Smoking Lobster Ventnor in Isle of Wight

We really enjoyed our evening at the Smoking Lobster. Our food was absolutely delicious and our host was really friendly and welcoming. The children’s menu had lots of choice - our son chose a starter from it then had monkfish tempura (man menu), which he devoured! I had lobster and my husband tuna. All amazing. This is our second time to the restaurant and both visits have been excellent. We are only here for a few days and had to return!

I ate outside overlooking the beach and sea. Great food as I've come to expect from the Smoking Lobster restaurants, and even off season the service was great.

Such great food and atmosphere. Jonathan was fun and so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about everything about Smoking Lobster and the Isle of Wight in general. Fantastic evening.

Amazing meal , had the special menu that they’re offering (2 courses £25, 3 courses £30) and couldn’t fault it. Same size portions as the a la carte menu but a fraction of the price. Good selection to choose from, very welcoming staff and highly recommended. The pineapple carpaccio was delicious!

Wonderful meal in lovely buzzy restaurant by the beach. Really great service, the dishes explained one by one which is always welcomed when visiting a new place with an inventive menu. We had lobster and local bass and both dishes excellent, plus some tasty starters, really enjoyed it

Absolutely my Fav place to eat always amazing food service atmosphere and must for anyone who love great food

Wonderful staff fantastic location a must visit in Ventnor and indeed the island

Fresh lobsters and local bass.Beautiful oceanview.

Excellent place to go to dinner and have a good time when you are on the island

Fabulous food with great service from very knowledgeable staff restaurant is small and intimate booking is essential we had the seafood platter for two to share which basically all the menu on one plate

Great dinner, very friendly staff, and in a great location.

Great food, service and atmosphere. This place is worth a visit when on the isle of wight. Be sure to book a table as it's always busy. We went on a Tuesday night at 8:30pm and it was busy even then.

Having visited on many occasions when we lived in the South of England, we made our fist visit since moving to Scotland. Not only as good as ever but now BETTER. The additional range of deserts makes the occasion complete. The service is still warm and professional and the Tartare of beef was the very best I have ever had. I cannot wait to come back..........SOON.

Wonderful spot - amazing service. The food was good although a little slow on the day we went but we had good wine to drink and felt relaxed so it was no bother. The atmosphere is very laid back and friendly and our waiter was amazing with our son. Would definitely go again without hesitation and highly recommend. The handmade baby doughnuts were delicious!

brilliant. We had the beef tatare and turnip and quails eggs starter plus the monkfish tempura main all of which was exquisite. Need to book and not cheap but absolutely worth it

A birthday present of the restaurant's gift card brought me here and what a successful present it was. Looking over the sea added to the setting. But the seafood was what we came for. They had a special lunch menu that looked enthusing and very reasonably priced but as it was a special treat we went for the full menu. Excellent tempura king prawns for me and well presented scallops for my wife . I enjoyed the generous proportions of tempura monkfish while my wife enjoyed a succulent half local lobster. Yes certainly a place to revisit or might try it's other restaurant in Cowes

The whole evening was superb, awesome food, great service and an excellent atmosphere..... Highly recommend! 👌🏼

A beautiful starter of King prawn tempura with a chilli dip. I had the half lobster which was delicious and the best Expresso Martini to finish my birthday meal. Highly recommend!

The service was amazing; Chloe was the best waitress! The food was super fresh and crispy delicious. 🤤

Great vibe about this place : the staff act this is the best job ever. And the food may be the best on the island (seriously).

Yummy lobster, addictive cocktails and angel waitresses with ain’t no sunshine by Bill Withers playing in the background. When leaving I told the waitress “I hope to see you soon again” when that was her line to say lol. Pure escapism 👌

Really good food, amazing service ( thank you for the blankets!). We were lucky to get a table, definitely book in advance as was fully booked. Staff were friendly but not intrusive. Food comes as our top 3 restaurant seafood ever. Give it a try.

A delicious meal with warm, friendly service. The dishes were all full of flavour. My steak was a little overcooked but nothing major. Highly recommended if you can get a table!

Had two fantastic meals here. Great service and the food was brilliant. Recommend the Japanese Coffee and the Pecan pie!

Exceptional food, original take on pan Asian fish. Really loved it. Ginger seabass delicious. Lobster brioche utterly memorable. Tempura vegetables beyond nom. Book. Go.

Kindly fitted us in without a booking for a quick main and cocktails. Had a couple of fresh fillets(stone bass and bream), delicious. I could keep eating and eating the lovely slaw too. Great friendly service, perfect wine and cocktails. Thanks guys.x

This was a treat out from my Daughter, to be honest the staff were helpful and polite, but the main star is the food just amazing

The food at Smoking Lobster was excellent! There wasn’t a single dish I disliked while dining in here. I loved all the starters including the Chinese Turnip, Tuna Tataki, and the Seared Scallops! The mains were had, which consisted of the fish of the day (stone bass) and the crowd-favorite Lobster were both also really good. I highly recommend Smoking Lobster for anybody who loves food. The portions are quite on the small side and the prices are steep compared to other restaurants in the area but the flavors just work and the food was wonderful. I had to deduct a star on service because the kitchen was packed while we were there so we had a huge gap between our starters and mains, otherwise the staff were generally very friendly and helpful. Bookings are recommended.

Fantastic food and a great atmosphere. Me and the wife have in to temptation and went for the platter for 2 (pictured) along with a couple of side dishes and IoW cheeses to finish. Stunning food, and amazing outlook. Not cheap at £240 for 4 including food and drinks but very much worth it.

Food was absolutely delicious here, best meal that I had on the island. View of the sea is also stunning, - if you want to see a nice vibrant trendy town I would also recommend going to visit the smoking lobster in Cowes which serves amazing pan Asian cuisine.

Amazing food and a lovely view. We had the platter for 2.

Me and my partner came here for my birthday meal and it did not disappoint! All the food was so fresh and cooked to perfection. All the staff was so helpful and even offered a blanket because we were sitting outside. We were treated like royalty and was a real treat for us.

Excellent service, high quality food, friendly staff, strongly recommend,

I loved the Japanese elements of the seafood, with the furikake fries having a flavourful seasoning and amazing crunch, would also recommend the kombucha as it had a light refreshing taste which was not too sweet.

Would 100% recommend this restaurant! Very understated from the outside but lovely seaside-style decor inside and the food is just sensational (beef fillet tarare to start, seafood platter for main and cappuccino brulee for dessert). One of the best meals out we had in a while. We were lucky enough to have a window seat with a view out over the sea too. The staff are a real credit to this restaurant and were all really friendly, attentive and very knowledgeable about the food. Thanks!

The food was very good, but very expensive for what was offered. What particularly bothered me about the large seafood platter was that most of the items were baked. The restaurant itself is no better equipped than your average fish and chip restaurant. Everything is extremely narrow and crammed together. Our dog had no problem here.

We had seafood platers for two~ Prawns is amazing ~ You’d better to know how to use chopsticks to enjoy that lovely sea bass

Service and food was excellent- special occasion for my wife's special birthday - we had the Seafood Platter which was excellent although the evening was slightly tarnished when we ordered special coffees at the end of the meal. When the coffees were delivered at the table we were basically told to drink up as the next reservation was waiting for our table - nothing was mentioned before we ordered the coffees. Would we recommend this place to eat Yes.

Wonderful place. Service was first class and the food was incredible. We had main course yellow fin tuna steak and rib cut steak and deserts were out of this world. Really fab evening

One of our favourite places in earth. Views to quench the eyes, food to please the senses. My wife was also recommended a French wine that she loved. Thanks, see you next year

Seafood platter was superb. Lobster soft & succulent, tuna ceviche delicate, seabass beautifully cooked as were tempura king prawns. Unusual to find a place that gets it all right. Highly recommend. Well done chef & staff

Was more like a weather's spoons all you could hear was ppl talking very loud & noisy so if you looking for a romantic meal for 2 you would have to go when it was empty.its to small we were on a very small table & we ordered the seafood platter for 2 & there was barely any room.the lobster was dry & bland & the prawns didn't taste of anything they gave us more prawns as they had run out of scallops & had not been open long so that means they didn't have any to start with so was very disappointed i mean what seafood restaurant does not have scallops, the sea bass was cooked perfect,the tuna was nice but no seasoning the crab was bland no seasoning it wasn't worth £120.00 I am no chef but I could & have cooked it better myself.it felt really rushed but to be fare we couldn't wait to get out it was that loud so I didn't make a complaint as I just wanted to get away from the noise.me & my husband was expecting a nice place & nice food to eat seeing how it's a 2 rosette restaurant.i don't know how.its called smoking lobster but there was no way the lobster had been on a grill.we was there on holiday & absolutely love ventnor but would not go back here.very disappointed.the front of house staff were nice but was running round & to busy trying to get people in & out.felt like a fast food place rather than a restaurant. To small to loud & food was mediocre it spoilt our evening & expectations sorry but it is definitely not worth 2 rosette

Great food. But you need to book.

Absolutely packed restaurant. Very friendly staff. Semi-open kitchen working flat out. Good menu with some interesting flavour choices, and beautifully-prepared food. Highly recommended. You won't get in if you don't book.

Myself and my partner had travelled over from London for the weekend, friends of ours had recommended Smoking Lobster as one of the best restaurants in Ventnor so we were excited for our booking, unfortunately we didn’t get the experience we expected to get. we booked a table earlier in the day where the lady that we spoke to seemed to be hesitant in offering us a table, but we managed to get in at 8.45pm. When we arrived we were offered a drink while our table was being prepared, we sat down around 8.50pm to be told that they had no Lobster!!! The waitress Molly couldn’t be more apologetic about the situation and tried to resolve it by offering a complimentary drink for the inconvenience but was rudely turned down by the manager which left out us without many options for dinner as most places stop serving or close at 9pm. Real shame that the manager couldn’t take the time to come and apologise for not having Lobster available when the restaurant is named after the dish, but thank you Molly for great customer service maybe we’ll try again next time we’re over.

Best meal EVER food service setting death row meal I would come back to the Isle of Wight just to come here DO NOT MISS IT

OMG !!! You have got to come here for the seafood platter if on the island. Absolutely flawless service, and the most amazing food. Thank you guys for a lovely experience

The food and service was outstanding, the only thing that spoiled our experience, was the restaurant allowing 3 girls in who they KNEW personally (the manager/server hugged them at the door) to sit down next to our table. They were clearly drinking/drunk already and serving them even more alcohol. They were shouting, laughing obnoxiously loud and their conversation was the loudest in the room by far consistently the entire hour we were there. The only time they stopped shouting for a second was when their food arrived. I’m not saying it’s wrong for the restaurant to host people they know personally or are associated with, I would have just thought that they would have told them to quiet down a little bit, especially if they knew them personally. Which was obvious with all the hugs and heart gestures at the door… those 3 girls need to chill a little bit next time and remember it’s not just a friends gathering there are other people trying to eat and hear their own conversations over them too. Otherwise the food was perfect.

Great food and good vibe👍🏼 Recommended! And also we would like to say a big THANK YOU to Talei for her amazing and welcoming service! :)

We were a table of 5 that were accommodated at short notice. The staff went out of their way to make us feel welcome and special. The cocktails, particularly the coconut margarita were incredible. The food was sublime, from the whole bass, bass fillet, seared Yellowstone tuna and halibut. Well presented, tasty and cooked perfectly. Worth every penny. Would highly recommend

A beautiful venue in a beautiful seafront town, friendly staff and out of this world sea food. The sea food platter and lobster are amazing!!!

Me and my partner went for dinner here last night and can definitely day it's the best meal we have ever eaten. The food is out of this world! The cocktails don't disappoint either. Staff were fantastic, friendly, inviting and very professional. Was expecting the bill to come to more than it was as well. Will visit again next time I'm on the island. Thank you for such an amazing experience

Extremely small portions, and the food was below average.

We had the seafood platter and it was amazing. Very good service and nice to have sea view.

Although we're vegan, there is still a fab choice on the menu....the lions mane was insanely good 💚

We had an evening reservation. Fabulous food, great cocktails and wine. Friendly service. We pushed the boat out, as it were, last night on the island and so had lobster and fish platter. So worth it I'm my opinion.

Arrived 5.45 told only half lobster left we had book at 6.45 no food so said we pay for wine and the manger said don't pay for the wine and he was sorry they had no lobster which was very nice of him and he said please came Back we will try again but will make shaw there is lobster

Amazing food, especially the lobster in the platter!

We arrived on Friday afternoon for lunch to be greeted by a lady who from word go, gave us such a warm welcome and made us and our dog feel like friends, rather than just customers. We chose the seafood platter. It was, without doubt one of the best meals we have had in a long time! Every single element of the platter was perfectly executed and the asian inspired flavours excited our palates to the maximum. The portion size was ample and it’s a must if you ever go to Ventnor! Thank you team Smoking Lobster!

Had a great time at the smoking lobster, no wonder it's a locals' favourite! Book early!

Best restaurant in the Isle of Wight. We love this place and come back every year as a special treat. The seafood platter is beyond sublime and doughnuts great.

Even though it was out of season, we were the only ones in, but it soon had people walk in. The staff were very friendly, polite, helpful & attentive. It was someone's birthday & they brought her a cake with a candle in it & we all joined in singing happy birthday, it brought tears to her eyes. She wasn't expecting it. The food was excellent, we had a good selection of starters, then mains. It was absolutely amazing, my sister, that had lived & worked in Japan was blown away with the food. We had an excellent afternoon.

Amazing dinner, great atmosphere

Amazing place to eat!! Food spectacular!! Everyone is so nice and welcoming. Looking forward to returning soon

Visited here recently after being a big fan of the drunken lobster and I was not disappointed. Not only is the food amazing, but the staff were attentive and friendly. I will definitely be back on my next trip to the island.

Absolutely 5🌟 everything! Seriously good food, great staff, brilliant ambiance, I would definitely recommend smoking lobster to anyone on the island, I'll be going back for 2nds . 😋

Group of 5 of us, food presentation and taste was excellent as was the service

Visited this place 2 years ago, coming back was like returning home, can’t tell you how much we’ve missed this place. The location is phenomenal as are all the dishes we tried. Chefs are killing it 👏 We usually visit Cowes Smoking Lobster so coming back to this after a few years was awesome. Well worth the visit to the Isle of Wight just to try the cuisine at all the Smoking Lobster venues 💪💪

Lovely place, best food in Cowes and friendliest staff. Couldn't reccomend it any more.

Excellent food and service, will happily travel back to the Isle of Wight to eat here again.

We were excited to go back to Smoking Lobster after a great experience two years ago. Unfortunately the food this time round wasn’t good especially for the small serving sizes and prices - small gunard fish main for £30 which was very bland with no seasoning or flavour. What was more frustrating is that the waiter suggested this dish as ideal for a sharing mains. When we told the waiter the mains weren’t good, we were just given multiple excuses. We were also overcharged for a child’s main. Everything just felt average this time. Shame to have had our Smoking Lobster bubble burst.

So Very dissapointed. We were told there was no lobster or tempura prawns or king prawns. This is significant and we should have been told before arrival. Having booked for 4 for lunch and expressed we were coming directly off the ferry. I had asked for tempura prawns and was suprised to see a person on the next table had been served after me with tempura prawns on their plate. The menu was very limited and we booked for 1pm. I had to order two seperate dishes of scallops and prawns to enjoy a meal. Three very small scallops arrived on one plate and i considered them undercooked but was told thats how they’re cooked. Only two more cooked scallops arrived back to me on the plate and two small crispy somethings that had no taste. The jumbo prawns didn’t come whole this dish was of jumbo prawns cut up into 6 small battered balls on a blob of orange sauce. The portions were very small and more like starters than a meal. The tiny scallop dish was £14. The staff were helpful and friendly but three out of four of us came away from lunch still hungry which should not be the case after the amount of money spent. 😒

Great fancy restaurant! Price worth the food. Unsure if it’s Michelin stared but if not they are on their way!!!

We had a fabulous evening meal here. Delicious food, superb cooking!!! We loved it. Thank you team!!!!

Had such an amazing meal here on Friday night that we went back on Saturday night. Really melt in the mouth food for each of the three courses. Reasonable priced good quality wine. Very good service with the front of house team working well together and with the kitchen team. Very impressive.

Fantastic restaurant with fresh seafood daily. Portion sizes were about the right size but the food was so good I was left wanting more. Great mix of drinks and dishes. Can't recommend this place enough. Very small resturant so would recommend booking ahead for a table.

Strongly recommend Chinese turnip cake ! And the desserts

The smoking lobster delivers every time. The food is spectacular, the service is second to none and even on a wet March evening the atmosphere is warm and welcoming.

Really nice seafood place with views of Ventnor beach. High quality food, great cocktails and fast service. Vegan options were up there too.

Really good place to eat, I'd recommend it. We arrived much earlier than our booked time, but they were able to slot us in without a problem. Service was fast and friendly throughout, even when it got a lot busier later. The starters were amazing, in particular I loved lobster on toasted sesame brioche. The mains we had were very good (tempura monkfish, and stonebass (fish of the day). Also a tasty chocolate dessert. And a decent cheese course.

Good food, okay service & nice atmosphere. The sea bass is decent

It was amazing. The flavor is really good and really recommend for Asian people.

Excellent food. Friendly staff Will definitely be back

Loved the food and the staff there were friendly and attentive 😊!

Really great food and very friendly service in a relaxed environment - would definitely recommend

Visiting sister and brother in law and this is their choice. Food was excellent as was the service and of course the company. Thanks Sis and BIL for such a great treat. Can we come again. 😉

Took my husband here for his birthday and we were not disappointed. It's a lovely restaurant, serving delicious food and providing a great experience overall. Special compliments to the lovely staff who was so attentive and charming (and they sang happy birthday as well!).

Booked for an anniversary date for later this month, been twice before and can honestly say nothing bad about food or service. Atmosphere gets a four ⭐ rating only due to being very cramped inside not much seating so make sure you book in advance! Can't wait to go back

Amazing quality of food. Everything is cooked very fresh! Worth visiting for sure.

OMG the food was out of this world had the noodle prawn main to share as a starter. Half lobster and chips for main each and doughnut’s to share for a dessert. A couple of cocktails that were also delicious. Staff were absolutely brilliant and kind enough to help source a cab for us when we tried all the numbers we had. Although it looks unassuming from the outside I would definitely book in advance it was busy on a Tuesday and we arrived at 5pm. Michelin quality food and service I would travel from London to for dinner here can’t rate it highly enough only here for a few more days but will be back again before we head home.

Amazing food and great service. I have had a seafood platter in many places in many countries and the Smoking Lobster seafood platter was simply the best I have ever had!

Lovely meal last night, food was absolutely beautiful and service fabulous.

Beautiful spot with amazing food.

Excellent! The menu reflects the quality of the restaurant as close to as a michelin star as you can get. The food is fresh and very well cooked, the service is friendly and attentive. The wine selection is very well chosen for the food on the menu, the deserts are wonderful. One of our guests had some dietary requirements and they were very accommodating. There is parking just outside or a small pay and display parking just up the road. The restaurant is very accessible for wheelchairs or other accessable needs.

Emily the manager was amazing. Throughly recommend, the food and service was top class.

Beautiful fresh ingredients, cooked perfectly and served by delightful staff in a clean simple tasteful restaurant. Add a glass of chilled wine. Super. Thank you

Visited Smoking Lobster with my family (wife and two daughters) whilst on the IOW. It was our daughters 4th birthday. The staff could not have been more welcoming. The food was outstanding. Very nice cocktails. The seafood platter was amazing. You pay for the food quality and we felt it deserved the price. The waiting team kindly sang happy birthday to my daughter which blew her mind. Only criticism which relates to the score of 4/5 for service was things were slow and when trying to get the bill and was available pay the bill took ages. Over all a lovely place to eat on the IOW.

Super attentive staff who were more than helpful in finding us a quiet corner for our dog (they also gave us water with ice cubes for him on a blisteringly hot day). The turnip cake starter was sublime and the mains were lovely especially the half lobster. Highly recommend the chocolate pandan to finish up.

Ventnor is a casual little seaside town with the usual seaside fish and chips, etc. Imagine my delight when I went there for lunch at the recommendation of a neighbor and found a foodie paradise! We started with 2 of their special cocktails of the day, a passion fruit mojito and a mandarin maraschino margarita, both really tasty and not overly sweet. Since we prefer grazing rather than pigging out on large meals, we shared 4 small plates and one side. We started with the confit yellow fin tuna with wasabi and avocado mouse and togarashi chili gazpacho. Lovely, with just the right amount of spice. Then we had the hot applewood-smoked venison haunch with char siu watermelon and watercress salad. It was like no other venison I have ever eaten. The taste and texture were perfect, there was just the right amount of smokiness and no gaminess at all. Next we had the yuzu miso black cod with kohlrabi, apple and local crab tian served with a lotus chip. The fish was cooked to perfection with one side fabulously charred, while the rest of the piece was just done, giving it such a supple mouth feel. Lastly we had grilled lobster with miso bernaise served on a sesame brioche. This is one of those dishes that will stay in my memory for a long time. I only wish we hadn't booked a late lunch as the kitchen was closed by the time we got to that dish and I would have ordered another one. The complexity of flavor was astounding. Along with these amazing plates we ordered soy and sesame stir-fried vegetables. They played off nicely against the richness of the other dishes. Lovely wine list as well, with excellent wines by the glass. We chose a Picpoul de Pinet, Les Parades and a Chablis Louis Michel. I'm gutted that they're closed on Sunday and Monday and we're leaving the Isle of Wight on Tuesday morning. I would definitely book in again. Speaking of which, do book a reservation as this is a relatively small place and it books up quickly.

The food was delicious, and the menu options were decent, but the service was slacking a bit. The food tasted good, and I must compliment the chefs for cooking it perfectly and making it look most appealing. Both me and my better half had the calamari for starters, which were very well cooked, and the sauce complimented the dish perfectly. I've had the Rib Eye steak - medium rare. The steak was cooked perfectly throughout, seasoned just right, and it wasn't dry! My partner had half lobster, which she said was "the best lobster she's ever had" - more compliments to the kitchen! 🥰 And for desert, we've had the doughnuts and Délice - which I must say were both lovely. However, they were far too overpriced for the size of the dish. It's the table service where the experience lacked a bit. We've had to wait for our plates to be cleared of the table on multiple occasions, and various things have been forgotten (although corrected eventually). This won't have been such a big issue if it wasn't for the fact that at one point a waiter was just standing there doing nothing, whilst the lovely Australian lady was 'running' round serving multiple tables with a smile. There's also been a handful of occasions where the kitchen staff have called for service to clear their counter with food that was made and ready to be served, and even though there was more than one waiter available to answer the call, the kitchen's call was ignored. It's also worth mentioning that the overall prices were rather high - for what you see in the pictures, we've paid just shy of £140, which feels a little steep compared to other places. I've given this a 3/5. Though this could've been a solid 4 - maybe even 5 if there was better communication amongst the table service staff.