The Potted Lobster - Bamburgh in Northumberland

If you like seafood this is the place to be

The BEST fish and chips. Didn't know it was possible for fish and chips to be this good.

On Holiday at Bamburgh ,I recommend booking as it was a couple of days prior to going that we could get in, food was gorgeous starters off the special board and mains as well absolutely delicious, staff were also brilliant very attentive without fussing 10/10 for everything 😁

Excellent vegan / veggie food (at a fish restaurant!). Limited options but absolutely delicious and just as carefully curated as the fish dishes. I’d recommend to any veggie/vegan looking for a lovely dining experience in Bamburgh. Excellent service and relaxed atmosphere. Would recommend for great vegan food in Northumberland!

Fantastic meal! Biggest surprise was there was a choice of vegan options..I had the falafel with sweet potatoes, best vegan meal I've ever had! Seasoning and balance of flavours excellent. Staff brilliant, Jules that served us was brilliant

The best fish and chips this year. Situated on a corner opposite a walled garden and on Lucker road, at the heart of Bamburgh village, the food was wonderful. The fish and chips were excellent, with crisp batter and fresh fish, well presented with condiments. The Oyster was so fresh as a starter. I booked beforehand as this popular venue gets busy, but has the advantage of lots of very happy helpful local people, who lifted the whole experience as we ate outside, checking often on our opinion. Value for money. We will happily return.

A beautiful meal this evening at The Potted Lobster, we had missed this gem last time we stayed in Bamburgh so made sure we booked in ahead of our stay this time. It really was a beautiful meal, wonderful through every course, with great quality food from the Scallops special to Beetroot salad staters, a wild mushroom Chicken and simply stunning Cod loin, finished with crème brûlée and lemon posset. Every mouthful was stunning but have to call out the cod loin as exceptionally well cooked, served with brilliant dauphnaise potato and greens, all spot on. Great service throughout and already booked to return. Simply brilliant. Price wise, in line with what we expect for the quality on offer, including wine at £75 per head, allowing for a deserved tip. if it is in your price range I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

We had the potted lobster app and a whole lobster… FANTASTIC!!

We visited over the Easter weekend. This is a lovely restaurant, the staff were friendly and welcoming and every dish we ordered was simply fabulous. Believe the reviews you read and make this a must visit if you are in the area.

We booked here fairly late so could only sit in the (dog-bit) of the restaurant. I didn't really enjoy our table that much....with mutts being near food and tables. I love dogs...but not near food for humans! Having said that, the food and service was superb. Staff were absolutely lovely.

Ignore the online menu. This is a seafood restaurant and most of the fish dishes are written on the specials boards. I've included the mains and starters boards for the day I visited. Friendly service and excellent food. I had the grilled sardines with salsa on sourdough toast as starter and whole sea bream with salsa verde, sweet potato fries and mixed salad.

Came here yesterday and had a seafood platter. The portions were generous! I would say the 2 person platter was enough for 3 ppl. My favourite was the squid, baby crab and octopus. The service was friendly and super efficient! The lady with the glasses was lovely and super attentive. I would highly recommend this restaurant and we will definitely be coming back!

Fabulous, delicious, lovely staff, don't hesitate.

A fantastic restaurant in Bamburgh. Dog Friendly. The service and food was superb. 5*

Potted lobster was just fantastic

Food is absolutely beautiful if a little expensive but you only get what you pay for, the only disappointment was the actual premises, the restaurant if you could call it that It was a little too cafe ish and too crammed in, it felt as if you were sitting at the next table in their company.

Overall the food was good and tasty, however bao bun starter was definitely not the best, the bun was not fluffy at all, hard, almost like a piece of bread. Obviously, they do focus on fish dishes and all of those were fresh and worth the price.

They can cook. But very pricey and little niggles that held back a star. Fish was very fresh. Service was quite slow but pleasant and friendly. Salt lacking throughout. Potato in chowder not cooked and lacked body more like a broth. Chips ok but better in Seahouses at Neptune. We enjoyed our meal but at that price you are held to a higher standard I think.

Great food and service. Excellent value for money. Recommended.

Absolutely delicious. The seafood was fresh and tasty, the service was lovely and the restaurant has a great vibe. I loved the plates and small details. Probably some of the nicest scallops I’ve had for a long time, and the other plates were rich and flavourful. We got 3 starter style plates to share between 3 of us and shockingly enough it actually filled us up. Bear in mind it is quite pricey, but worth it.

We had a late lunch here today, overall we really enjoyed our food and the wine (a little pricey) was nice too. One of us opted for the set 2 course which was Haddock, chips and pea puree with tartare sauce, the portion was very generous and very filling, the fish was very nice, flakey and tasted good, as did the rest of the accompaniments. The meal was so filling I didn’t have room for dessert. Other half opted for cod loin, served with chorizo, dauphinoise and vegetables, this was made GF so didn’t have one of the dish elements, however it was was very tasty, the cod loin itself was nice albeit on the small side for the price £30. Service was warm and friendly. Only downside was the temperature of the restaurant itself, Bamburgh was unusually warm for this time of year and this was evident in inside, it was very very warm. We would come visit again if we were in the area.

First visit to The Potted Lobster and it won’t be the last! Fantastic food - imaginative choices too. Service was exceptional. All staff were attentive and friendly. Could not find fault! Had the special winter lunch offer, but the à la carte menu looked delicious too. We will definitely be back!

Great food, lovely relaxed atmosphere, dogs welcome, we'll definitely be back

The food was absolutely delicious, best meal we had while away in Northumbria. The team looking after us were lovely, polite and attentive. It was great that we could be in a restaurant environment with the dog too.

Had a great birthday meal. Fish dishes where amazing. Tip .... book up early

Superb cuisine, we're in for a treat

Although there were some initial issues with our booking caused by Open Table, which caused us having to move our booking a few hours earlier, the staff were very apologetic and pulled out all of the stops to make our visit memorable! The food was delicious and the service was absolutely second to none! This place really is worth a visit if you’re in the beautiful village of Bamburgh.

Excellent Seafood Restaurant - make sure you check out the specials. We both ordered from the Specials Menu and the food provided was really, really good. Staff were very helpful - coped with mussel allergy and my request to have a large portion of one of the special starters as a main with ease. Nothing was too much trouble. Will be back soon. 4th visit Aug'23 update - again ordered from the specials menu - Excellent yet again. Must be our 10th visit - Feb 2025. Again amazing food & drink.

I popped in here fantastic food and polite staff great atmosphere would definitely go back again

Delicious vegan options, but could have more vegan options, very meat/seafood heavy menu

We were really looking forward to eating here as the reviews are great, so was slightly disappointed with some aspects of the food. The oysters were truly delicious and so was the monkfish pasta however the Lobster Thermidor was really chewy and tough, and the sauce wasn’t the best either, this put a real dampener on the experience. The staff were really friendly and attentive.

Great food, good portions backed by wonderful staff.

The fish and chips were very good.

Nice table in lovely decorated bar are (dogs allowed) FABULOUS squid starter followed by very disappointing half lobster. Overcooked couldn’t detect the garlic parsley butter. Meat content similar to an overcooked single large king prawn. The other dishes ordered by my co diners were all good. I either chose badly of the chef got it wrong or the lobster was too small.

We had to change our reservation due to a car breakdown. No problem. We were served by the delightful Annie. The food was wonderful (the oysters and scallops were sublime). It’s not inexpensive but truly worth every penny! Thank you so much, we will be back!

Second visit tonight after visiting last year in February. Middle of winter, Wednesday night and still a fair few tables in….says a lot! Everything was just as good if not better than last time, a lovely menu complimented by a fantastic starter and mains specials board full of local fish and shellfish. We opted for the king prawns on sourdough and the pan seared scallops with boudin noir and quince jelly to start and then we both chose the pan fries halibut as mains. Every mouthful of each dish was sublime and the service was exceptional; relaxed and friendly but perfectly efficient! If you’re in this neck of the woods you need to try here. We tried another well known establishment in Craster last night and actually paid more for what we had there and it was awful. The restaurant was cold and empty and the food felt like it was pre-prepared, bland and rushed! The Potted Lobster is a gem of a place and we’ll definitely return next time we’re here. Thankyou to all of the staff and chefs for a wonderful evening.

Oh my goodness, what a fish lovers treat this is! 6 of us enjoyed 6 different meals from the Specials board... Plaice, Haddock, Halibut and the Hairy Bikers Turbot. My starter of Scallops & Boudin Noir with Quince Jelly was perfect. And the hubster had a bowl of Chowder that was basically cream. The mussels and the tomato soup also delicious. The portions were generous meaning the price was GVFM. Too full for dessert, all £10. Will definitely return and try the lobster 🦂 The chefs are talented, the staff were lovely and the right amount of attentive 👌

We were really unsure as we don't live anywhere close by. However, what a lovely surprise! Some of the best food I've ever eaten. We felt so looked after and the staff were so attentive. Gemma, Liv and Erin couldn't have looked after us better if they tried! Fresh oysters, lovely bread, crispy fish, beautiful sauces and chips. Honestly, no faults at all!

I haven’t had a fish meal like this for some time, absolutely brilliant. Main courses of Sea bream stuffed with orange and rosemary and Cod Loin in a chorizo jam were awesome. Lovely staff who were very attentive but not overbearing added to the dining experience. If you love fish you’ll love the potted lobster Great find Thank you

The Potted Lobster in Bamborough is well worth a visit. The staff are professional and do a great job. The food is of a good standard. I ordered The Potted Lobster as I felt I needed to try it given it's the name of the place and whilst ok I have to say I was sadly a little underwhelmed. The ingredients sound great, lobster, crab, shrimp etc, but the taste of any of those fine ingredients is completely lost in what is served. I'm not sure I detected any lobster at all and I think I did detect some crab to create some of the texture the main ingredient seemed to be crayfish with smoked fish, the flavour of the latter dominating. We also ordered the soft shell crab which was good, and some truffle chips which once again were good. Pity the potted lobster dish wasn't great as I suspect it let's down the wider menu as dishes I observed coming out of tht kitchen during my visit looked very good indeed so my advice would be to transform the dish with the name of the business to be a signature piece with leading on the lobster flavour, even if the price has to go up a bit it would be worth it. Overall The Potted Lobster is a stylish well designed and well run restaurant that serves good food with great service, as it's well worth a visit. If it transforms it's namesake dish it would rate highly across the board for sure. Recommended.

Cosy local restaurant serving some great seafood

The food is fresh and delicious. Being quite a small venue, make sure to book a table to avoid disappointment. The sea food tower was especially good. Cannot wait to visit again.

Amazing food.fantastic friendly efficient service without rushing you. Thankyou.

Late lunch with my mum and dad… lovely relaxed atmosphere, friendly and attentive staff and most importantly stunning food! Highly recommend a visit 🥇

Lovely restaurant food was lovely

The whole experience was spot on

10/10 experience, the food is always high quality, staff are friendly helpful and polite. Always worth a visit when I’m in Northumberland.

Food was not great and very expensive. Ordered bread to go with soup which we didn't know came with soup anyways and it was enormous, cut like a birthday cake, super hard and tasted like it was days old served with a tiny butter. Soup wasn't very flavourful either. Staff were ok but not really helpful. Chips were good. Atmosphere was good too.

Gorgeous food and excellent service

Excellent restaurant. Lovely staff.

Just had a great lunch here, the John Dory with King Prawns were delish, as were the scallops with black pudding starter 😋

My fiancé and I had a beautiful meal at The Potted Lobster on Saturday night. So much choice on the menu and the specials board we struggled to choose, but eventually I went for the mussels so start and the crab salad for main. If I’d have known how big the portions were I’d have just had a main. My partner had crab to start and lobster main which he also said was really good. The staff were really friendly and when we enquired about trying the oysters which we’d never had before they were helpful and had a sense of humour. Highly recommend this little restaurant if you’re in Bamburgh and lucky enough to bag a table.

Outstanding food and service! Best seafood I've had so far in the UK!

Lobster with garlic butter sauce, salad and chips all great. Difficult to get a booking so table was 4.30 and noisy children. One waitress great other very business like and efficient but not friendly.

Lovely family meal but make sure you book early..very busy place.

Great seafood. It was a little expensive.

Yesterday my mates and I went to the castle on holiday. We stopped to get a good lunch. We were told it's reservation only and were turned away. I understand this policy as I worked in the hospitality field for close to a decade. Here's the issue, the restaurant was barely twenty five percent full. We instead went to the Victoria Hotel next door. I had one of the best pork loin meals ever. We gave our server a twenty five pound gratuity for the excellent service. All in all, the only thing Potted Lobster did was hurt their own sales, and ultimately the servers pocket. I recommend going next door, as you won't regret it.

Fantastic location great food and very attentive staff definitely warrants a return visit

Had a meal here recently. The main course was tasteless, but the dessert was really nice.

It's a fantastic seafood restaurant. The food was exceptional. The staff are lovely and friendly. They cater for gluten-free with their own menu, which was fairly extensive. We went for the sharing seafood platter, and it was huge, everything from squid through to oysters. It was divine, but it did defeat us sadly. The only thing that stops the food being 5 star is that I require a gluten-free diet, and the kitchen had put the deep fried breaded seafood on top of the platter. Thankfully, I suffered no ill effects, but the kitchen and staff should be communicating when someone with a food allergy/intolerance or coeliac is dining there. Otherwise, it is an amazing place, and we do plan to come back in the future.

The venue was in a great position, near to Banburough castle, and staff were very helpful, and warranted a good tip

The food is amazing, the seafood platter was sublime

Dog friendly seafood restaurant. Very welcoming staff and lovely place. Good menu plus specials board. No problem to take the dog when we booked easy to do that. Food and service excellent I had a dead man’s finger rum drink as well. 👍

Had a lovely lunch, charming staff, great food and welcomed all 3 of us and our dog

We were a group of 5 adults and 2 children, we booked for 1730. We were accommodated with very little fuss, high chair and children's plate/cutlery provided. We ordered for our 2 year old prior to placing our order and this arrived promptly in order to keep him happy!! Staff were great really good service very attentive and really made us feel welcome. Food quality was excellent and portion sizes were decent. Would recommend if in the area but definitely book to avoid disappointment.

Incredible food and great service. The Sweet potato and coconut soup and the muscle pot were unreal!

Excellent choice of food, great & friendly service and relaxed atmosphere

Great food and service. Highly recommend. Particularly the smoked haddock chowder

Treated ourselves to lunch at this lovely little seafood restaurant. There were a large number of daily specials as well as the core menu, always a good sign! Service was excellent.

Delicious food and friendly service. We came here as a group with 2 dogs and 1 guest in a wheelchair. We had plenty of space and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The food was delicious, in particular the crispy squid and fish & chips!

A lovely restaurant. Always advisable to book as we only got in due to a cancellation. Excellent specials board. Made choosing very difficult! It is not cheap but I always think we should pay a realistic price for our fish. Good wine selection also. We had a lovely Sicilian organic red. Overall a lovely evening.

Very enjoyable, lovely staff, good food and a nice contemporary atmosphere. Highlight for me was the chili squid starter. I could happily have had that as a main too!

Had wanted to visit here since seeing it on the Hairy Bikers show many years ago. Our first attempt at a trip 'up north' was thwarted by covid so was pleased to finally make it as part of a Northumberland holiday. We weren't disappointed - the food was fabulous, the staff friendly and attentive, and the atmosphere very relaxed

Ordered a whole lobster (grilled w/ garlic, parsley and butter) for 52£ w/ chips and salad on the side and my tummy was very much satisfied! Lobster was beautifully cooked and tasted absolutely amazing! It was honestly well worth it. The food in the restaurant was a bit on the expensive side but service was also great. Would definitely recommend!

Spent nearly £60 (Main, 2x Drinks and Bread appetiser) and was (personally) left both hungry and very disappointed! They had seemingly squeezed us all in (table of 12 -which ended up being 2x table of 6) with 2 weeks notice which I understand was good of them, given the general demand. After ordering the Dover Sole - Colbert Style, I ended up with a plate full of bones, any salvageable fish wasn’t enjoyed due the hassle of working around and picking out the insufferable amount of small, inedible, bones littered throughout (see image below) - accompanying potato dish was very average new/salad potato in herb butter (a little undercooked for my liking)! I mentioned to our server my grievance about my dish and it’s bone content - their response was that this should have been obvious due to it being cooked “Colbert Style” , which I think is an unfair assumption as a quick google search suggests this more refers to the coating in egg, breadcrumb and then deep frying , not the abundance of bones left within (a caveat on the menu is needed here for sure) - I’d have been disappointed paying £14 for this never-mind £34 ! The bread appetiser was dry and a little on the stale side, I’d ordered after the initial and only gotten that to share amongst us due to the longer than usual wait (around an hour)! Over all the majority of the party of 12 enjoyed their food but didn’t think it justified the expensive price tag, especially given the very modest portion sizes, which was a shame as I’d recommended and booked due to a more pleasanter previous visit with my fiancé.

A delicious & lovely time!! We had 1/2 lobster, lemon sole and mussels - all of which were divine!! Service was speedy and staff were helpful and kind. Desserts were insane, homemade too! Pricey, but totally worth it. Can’t fault!

Food was very nice albeit a little tricky to eat. I'd recommend a you tube video on how to eat langoustines if they are likely to be your choice of starter.

Lovely restaurant serving great food by keen staff. I had Mussels followed by Lobster, both were sublime. The food being presented around me looked equally amazing. It was Monday and it was busy so I suggest like us you book ahead. Oh I forgot to say that if I’m in the position of being offer a last meal then Lobster here is what I want. 🦞

Good food in fantastic surroundings

Not the cheapest of places to eat, but the food is well worth the price, the staff are friendly & for those of us with dogs, they have an area for anyone taking their dog. Recommend booking a table in advance, as it is popular

Great restaurant in Bamburgh close to the castle. Delicious seafood and good service. You need to book to be assured of getting a table.

Fabulous seafood. Carole and I have wanted to visit the potted lobster in Bamburgh for a very long time and today with our friends Gill and Cliff Carter we made it. All I can say is that there cannot be anywhere better for seafood in the world. I had the sole - it was very tasty and beautifully cooked. I loved every mouthful. Cliff said the same about his halibut and two girls had the seafood platter for two which was mega - amazing and well worth the hour and a half drive to get there.

We may have brought the atmosphere down a notch if it weren't for the fantastic staff. They could see 1 of our party was struggling, he's 4 legged. They were patient and thoughtful. Myself and my wife can't thank them enough!! The food was stunning!! We will be back! I've never been in a village so dog friendly. 😊 Thank you all again ♥️

Staff are amazing and the food is to die for !!!! Book well in advance !!

Lovely dog friendly restaurant. The food, staff and atmosphere were all good. A little noisy for us but will definitely be going back . Good selection of specials as well

The service was great but unfortunately their namesake potted lobster wasn't. It definitely didn't come 'sealed in butter '. It was a fairly dry, flaky, ramekin of mixed fish which wasn't very pleasant. Accompanied by two pieces of toast it was difficult to eat and had a bitter flavour. When a dish like this is sent out from the kitchen it makes me wonder whether the person sending it considers how it's going to be enjoyed by the person eating it.

i had the best fish meal in my entire life, kidsfriendly, tasty food and nice location, i'm from switzerland but coming back asap

Very nice restaurant. The staff is friendly and attentive, the location is beautiful and the food amazing. I had the monkfish cheeks (one of the specials of the day) which very very good and the lobster. Which was awesome. Perfectly cooked, nicely flavoured and well arranged. Can also recommend the Passionfruit Eton Mess, absolutely fantastic!

Great oysters, seafood chowder, scallops and pork. Excellent service.

Stopped for a cup of tea and a sweet treat. Delicious

Delightful meal and atmosphere. Delicious meal . Our first visit

Had a family meal here for a special occasion and the food was delicious. The menu was varied with lots of choice and the children’s menu was also excellent. A couple of dishes worthy of note were the fish chowder and fish goujons. The staff were particularly helpful and friendly. Would recommend.

Had a really disappointing experience here. Bread basket contained a seemingly random selection of bits of bread (pitta, focaccia, brown, baguette?) all of which were stale and of supermarket quality accompanied by unspreadable rock hard butter and a tiny bit of oil and balsamic vinegar. Starters were ok; soft shell crab was fine and accompanied with some uninspiring salad and Sriracha mayo. Potted Lobster was quite bland. Mains; nice whole sole, fondant potato and basic greens but with a bland sauce. A poor monk fish (heavily over salted - and I like salt) accompanied by a bland risotto. Had a glass of wine each with the meal. Didn't opt for desert as wasn't convinced based on what we had. Came to £119 including service which I thought was incredibly steep for what was ultimately an overwhelmingly average/poor meal. Staff were very friendly although did feel a bit rushed. In and out within an hour-ish. Did raise the issue with the bread at the end of the meal, staff apologetic and said that if we'd had mentioned it they would have swapped it out. Fair enough I suppose but at this price point they really should be checking this basic sort of stuff before it gets served... Won't be going again and wouldn't recommend.

We had a great lunch. Really nice food, well presented and a good service. There is no special lunch menu. For dinner they don't serve outside and table reservation is needed to get a table.

Amazing service, food was first class

We had a very enjoyable meal here in July. The mussels were tasty and the fish so fresh.

A very tasty start to a lovely meal.

Tasty food with loads of choice, including vegetarian choices. It’s so popular, we had to do at lunchtime because we couldn’t book for the evening but this turned out to be a great time to be there, on a lovely, sunny day.

The food was very delicious. Tracey was welcoming very helpful with the menue. The restaurant is animal friendly.

No available seats inside. Sat outside. Food tasty