Shellfish Cow Restaurant & Bar in South Oxfordshire

I hosted my 40th birthday here with 14 guests and we had a fabulous evening. Emily helped me with organising everything and was incredibly helpful throughout. We had our own private room which was lovely and a set party menu with starters, seafood and meat platters then dessert. We had a couple of dietary requirements too but this was catered for with no fuss. All the food was brilliant. The service was fantastic ensuring we had everything we needed, bread, chips and drinks topped up as required. This is a wonderfully relaxed venue but still delivering high quality food and wine. I would certainly recommend for a party but equally encourage people to come for lunch or dinner too. Thank you again for such a lovely evening. Nikki.

We have had a lovely meal and a very warm and friendly welcome this evening. I had booked the restaurant as it was my husband's birthday and we certainly weren't disappointed. I'm sure we will visit again if we are over this way and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it 🙂

I'm a great supporter of small businesses and I know how tough the market can be. However, our experience here was extremely disappointing. The food was bland, portions small and the ambience dreary. £140 later we would have been better off buying steak and chips from Tesco's. Sorry, just not very good.

If only every village had a local restaurant as good as this. Hospitality and food exceptional. Fresh shellfish, Cornish muscles and grass fed beef, fantastic. Treat yourself and a friend to a great meal.

Date night with my husband, the food was delicious, the salt and pepper squid and scallops were so tasty, as were our mussels and perfectly cooked steak (surf and turf). Would also recommend the cucumber wasabi martini. Great service too. Thank you for a lovely evening.

Been here multiple times. The service is great and the food is amazing. Want to say a special thank you to Molly and Emily who went above and beyond for us

The service was excellent. Food was fantastic and cooked perfectly, which for a ‘blue’ steak is always pretty novel. The seafood was delicious and cooked to perfection also. Cocktails were also lovely, highly recommend, whether looking for food or drink! If we’re back in the area we will certainly be back ☺️

We’ve been here 3 times now and every time is exceptional. We travel an 1hr30 to get here and are never disappointed. THE best meal I’ve ever had and incredible inviting service. Will be returning again and again and again.

Worth travelling for! Excellent hake fish and chips in a delicious batter and a pint for £16 at lunch. Cheers!

Amazing food and service , the Scallops are just amazing ..plus the Ribeye steak was an absolute delight. The upstairs areas decor is spectacular ..thank you

This is a restaurant you should put on your to do list. Run by the owner Paul Hodder, ticks all the boxes and a visit will exceed your expectation from the time you step in the door until you arrive home and realise you have had a wonderful dinning experience

Came here on a Saturday lunchtime for a special birthday treat for a group of 8, including a one year old. Everything was great and so accommodating for everyone’s individual needs. We had salt and chilli squid for starter, which was delicious and just the right amount for a starter. Then the steak sandwich for lunch was amazing, and cooked to perfection. Overall a great afternoon was had, thanks to the great service and delicious food! Can’t wait to come back again!

Amazing food and even better service, Emily recommend me the ribeye which was amazing the best steak I’ve had in a long time. Love the feel of the resturant, comeleltely different vibe to what I’ve experienced before very unique friendly and cosy environment. Will definelty be back

We walked in and the place was empty, we should have just walked back out, the service was really good but the food was very below par. £39 for a bowl of under seasoned tiny scallops that were rubbery, the prawns had celery randomly chopped in the dish which completely ruined it. The soft shell crab was sandy and tasted unclean and the cockle popcorn was really not good, this is far too over priced, the fish isn’t fresh and boiling scallops should be a sin. I definitely won’t be back.

Absolutely lovely seafood restaurant, will definitely be visiting again

I will remember today's meal for a very long time, if not forever. The KFC Style Cockle Popcorn was an amazing start to our lunch—the gherkins and crispy onions were a fantastic addition that balanced the dish perfectly. The soft shell crab was cooked to a perfect crisp, and the oysters were incredibly fresh. The standout dish, though, was the Shellfish Cow Taster Cataplana in Provençal Sauce. Everything was cooked to perfection, with beautifully balanced and layered flavors that made us feel like we were dining in France. Dipping the freshly baked baguette into the sauce was the highlight of my day! 😄 The people there were welcoming and relaxed, exactly how I love it. We stumbled upon this place by chance on a random visit to Wallingford, and I'm so glad we did. Absolutely loved it!

Friendly staff, nice atmosphere and good food!

Drove past here so many times and can’t believe we have left it so long to try this place!!! Absolutely fantastic food and service, can’t wait to return!

If you want a rare or medium rare steak you cannot start with a steak 10mm thick, even if that looks bigger on the plate, because it's almost impossible to cook properly, that's basic cooking. First medium rare steak was well done (no pink on first cut through) and sent back astonishingly, the second was even more overcooked. In passing, heavily overseasoned too. There was a mushroom (OK) and a roasted onion so dried out I could not cut it with a steak knife let alone eat it. It seems to be impossible to get a decent meal in Wallingford. I won't be going back ever again.

Delicious food, attentive staff, relaxed atmosphere.

Scallops were ruined by over cooking. Steaks were ok. Guinness was off.

This is sort of weird but good. Seafood and steak (as the restaurant name suggests) Steak was tasty. Nicely cooked. Good value. Nice waiters/waitresses. Don’t be put off by the fact it’s empty downstairs. Decor upstairs doesn’t quite make sense to me - I think it’s supposed to be shabby chic.. not too keen tbh. But overall good was good

Not that great but really expensive!

Great food but the service was slow mains came out over 15 minutes in dribs and drabs. Even I can cook king prawns shells off faster than the 15 minutes it took to complete our order. Very disappointed

Really excellent, had a variety of seafood to share and it was all great. We went by the recommendations of the waitress and she steered us well

One of my friends ordered the small steak cooked medium, the other the large steak cooked medium rare. The second complained his steak was overcooked. I wouldn’t have taken this too seriously except his steak looked identical to the medium steak. It would appear the chef just cooked them both the same amount. While this was disappointing what was sadder was no-one in the restaurant really seemed to care about this. We were the only diners on a quiet Tuesday so it was not that they were busy, they just didn’t seem interested. Won’t be going back

It was a lovely setting, but the food was lacking , very overpriced too for what it was. I appreciate it's fresh seafood but the steak was very undercooked, the scallops were overcooked, the chimmichurri looked old and not worth £3 , it has zero spice to it, and limp herbs. The main bar downstairs was great, lovely atmosphere and very friendly people as was the owner and staff. Just lacking on the food front , needs more work. It felt like it was a very established place with the locals , so I think people's idea of what is good food was overshadowed by the fact it's a successful local business. I will happily go back as I'm always up for giving food a second chance. Needs more meat options too. It's surf and turf but only had two steak options . A sharing platter option would have been excellent given the range of seafood, big shame

Two visits now and both were incredible. Cannot get enough of this place.

Dined in small and large groups multiple times here, and the food has always been amazing (something for everyone), and the team are so friendly too.

Delicious dinner, lovely atmosphere, great wine, friendly staff, relaxed evening. Look forward to going back for Thursday steak night.

We went to a wedding reception just 17 of us, it was marvellous . Sharing plates of seafood popcorn then prawns, Steak really beautifully presented sliced with various sauces, salad, and some cooked vegetables. The service was brilliant friendly but very professional very relaxed Plenty of wine for the drinkers, sadly I was a designated driver ! But it really didn’t spoil the day So thank you for making the day so special for the happy couple.

What an amazing Pub and restaurant!!! Great service and great food! Emily was just so kind and fantastic, we will come back again very soon! Thank you very much Shellfish Cow

Absolutely devine. Every dish was an explosion of flavour. Woukd highly recommend going

Owner and staff were delightful having taken us in much later than we had booked thanks to traffic. Fantastic steaks and seafood, lovely atmosphere - will definitely return!

Having visited Beast and Claw and similar restaurants we expected "good" food, and a bit of style over substance. But this place is phenomenal! We ordered a sharing steak and lots of different seafood selections for us to share. As somebody who would never order steak usually, my mind was blown. It's got this amazing intense umami coating to it which tastes incredible. The seafood was cooked to perfection too, and the flavour combos were a bit more interesting than your usual "garlic" prawns. We had a few cocktails in the bar, and the flavour combinations were really unique and so tasty We cannot wait to come back.

Lovely place. Gorgeous food. Staff Lovely and owner very cheerful and welcoming

Went here for our anniversary, and for a first time you couldn’t get a better experience. The cocktails are wonderfully balanced, they have great wine knowledge too. The food was absolutely superb, all the dishes were like taste explosions. No more than the steak, that rib eye made my eyes roll back in a carnal way when it crossed my lips it was divine. Service was also fantastic with Clara being professional, attentive and friendly. Cannot recommend this family run gem highly enough. Will absolutely be returning and bringing friends with us. Thanks all for a fantastic anniversary experience.

Lovely restaurant with friendly staff, quirky decor and amazing food and cocktails. Loved the cockle popcorn, fish and chips was awesome and for non fishy people the steak baguette for lunch was delicious. Would Highly recommend this restaurant. Deffo need to go back to try some more yummy dishes!

Wow. Does that say enough? If not then go there for yourself and you will realise what we mean 🙂 Great play on words for a start but the menu uses words even better to describe the gorgeous array of shellfish and beef on offer. The flavours were fantastic and the steak cooked to perfection. They didn't have any hand pulled ale last night but a well kept Guinness with a Shamrock on top made up for it. Well worth a visit ❤️

Had an amazing meal with my girlfriend and the staff were very helpful and polite. Couldn’t fault the food at all will be recommending this to my friends and family

Great meal with old friends, excellent quality steak and seafood, friendly service, all round good experience

Always a great choice. I have celiac disease and nearly everything is gluten free (aside from the bread and the fish and chips). Delicious food, high quality and fresh ingredients, and eccentric, bright atmosphere. Definitely find your way here. They even upgraded my partners prawns to tiger prawns for free. We had the fried cockles, cataplana platter, and fried softshell crab.

Had some amazing steak here for Valentine’s Day! Was soooo good. Nice atmosphere. Nice waiting staff. Would recommend

We booked a last minute weekend in Wallingford and were delighted to find we could bring our dog. He’s really quiet and well behaved, but we are used to having to go to pubs with him. It’s brilliant that a quality restaurant is also dog friendly. Anyhow everything else is fabulous - decor, the welcome and the service, the cocktails. And the food is outstanding. A wonderful experience.

We were seated and brought menus and drinks quickly. However, everything takes a backseat to the food. The prawns in Provençal’s sauce were beautiful and Mum’s scallop were huge. My steak was cooked perfectly and jus was probably the best sauce I’ve ever had. They even put Chantilly cream in my hot chocolate. Little pricey so it was a birthday treat but will defiantly be coming back on another special occasion.

Great atmosphere great food great people-what more can you ask for??

Probably tried oyster in 30+ places and the Shellfish Cow is in the top 3! Amazing!!

This is such a lovely place to dine. Fabulous food, great service and friendly service.

Had the steak deal, absolutely delicious. Great ambience, the owner was really friendly and helpful as was the waitress. Thank you, we had a great night out.

lovely food friendly service and fair prices, will be going back.

Wow! I mean just wow! What a fantastic restaurant. The best shellfish I've ever had (and I've eaten all over the world). If you've never been, you MUST try this place.

Lovely little place, seafood platter was really good value, waitress' s were very friendly.

Wow wow I've just come back from here I was dining on my own and they adjusted the menu for me Service was excellent , with no mandatory service charge Food out of this world I live in Dorset so seafood is pretty normal in my life but for a place in Oxfordshire this was amazing No frozen stuff here all shipped in fresh and tastes as good if not better than Rick stein I'll be back

I held my 40th at the Shellfish Cow Wallingford last night. We had the bar and cellar which was perfect for a private event. Emily and the rest of the staff looked after us so brilliantly, Nothing was too much for them. Thank you for making it a brilliant night

Shellfish Cow was a great place. The staff were super busy, so we felt a bit out of sorts when we arrived, but once they got into a groove was fine. However the food!! Being a seafood lover, it was cooked really well and highly recommended the sharing menu for larger parties. We had our own room in the Wallingford restaurant for 8 of us great for a chilled, informal dinner we all had a great time.

Amazing food and great service, the waitress was very helpful and knowledgeable about the food. This was our first time visiting but we will be returning.

We ordered champagne and 6 oysters. I am a huge fan of oysters however on receiving these I couldn’t eat them. They were served with a brown creamy goo that made them look awful. Either off or spawning would be my assumption but the chef should of seen this when shucking them.. we didn’t eat them and weren’t asked to pay and the staff we’re very apologetic..

Had the dozen scallops ..for £19 and it was barely edible. Cooked terribly. The fish and chips was only fish pieces and the waitress very visibly did not want to be there and bordered on rude. Overall incredibly overpriced and lazy.

Excellent seafood lunch or dinner! Much to choose from. Service is friendly and incredibly welcoming. Will certainly come here again next time I visit Wallingford!

Good place, nice meal (surf and turf x 3) friendly service. Would recommend

Disappointing experience...the short version, menu explained, told what was not available (we thought), ordered drinks, came to take order, mussels to start, asked for steak sharer....then told no steaks..at all, none on a Tuesday night..had rapid re think and changed to mussels main only, they were ok but nothing special.....as this is the "shellfish cow" but with no cow (and that was a main point of eating there....."cow" was supposed to be a highlight)....something not right with the management leaving waiting staff to sort?

Interesting place. Won’t fault the food as that was very good. Bar service was terrible. Stood around for ages waiting to be noticed. Then drinks orders took an age each time they were ordered.

Lovely lunch had here. Had the cataplana tasting dish with generous serving of mussels and prawns. Nice atmosphere and would come again

We had a terrible evening here. First of all we weren’t given a warm welcome by the person who seated us and we were left without a menu for around 10 mins. The atmosphere was awful and the place was dark, dingy, dirty and looked like it needed a full revamp. When it came to taking our order we were told there were two lobsters left, one of which we ordered. Then around 15 mins after we ordered a different waitress said that the lobster was given to someone else, and when we asked about the other one she said that one wasn’t available either. We were really disappointed that they took so long to tell us the lobster had sold out as that’s what we came for and if we knew they were low on stock when we booked, we would have either reserved the lobster or not bothered booking! The dishes that we ended up having had no flavour and the clams were brought out about half an hour before everything else every though we didn’t ask for them to be served separately. The waitress also told us what we ordered was more than enough for the two of us to share which it defiantly wasn’t! The portions were so tiny and so expensive for the tiny amount of food that was served and we were left hungry. Do not recommend to anyone due to the poor service, atmosphere and food!

Disappointed! Came because of a recommendation - immediately unimpressed by being left in a poky upstairs room for 20mins whilst the waitresses moved the furniture around us. Took 20mins to get a drink and despite a desperate request for bread this took a further 10mins. The food, when it arrived, was OK on my side - Moules, but my dining partner found his Linguine unpalatable. However as our dining was punctuated by the loud and piercing tones of the (hairdressing?) convention next door, it was definitely not a relaxing experience. When pointed out to the waitress the volume of the room next door - she defended them and said they “had hired the room” - yes, but they are not just a affecting the room… are they! Our dining experience was clearly mirrored by other clientele, as a table of 7 sat down, read the menus and soaked in the ambience before promptly leaving! The manager who spoke to us was conciliatory but I’m afraid it did not make up for the overall experience. Do not recommend

Friendly staff and delicious authentic food. Lots of flavour. We left full but not heavy.

Lovely meal, very good value fantastic service!

Visited very recently for dinner with my wife. The food, service and ambience was fantastic. Would highly recommend and great menu

Great venue , perfect service with very well informed staff and excelent food.

In love with the chilli beef nachos. Friendly quirky restaurant, great menu, great service, great cocktails. Hiding in plain sight.

Always a fun place with good food and atmosphere.

Went here with friends. Had the beef short rib, it was absolutely delicious. Good time had by all. Highly recommend this place

Limited menu options. Prawns were too lemony and £16 for 12 prawns with nothing else was very disappointing. Sirloin steak was very gristly and again overpriced with no side. Even sauce was extra!!

This is a surprising find in the middle of Wallingford. Wonderful atmosphere and outstanding service and food. We will definitely return.

Great food and service. Scallops were delicious. Worth a visit,

Brilliant staff , lovely restaurant, it was on the high price , but you get what you pay for and it was awesome , whole lobsters and massive crabs, advisable to pre order if you are going , small restaurant but lovely staff

What a lovely little gem! The range of seafood on the menu took me a while to decide what to go for. Finally settled on the soft shell crab and it was heavenly!! Great service from knowledgeable and friendly staff. Emily you were great, thanks for looking after me so well. Highly recommend and I will be returning to explore the menu further.

A mixed bag. Excellent food. Poor service, but new staff. The waiting people don't attend the dining room enough and not attentive. Dirty cutlery and glasses. Not really what I expected from the other reviews left here. Quite disappointing.

It's consistently good here; great service, great food, and a really unique environment in their rooms. The whole crab was heavenly.

We had a booking, yet had to wait to be sat down for a while, then we waited another long time for someone to pass menus to us and another whiiiile to make an order +few positions were unavailable and we waited another long time for food. It was a good 1h 20 mins waiting in total which is not acceptable. Then food.. Well it was tasty, but for the price we did expected more as we had eaten better seafood for less money and at these prices and waiting times food should be excellent and it was just OK. Tight restaurant, tables almost crowded, it was really loud and bare in mind there is only 1 toilet for the whole restaurant (3floors of tables and people) and it is for use of both men and women. No access to the toilet for people with mobility issues as it's lockated on the 1st floor. There is no parking outside of the restaurant. We won't be returning.

What a great place to dine. We rarely dine out as we’re both so particular but we’re so glad we did. This place is fantastic, food was amazing - we had scallops, mussels & lobster -, waiter was brilliant, very attentive & informative about the menu & made us chuckle with his humour. Even the restrooms were fabulous with the bright pink flamingos on the walls of the ladies. The restaurant itself was lovely & cool & clean & wasn’t hot & stuffy (which would put me off) & just the whole experience was a good one. Wish we lived nearer so we could visit again.

Lovely food very friendly service.

Beautiful selection delicious food.great attention to detail and service

Superb and rather unexpected, down stairs is not exciting.

First visit friendly welcoming staff,fantastic food so tasty and fresh highly recommended not cheap but worth every penny

Rustic luxury with 80s vibe of molten wax drenched wine bottles and candelabras romantic candlit ambience. Healthy and generous seafood dishes, steak, etc. Interesting experience. Very reasonably priced fayre.

One of the best meals we have ever had. We love the concept and the decor is stunning. The food was nothing short of a taste sensation to be honest. We had scallops, Kentucky fried crab and ribeye steak. OMG. We live an hour an hour and a half away but I will be back down for dinner for sure.

Food ok, very odd booking system and haphazard menu.

Lovely place, excellent menu choices and everything we ordered was prepared and presented perfectly, from the seafood platter to the ribeye. So glad this place is only a half hour away! We will be back, many many times.

Friendly, attentive service. Raw oysters very good. Soft shelled crab very good but dipping sauce seemed like plain mayonnaise. Bouillabaisse broth also very simple. My Irish coffee was not sweet at all. Just coffee, Irish whiskey and dairy cream. Parking can be a challenge.

Only popped in for drinks with friends, the menu looks good will definitely be back to try the food out. Update. Ended up here one night for a meal after a long week, I was not expecting too much. WOW the service was amazing the waitress was really nice and friendly and nothing was too much trouble for her. They had music plating in the back round which was not too loud - you could still hear the person across the table. The overall atmosphere was really relaxed. We ended up having the steak 🥩 and crab 🦀 which were brilliant. Definitely worth a second visit. After the meal we went down stairs and had a few drinks at the bar - worth mentioning you get discount on drinks from the bar downstairs, after you have paid for your meal upstairs.

One of my favourite places to go! Delicious food & drinks & they staff are lovely, amazing, friendly service.

Love this restaurant!! The interior is so cute and the food is fantastic! I love this style of dining where you share food. It is the English version of tapas - 'pick and mix'!!

I generally don’t like writing bad reviews, but my experience at this restaurant was atrocious to say the least. Burnt and bitter steak, dry old scallops, terrible cocktails. Maybe their chef just had a bad day, but I have no idea how one can spoil their food so much. On top of that, as soon as you enter, you’re greeted with an awful smell downstairs. Very disappointed, as I’d love to have a great seafood restaurant somewhere nearby. This is not the one.

Wonderful restaurant with very well-crafted dishes. The seafood platter was a real experience. Very friendly service and homely interior!

Amazing place to go for dinner. We were a group of four which works well with the dishes, which are designed to share. We had mussels, prawns, scallops and soft shell crab. The crab was amazing, and the others came with a choice of sauce. Make sure you order bread to soak it up. One of our group had the steak, which was succulent and cooked perfectly. Dessert was also sublime. The tarte tatin was delicious, and the crêpes also very enjoyable. Staff very friendly, not pushy and v helpful. The rooms were great, the ambience very warm and relaxing. We will be back

This is the loveliest restaurant. Looking outside I wondered how we would have space to eat and then realised there’s 3 storey’s! Amazing service and to die for food! Savoured every mouthful. Would certainly recommend and will be visiting again.

Go there for an extravagant meal and bring an XXL wallet. Staff extra nice and attentive - and you'll need them to navigate the menu. Have a lobster. It's great fun but we won't be regulars.

Attentive staff and excellent food. My favourite were the butterflied prawns with hot sauce (tasted like a bit like buffalo) but all the dishes were fantastic. Its not cheap, but nowhere selling decent shellfish and steak is.

What a very unusual and enjoyable evening.. Taking my partner for a surprise evening out was surprisingly different and thoroughly enjoyable. The food was excellent as was the service. The surroundings were as unusual as the style of the meal, which was a shared selection of shellfish and steak. Every dish was cooked perfectly, although we are out of practice eating crab.. we were given all the right tools to enjoy every morsel. The steak was tender and tasted wonderful. Mussels were equally tasty, and the seafood popcorn was delicious. This was topped off with a portion of chips and fresh bread, both were equally of the same high standard. Highly recommended.