984. They are famous for oysters and their seafood platters but they also sell a great range of other seafood dishes such as calamari as well as traditional fish & chips.

I went along on a press related basis to experience the delights of what they had on offer.

The Seafood Bar

The Seafood Bar is founded by the De Visscher family.

Fons de Visscher is a a respected fishmonger in Helmond, a small city in the Netherlands, and he decided to start a new adventure. Driven by his passion for fish and great wines, Fons created The Seafood Bar. His very first restaurant opened its doors back in 2012 in Van Baerlestraat in Amsterdam shortly followed by a three more.

28 August 2021 the De Visscher family opened up it’s first London restaurant serving up a great variety of fresh seafood all from within a 1730 Grade II listed Georgian townhouse on Dean Street.

There concept is very simple, incredible fresh products, and reasonable prices. In short, good food and drinks. But the real success lies in his dedication of the De Visscher family – 100% heart for the business, 24 hours a day. With attention for the guests and an eye for every detail.

“We are The Seafood Bar, a modern seafood restaurant that offers a wide variety of the highest quality seafood. It’s our dream to provide our guests incredible seafood, and we’re living that dream every day.”

Family De Visscher

Also sustainability is very important to them so all food used within any of The Seafood Bar’s are sourced and cooked using only sustainably sourced produce and whenever possible MSC certified fish. Also the whole fish is always generally used within the restaurant as so there is no waste.

Who needs the seaside when you have The Seafood Bar

Stepping into The Seafood Bar in London I was immediately taken back by the trendy decor, it felt very beachy with white furnishing and a open seafood display.

What I love about this place is that the tables are all very well spaced out so you don’t feel like you are sitting on top of each other.

Upon being greeted in by the lovely staff we given a table which was in a cosy nook, with an exposed brick wall behind us and a neon lit up crab near us, which is one of the main focal points of the restaurant.

Gazing over the menu we decided to try a few of the starters. My husband had the Gratinated Scallops in the Shell and I The Lobster Soup.

Before that though we selected a nice bottle Côtes de Provence Rosé Azure Mirabeau from France. This Rosé wine was lovely. Had undertones of Morello cherry, pink grapefruit, strawberry and orange peel, followed by a lovely refreshing taste to the palette. Very fruity and cleansing perfect for summer days.

The Gratinated Scallops in the Shell according to my husband was amazing. The scallop was huge and had a great texture with a lovely light sweet and buttery flavour to it.

The Lobster Soup for me was one of the best I have ever had. As it was very orange, creamy and punchy in flavour with great amounts of lobster meat within the soup. Best lobster soup ever.

As for mains as both of us having never had a seafood platter before in our life’s we decided to try the popular Combination of Fruits De Mer ‘Seafood Bar’ and the Mixed Grill.

What a treat it was but be warned you get a lot, so much so we could not eat all of it. Thankfully though the staff were kind enough to bag the remainder of the cold platter up for us so we could take home and enjoy at home.

We both particularly loved the Mixed Grill platter which is a cooked hot platter. Everything on this platter was outstanding. There was shrimp, squid, king prawns, salmon, sole, seabass and even mussels coated in tomato sauce. All so fresh. I especially loved was the sole and seabass which literally fell of the bone and melted in the mouth. Jason loved the mussels in the tomato sauce the best. Plus the beauty about this hot platter is the variety. However it would of been nice to of maybe had a scallop or two thrown in the mix as we do love scallops. We would both certainly order again.

For the cold platter there was a mix of lobster, oysters, mussels, brown shrimps, smoked salmon, clams, whelks, Devon brown crab, crevettes, seafood salad and langoustines.

Plus as there was so many kinds of seafood we also was given a range of cutlery from a long prong to nutcrackers to open up some. Was a little like a surgeons selection of equipment. However as we had starters beforehand and the hot platter we personally did not enjoy eating cold food straight from eating hot. However on the night before we had it bagged up to take home I did attempt to eat an oyster but I did not like it, I think it’s the slimy texture I don’t like.

WARNING: Video below don’t watch if you don’t want to see me eat some kind of sea snail.

Plus tried a sea snail or whatever it was and did not like that either as of the look and texture. However we both did eat the smoked salmon and a few prawns on the night which were great.

Plus we had some chips to accommodate the platters. The chips were lovely and fluffy within.

The next day at home I tucked into the rest of the cold platter for lunch within my garden and all still tasted equally as good. I must admit though I am not one for cold seafood usually and just generally stick to smoked salmon, prawns and crab but after trying cold lobster and mussels I was pleasantly surprised. I think I will certainly consider having cold lobster again.

Even though we might of not been able to eat the cold platter on the night we still though have room for dessert as we both have a sweet tooth. We opted for a lemon tart each and was nice and creamy with a slight tang, but not sharp. However unfortunately the only thing that let this tart down was that the tart case was quite soft, not crunchy plus a little too much cream squirted on top.

Plus to finish the night we had an Espresso Martini as we are both hooked on Espresso Martinis. The froth was great and so was the taste. A real hit of coffee enough to keep you awake all night, which it did.

Verdict

All in all we loved this resataurant as of it’s decor and great atmosphere. The food was also very good and I loved how there was a selection of seafood on display so you can really see how fresh the produce is. Plus the prices of the dishes are quite reasonable for London.

We enjoyed a variety of seafood dishes within The Seafood Bar restaurant with everything being great but what made the night fun was having the seafood combination platter. However I would advice you get a lot so like us maybe don’t order any starters but the platter is certainly a wow factor. It certainly will be an experience we will never forget. Also be warned it can get a little messy when it comes to cracking open say the crab or lobster shell and peeling prawns. If you don’t like getting messy though particular in a restaurant environment then maybe avoid the Fruits de Mer and Fruits de Mer ‘The Seafood’ platters as there is a lot of seafood which requires cracking and peeling.

With all that in mind I would certainly go back and dine at The Seafood Bar but I possibly will not be ordering a seafood platter again as though enjoyed it we both enjoy simpler less messy mains such as seabass or cod on a plate.

So if you love seafood then I highly recommend visiting The Seafood Bar. A great restaurant for a very chilled night with friends or family. Plus be sure to check out their amazing wine list as they have a great range to choose from.