Crab House Cafe in Weymouth and Portland

We visited the Crab House last week for dinner , we always make sure we have a booking for when they are just open so we have a good choice of their daily catch as we have booked for later in the evening before and have had less of a choice of their exceptional fish. We were greeted warmly and given a choice of table and we opted for the table next to the kitchen which we like to sit at when eating here as we enjoy watching the chefs work . The chefs team at the Crab House are like a well oiled machine and work in complete unison turning out dish after dish of excellent food. We had the original Oysters and Mixed Fish bhaji's to start and then my husband chose the whole Megrim for his main , I had the Silver Mullet fillets with a citrus dressing . All the food was beautifully fresh and well cooked . We did both have desserts which were also well presented and flavoursome . We never visit Weymouth without coming to the Crab House and would always highly recommend it to family and friends .

The service was perfect and we tried a mixture of Portland oysters, worked really well with the lemon wiess radler (beer)

Fabulous cabin like setting which must make this casual restaurant one of THE places to go on the South Coast on a warm day in the Summer! It wasn’t too bad on a cold but sunny day in April mind you! Starved of truly fresh fish and, particularly, shellfish where we live - as is most of England due to either lack of demand and/or supply - it was a joy to have the choice on offer and to be able to select three courses of great shellfish and fish all beautifully fresh. The oysters especially were up there with the very best we have ever had all over the world. It did not really bother us but the potatoes and greens that accompanied the mains were nowhere near the same standard as the fish! Special call out to the cooks and also the very good waitresses and waiter who were there when you needed them and always pleasant with big smiles!! It does not come cheap - for example, a guy at the next table only had hake fillet with samphire, a black coffee, water and, with service, paid £42. Ours was somewhat more but, to us, it was worth every penny! For those very special times, I would certainly recommend a visit.

Exceptional food and service. I’m so gutted I didn’t get more oysters, they were divine!

First class meals and excellent service. You can tell that all of the staff and especially the chefs just love preparing your food and take immense pride in the presentation. The oysters are large, slightly salty and cannot be fresher being farmed a few metres away. Excellent house gin too!

Absolutely delicious food, with a fantastic menu and wine list. The best seafood we've had. Freshly and locally caught seafood. Great service, and in a wonderful location. Highly recommend Crab House Cafe.

Absolutely delicious food, with a fantastic menu and wine list. The best seafood we've had. Freshly and locally caught seafood. Great service, and in a wonderful location. Highly recommend Crab House Cafe.

Try the scallops and the gurnard ! Absolutely delicious!

Lovely fish restaurant serving locally caught fish. Worth treating yourself.

If there would be only more stars to give… We are absolute fish lovers, hence this place looked like the perfect fit. And we were not proved wrong ! From start to end, this was the perfect experience. The service was extremely attentive and experienced, recommending and advising in the most authentic way. Big Thanks to Conny who recommended the fish crackling, we wouldn’t have tried it otherwise. (Ask for the narrative behind this dish!) Every dish came well prepared (hot plates) and the timing between them was just perfect. The flavours were beyond expectation, no doubt this was the freshest fish you could get out there. The Panna Cotta with Poached rhubarb perfectly completed our experience. Thank you, Crab House Café Team, we will be very pleased to spread the word and return as soon as possible! 🤗

The crab was cooked to perfection.

Too busy for one person to sit on a bench and have a soft drink. I counted 10 empty tables and outside bench seating that I was happy to sit at. Poor effort so I left

Absolutely first rate seafood with a great approach to sustainability and really friendly staff.

Absolutely delicious!! We couldn’t fault the meal we had at The Crab house cafe. The oysters were fresh, each dish was well thought through and flavours complimented each other. The service was wonderful and we were greeted with such a warm welcome. Really nice to find a restaurant that caters for dairy free diets and I felt confident ordering! Fantastic find and can’t wait to return!

Absolutely fantastic food and service, beautiful location and lovely venue 10/10 will definitely definitely be coming back, the crab was perfect!

Fantastic. Oysters were superb. Staff were very friendly. Great place.

Please don’t go here because we want to keep it all to ourselves am, Best oysters I have had in an eon! Great fun hammering crabs and sending bits of shell fly all over the place. These guys know and love their seafood. Service excellent too. Buy their cookbook as a fond memory.

Brilliant place, brilliant food and service

Food was amazing especially the lemon tart the staff were nice and being able to see the cheff plate was a nice touch to the evening.

My second visit after a 5 year gap and wasn't disappointed. Wonderful fresh local seafood, served in delightfully crafted dishes, creative but not over-complicated. We had the fresh oysters of course and they were as great as I remember. The scallop starter, crab remoulade and monkfish skewers served with a curry were other highlights. Friendly, unfussy but attentive service. We had a wonderful meal and will return again when back in the area.

Wow...just wow... amazing food and service!!!!

I normally only visit The Crab House Cafe once every year because I'm from Oxfordshire and Weymouth gets so busy in the Summer months,booking a table can be difficult unless planned well in advance. Best place that I know,certainly in the South for a very good sized cooked Chinese style brown crab🦀👍 Couldn't fault,half a crab is plenty for 1 person when having 3 courses. Fantastic food and service. Considering good seafood never comes cheap,this is actually very reasonably priced here. I drove over 2 hours to visit this restaurant on this particular occasion and would gladly do so again,I'll be back soon.

Great for seafood lovers. The fish was cooked perfectly as well as the side dishes.

Fabulous food - the oysters were probably the best I've ever had! Decent portion sizes of beautifully cooked food. Friendly staff who went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. Definitely worth a visit

I’ve been in this very nice restaurant with 4 friends of mine, on Saturday evening. The waitress was friendly and helpful. The food was excellent and I can definitely recommend this restaurant ! ☺️

Exceptional quality fish cooked well and simply. The sardine starter was the best I’ve ever eaten. Good menu choice. Nice wine list. Attentive friendly service. 6 of us for lunch and everyone enjoyed all 3 courses. Reasonably priced. A great experience. Not sure why you’ve not yet made the Michelin Guide but well done guys.

We had arrived late afternoon when they were closed but we returned later without a booking & were seated in the marquee which had heated lamps above every table. The food was exceptional & all served with a smile, it could'nt be faulted. We would certainly go there again if the occasion arose, I hope it does! If you happen to go on a cold wet night with a gale blowing be prepared to eat with your coats on as most patrons were because although the marquees were heated but it can be a little on the cool side. That establishment in my mind was the best place I had ever eaten a meal for many a year. LONG MAY IT SURVIVE!!!

Great family meal, we decided to share bigger plates with kids. We had scallops and mussels to start. Monkfish curry and sole for the main split between myself and my two kids. My wife (not a big fish eater) had hake with truffle, goats cheese, mushrooms, pesto etc and absolutely devoured it! Desserts were top notch as well! Really friendly staff. Sat in heated marquee and it was nice and warm on a cold blustery night.

The Crab House Cafe is our Birthday & Anniversary Destination, we love it! This time we were located inside and able to see the kitchen in operation. It was terrific to see professionals at work. Our food was excellent; full of flavour, beautifully presented and the service was friendly and, importantly, knowledgable. We shared Scallops, Oysters cooked with Pesto and Parmesan, Fish Bhajis then had main dishes of Hake with a Nutty Crumb Crust and Barbecued Mullet and Mackerel. It was all cooked superbly. We drank an Elderflower Presse and Piquepoul Wine followed by Coffees, we couldn’t manage puddings. We feel the Crab Cafe is great value and would highly recommend it to Fish Faces like us😁

Just what I wanted for my birthday treat. My friends live in Weymouth and I stay with them regularly, will definitely go back to Crab House Caf

This was the best restaurant we visited while in Weymouth where we enjoyed a variety of delicious seafood. The staff were super friendly and guided us on how to propery handle the crabs with the tool kits provided which was a slightly messy but fun experience. We enjoyed delicious fresh crabs, oysters and fish. I ordered the lemon sole which I thouroughly enjoyed. The only negative of this place was the fact that they did not have any olive oil but had rapeseed oil instead which we kindly declined. Rapeseed oil is created using a genetically modified plant from the canola plant which was never fit for consumption by humans or animals until it was genetically modified and is being pushed on us through misinformation as being healthy when it is in fact the complete opposite and it is so cheap to produce. I highly recommend people to do their own research on this and to avoid rapeseed oil by all means. That aside Highly recommended for seafood lovers in the area for fresh seafood!

Recommended by friends, this was our first visit. Great selection of really fresh seafood, used in a wide ranging menu. Food quality was excellent, our wine also. A great place for eating best quality seafood.

Amazing amazing amazing best seafood and Oysters we've ever eaten..

Exceptional seafood in a great location.

Absolutely fantastic in every way, our go-to place to eat whenever we're in this part of the country. Faultless.

Fabulous restaurant. I had the hot Crab while my friends had the fish chowder. Mine was fantastic while they said it was the best they had ever had. The staff were exceptionally welcoming and friendly. It was expensive but worth it.

Marvellous! An exciting menu, prefaced by complimentary bread that is knockout, with dishes presented in fine style, at reasonable prices, made for an unforgettable lunch. The front of house staff, are keen, enthusiastic and proud of where they work - it shows and made our visit really enjoyable, thank you.

We are big seafood fans so this place was perfect for us! We ordered the crab with the thai sauce which was so delicious! The only slight let down was the kids meals were not very exciting and there wasn't many choices, which is a shame because not all kids want the same thing. My kids are big fish fans so it would have been nicer to have a small selection rather than just one choice for them. Overall, a good experience and I would recommend here.

We were recommended to try this place and as a seafood lover could not resist. Superb food, superb service and lovely atmosphere. Highly recommend

A sublime meal from start to finish. Starting with the oysters, that are farmed on the doorstep of the restaurant. Super fresh and deliciously plump. Red Mullet with seasonal beets and veggies was cooked to perfection and really tasty. All the fish comes from small catches by local fishermen. Great atmosphere. Can not recommend this place highly enough. Try it, you won't be disappointed.

Very good service. Staff were really helpful. Food was great.

This is a really good fish restaurant. The food is fabulous and my wife and I had the rare experience of judging all three courses as excellent.We also liked the coffee. Of course it's fish based and it's not cheap, but the mixture of flavours and the options are wide. We liked the simplicity of the surroundings as we are focused on the food. The service was excellent and friendly. It was quiet when we visited, but I would definitely book or call ahead - especially in the winter as they have limited inside space.

First visit to the Crab House Cafe this year. Really glad to see that the standard is as high as ever. The cafe looks fairly unassuming from outside but don't be put off by that. The standard of cooking is fantastic, which is what you...

This is a great seafood place! Food is excellent and the atmosphere is great.

Lovely seafood Restaurant right on the seafront. Friendly enthusiastic staff and the food is delicious and fresh.

Wonderful food in a unique atmosphere overlooking chesil beach. The best sea food . Serve was excellent

What fabulous food with good wine. We went on a colder day, but the covered terrace, was lovely and warm in the sunshine and the view so pleasant . Friendly service with no pressure in a room with a hushed buzz of talking and the soft hammering of. lobster shells and crab claws.

I live next door ...booked for lunch today ...fabulous service sunshine and food....love it x

What a fantastic little seafood restaurant. Amazing selection of crab, oysters and varieties of fish. Food was cooked to perfection and plenty of it too. Staff were very polite and friendly with nothing too much trouble. We had the country style oysters, crab remoulade, shellfish bisque, the world's biggest whole spicy Chinese crab haha and finally a John Dory fillet. Fantastic place, highly recommended.

Huge, delicious crabs - especially the Chinese style one! So delicious and an experience too with hammers and bibs! The setting is wonderful and great service with good recommendations from the staff who helped me choose a suitable starter as I'm actually not a huge fish fan!!! I had the most incredible fish bhajis and would recommend them and the crab. Just go and enjoy!

Exceptional quality. The oysters were amazing!!

This place is not at all pretentious, people in jeans and people dressed up. From start to finish great service. The food was truly amazing, and worthy of the high praise. I will definitely be going back!

Saw The Crab House Cafe on TV recently about Dorset, Being a crab lover booked for lunch last week. We booked (advised) the main restaurant seating and was shown to our table near the cooking area. Our drinks and orders were take while we waited...

Amazing place. Fresh and delicious seafood. Never lets down. Creative menu

Wonderful food , service and ambiance

Fabulous seafood menu, superbly prepared and a great staff. A favorite spot!

Nice seafood, friendly people and beautiful sculptures by Ted Edley (@tedcopperfish)

Always a great place to visit and eat. The staff are always on top form. Great Gurnard on my last visit.

A spectacular meal Difficult to choose. Wonderful brill. White Wine to match. Perfectly sized rhubarb fool. Friendly, professional service.

Excellent food Friendly service My one small niggle is that some items on the menu are over priced for example mackerel which is cheap in the fish munger and not a lot of expert cooking required . All in all a great night out.

The food lived up to it's reputation, and everything was delicious. There were a couple of hiccups (with the starter and then the bill), but they sorted it out and gave us free drinks as an apology, so we left perfectly happy and will definitely...

Came here for lunch - got the crab to crack and some other items off the usual menu. The atmosphere was really nice and the staff super attentive and sweet. Food was delicious and the novelty of the crab to crack was great! Highly recommend

Came here for lunch and sat outside in the covered area. The staff were really friendly and the food was delicious. I ordered a half crab which was delicious, although I wouldn’t order it again as it was very fiddling to dissect it and eat..the novelty wears off a bit once you realise how long it takes. Overall a really nice restaurant, but in my opinion quite overpriced for what you get.

Delicious birthday lunch. Lovely fish perfectly cooked and seasoned. Made to feel special by Nigel and his team.

My favourite place to eat in Weymouth.

We had a great meal, food was delicious, service was excellent.

Delicious food & friendly and knowledgeable staff! Highly recommend

We went here for dinner last night, we usually try to eat here 2 to 3 times per year would be more if we could get in (always rammed) and as usual the food service ambiance staff was just fantastic. This is one of our...

Loved the Crab House cafe, great atmosphere, very nice staff, fabulous food! We will return next time we are in Weymouth, 100% worth a visit.

A true birthday treat. Taste the flavours of the sea through careful consideration of the ingredients used. Can't remember last time we had such a memorable meal, beautiful. Bought the book too, very happy as was signed by tge Chef.

I have been meaning to try this place out before lockdown. Booked a table outside in the marquee. Fish was lovely, chips too overcooked, I should have stuck with the menu items. Lemon tart was also very nice. On the whole I enjoyed it, but...

Everything about this place is amazing. We can't fault it. Outstanding friendly service, but most of all the food is next level delicious.

If you want crabs 🦀 this is the place to nip down too and the fish is good too

Faultless, 10/10. Amazing food, staff are so lovely, great atmosphere and venue.

A wonderful little restaurant with lovely fresh food. Scallops to start were to die for!! My only critique would be that there needs to be a bit more choice for children as there's only 1 option and that's fish and chips. Other than that it's...

This was my third visit to this cute restaurant. The food is outstanding and so is the service. The staff are so friendly and accommodating. Im not a fish lover but this restaurant has converted me.

Amazing, food delicious, staff so helpful and friendly, all in a stunning location.

This place was superb 🤩 friendly, knowledgeable staff, great selection of food & drink - delicious! Lovely place & can’t wait to go back!

My husband and I have just had the most delightful and delicious evening at the Crab House Cafe. Friendly and seamless service from all the front of house staff, and a great view of the pass in the open kitchen with the chef plating and...

Although it’s expensive, the food is amazing and the service is excellent. Extremely polite and friendly staff and every option on the menu looked appetising. Both the starters and the mains that I tasted were great. One star taken off the rating due to price,...

Great food with great service. While crab and whole lobster, both fresh and plentiful. You get what you pay for. Visited 2 years ago and standards have been maintained!

Saw it on the BBC programme on Dorset and it did not disappoint. Fresh local ingredients, amazing flavours served by friendly attentive staff. The local oysters from their farm are unreal and the spicy crab was wonderful and fun to eat with our hammer and other tools!

Mussels are small and half the size of what you would expect. The food is ok, but not much of a menu. The chips served are not nice. Needs real improvement. We were trying to eat, when a family decided there kids should play full...

Great place to eat. Not cheap but great fresh fish.

Superb service with excellent food!!!

Dieses Lokal stand in einem Reiseführer, fanden wir auf einer Internetseite und unsere Gastgeberin hatte es auch auf der Liste. Sehr freundliches Personal, auch sehr viel davon. So war immer jemand verfügbar. Speisekarte gibt es auf Tagesbasis. Für uns war für jeden was dabei. Da wir drin saßen, hatten wir direkten Blick auf die Köche und die Krabben(davor und danach). Übrigens, die Köche rufen "Away, please". Haben wir erst auf Nachfrage rausbekommen. Vorher waren wir der Meinung "waiter" verstanden zu haben. Essen war sehr gut. Alle wurden satt und alle Teller waren leer. Dessert war anders als man es erwarten würde (so dem Namen und der Beschreibung nach) aber trotzdem sehr lecker. Kartenzahlung geht natürlich und Parkplätze gibt es vor der Tür. Kann ich uneingeschränkt weiter empfehlen.

was a delightful experience as a seafood restaurant.Went in the aim just to have a mains but in the end decided to have starters and mains as the apprtisers looked appealing which we were glad to have chosen the mussels and the sauce and the size of mussels were to die for.Lobster and the sole fish were great as well which I can't doubt and the ambience worked out great.

Best place I've eaten in this year, that's all!

Absolutely delicious as always! Staff were very very friendly and catered to our needs :)

Lovely food and staff. Good menu - local fish only

Very nice please to eat, the food was really good. The staff were all really lovely and accommodating. There wasn't many vegan or vegetarian options though and the prices were on the expensive side.

We were visiting from Australia, so have high expectations when it comes to seafood. It is always a joy to outside, overlooking the oyster beds while exploring local delicacies on the table. The sustainability and seasonal approach to presenting simple, local food to a high standard was just one highlight. The fish crackling was an outstanding bar snack, and I will never get over using a hammer to split the crabs apart. It would have been nice to know you're supposed to out the crabs in the provided plastic bag BEFORE you smash them. The on house gins were different and both delicious. Having an opportunity to taste both straight up and with a side of tonic to self administer is always appreciated. For a birthday lunch for my 92 year old aunt which included children, this was an experience we will always remember. Thank you for making it so special by just doing what you do.

Good seafood great ambiance and lovely staff

Absolutely great meal , very reasonable cost . Only a small issue with the service but would thoroughly recommend a visit

You need to make a reservation to avoid disappointment. I rarely give perfect. Something typically always niggles me. But had lunch with old friends that we hadn’t seen for 20+ years. The food is outstandingly fresh and simply plated. The service staff so kind, friendly and welcoming and as the four us chatted the lunch away with a couple of bottles of excellent wine, they never nagged us to move.

Amazing food and great service. A special meal with my family & my little dog 'milo'.

We visited the Crab House Cafe for a family dinner in early July. This really is an excellent seafood restaurant. Service certainly came with a smile and the quality of the food was superb. The food was very fresh indeed and we could watch it being cooked. I had the oysters, seafood bhaji's and the lobster all of which were fabulous. They catered for a six-year old very well and we all thought the whole experience was excellent. Two further things to note are that the homemade bread is lovely and parking just outside the front door is very easy.

Best place for seafood! Wonderful staff!

Fantastic setting , great service and just the best food ....really cannot fault it .....will definitely be returning and would fully recommended 👌

A very special meal, delicious fish, excellent friendly, good humoured service. A perfect summer outing! Thankyou