The Potted Lobster - Bamburgh in Northumberland

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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. Next time, I'll bring some dog-biscuits....and throw them out into the road! 😬

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!

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

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

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.

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.

A very tasty start to a lovely meal.

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

I gave 3 star for the drinks Sparkling water was not chilled Wine was also warm Food was great Service friendly and efficient Please cool the drinks to make it awesome Oh and no need for the salad with the halibut it was warm and a little damp

Sadly food was returned due to undercooked and cold. This is a high end restaurant with top chef so this should never happen with fish. Also very expensive. Will not be returning.

Fantastic place to dine in Bamburgh. Sensational seafood dishes, welcoming and friendly staff. Always busy so make sure you book ahead pr take any time slot you can get, you won't regret it!

Excellent food, really good seafood.

Was very nice food and good staff. Very accommodating when we phoned on day to see if we could get an earlier table than what we had booked .

We had such high hopes for this place and left feeling very underwhelmed. Oysters - came out balanced on the second half of the shell so there was no liqour left - very strange. The potted lobster dish as a starter was extremely average and had very little taste and a weird crumbly texture that made it very difficult to eat. Langoustine special was mushy and overcooked. Seafood soup was good though. The main courses were ok - lobster was tasty but there was some strange elements like the full bass special just came with a huge pile of sweet potato chips…. The menu looked good but it wasn’t well executed. The toilets were absolutely disgusting - no one checking them regularly and I don’t know who the clientele were who just left urine in the toilets without flushing…. Disgusting. Service was very nice and helpful though.

Lovely restaurant with incredibly friendly service. I had the pan fried fillet of cod which was delicious. Highly recommend.

If visiting Bamburgh this is certainly worth try booking highly recommended

Just truly amazing. Had Sunday lunch here whilst on holiday the food and whole experience was incredible. Definitely be back.

Superb seafood served by friendly staff, but is so popular you need to book well ahead. There are a few outside tables, but you then need to be lucky with the weather too. Menu is supplemented by "specials" board & these vary according to daily catch. Can be a bit difficult to park close-by.

Very popular bistro / restaurant. (Est. 2015) Booking recommended, especially around "mealtimes", for good range of fresh seafood dishes. Friendly, cheerful and efficient service.

Great experience staff really friendly seafood platter,😋😋😋😋

A lovely lunch here ,nice staff ,food was amazing fabulous sea food platter well worth it and caterd well for Gluten-free. Will deffo be back .

Phenomenal fish and chips and the dressed crab was a delight. Potted lobster with a slight curry/tandoori twist was superb. Always a pleasure to visit this restaurant and for such great food it was reasonably priced.

really nice place in bamburgh, went for my brother bday lunch and everyone enjoyed their food. the specials were defo the star of the show

I had a whole Lobster Thermidor which was good but a bit heavy on the cheese for my taste Husband had a whole Sea Bream Very good

Service was excellent. The rest was not. We had high hopes for this place so maybe our expectations were too high, plus the kids were playing up which did not help! What's unacceptable is the dressed crab had broken shell in it, and what was completely unacceptable was that it gave 3 of us diarrhoea and made the other violently sick.

Such a pretty restaurant, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was lovely. If you want to go for dinner, you need to book well in advance, we got in for lunch instead and it was well worth it. I had The king prawn pil pil and the beetroot salad, both starters but that was plenty of food! My husband had the broccoli and rosemary soup and crispy salt and pepper squid. We really enjoyed it all. Staff were attentive and service was slick. Highly recommend.

Fabulous restaurant and great service. The fish platter and chocolate cheesecake were amazing, well worth a visit.

What a delight! Gorgeous family run restaurant that focusses on seafood. Staff were so friendly. We both had the potted lobster starter and it was super tasty. I had the dover sole from the daily specials board (£34 for a whole dover sole) it came with crayfish & a caper butter. Also had potatoes & green veg. Hubby had half lobster (£37) you can choose how it comes, cold, warm with thermador sauce or warm with garlic butter. Comes with chips & salad. Both dishes were cooked very well. Not an over cooked lobster in sight (thank goodness!) We also had pudding (even though we didn’t need it!) Such a busy place. We were lucky and turned up at 12.15 on a Monday and managed to get a table. I would recommend booking though it was busy! Hopefully we’ll be back in the area and manage to visit again.

Dined at 4:30 when they could fit us in .. food and service was great.. children's meals were expensive for what they got but still a nice experience overall.. would definitely recommend.. (halibut and whole lobster pictured.)

If you love fish you need to visit. Friendly staff ,relaxed seating

Got to say when you are used to over priced food and service this place bucks the trend. Food was good and service was exceptional. Thank you!

We at dinner here on our stay in Bamburgh and enjoyed our meal. Food was good and service was good. Would return. Only suggestion was that some of the mains we had were “huge” so struggled to eat so much - almost half the size would have been more than enough for 2 out of 3 of us and would also reduce uneaten food.

Lovely bread to start but with butter straight from the fridge!!! Apart from that minor moan it was great - I would thoroughly recommend the seabass and the mullet

My wife and I have dined here several times. The food is always excellent in terms of quality and presentation. Make sure you check out the specials board before you order because the board always has wide-ranging and delicious choices. The staff are first class - welcoming, friendly and efficient. Our latest visit was a week ago and it was so good that we’ve booked again this week!

Exceptional food here, friendly professional staff and lovely menu choices.

Friendly service, great food and we could take our dog. What’s not to like!

5 of 5 stars! Such an amazing and polite Staff and sooo delicious food. We had lobster, mussels, soup. All was so fresh. The atmosphere is cozy, warm and beautiful. Absolutely recommend

The lovely wife and I had both lunch and dinner here this week. Absolutely fabulous food, great cocktails, fabulous staff.

I loved this restraurant, the food was top notch my husband enjoyed his crab saled and i had haddock and chips lovely .x

Been before, lovely food, very expensive but good

Amazing evening ,excellent food and lovely staff

The staff were very warm and helpful, but we were surprised by the very high prices of the dishes. Many had a basic chips and salad side or some plain white bread. The halibut was overcooked and there's not a lot of meat on the lobster (plus something to clean your fingers would be nice) so wouldn't recommend but the fish and chips were lovely. Overall seemed overpriced for the quality you get on the plate.

Would've given more stars if possible. Absolutely fantastic restaurant. Staff very friendly and attentive. Would highly recommend

Loved the food. The food was amazing (especially if you like fish) The service excellent. Lovely all round

An excellent place to eat. Seafood very fresh and to a very high standard. A group of us went for lunch and had a great time. Service, ambience was excellent. Staff super friendly (North East charm). Lots of choice on the specials board as well as the menu. The Potter Lobster was delicious. Ordered half a Lobster in garlic parsley butter. It came with salad and chips. Lobster was naturally sweet and the whole dish was scrumptious. Friends ordered Scallops, Onion Rings, Chips, Dressed Crab, Butternut Squash Curry and Rice. This place is listed in the Michelin Guide. I can see why! If you are in Bamburgh give this place a try. Book your table in advance as it was busy.

A really lovely restaurant with top notch service. There were 7 of us and all the dishes were very good. The portions are very generous, you would struggle to eat 3 courses. The starter size mussels was almost as big as the main. We'll definitely be back!

Super staff, very attentive, felt very well looked after. Fantastic food. I would not hesitate to recommend.

What a fabulous place. Staff extremely friendly giving great service. An excellent choice of fish and seafood dishes. The food we had was delicious and so well presented. If I didn’t live so far away I’d certainly be back regularly. Just book early if you want an early evening slot.

The best meal we've had whilst visiting Bamburgh. Amazing food and service was fantastic. Lovely chilled out atmosphere.

Thoroughly recommend this restaurant, thank you for excellent service and food with our big group

We had a fabulous time here. The food was truly amazing ❤️

Dog friendly, beautiful fish and chips, just very nice. Thank you

Loads of choice from both the menu and the special board. Excellent quality. Absolutely lovely. Our third time here now and won’t be the last

The fish is actually fresh, the mushy peas were from another world, very good. The price is worth it. We couldn't justify the price of the other menu items but settled for this, and it was the best choice!

OK, but a bit pretentious. "Would you like to taste the wine" not needed when it has a screw top. "Fish and chips" is just fish and chips, but these were "hand cut" chips, have had better chips. Home made tartare sauce was also unexciting, pea puree in a tiny ramekin was a waste of time. I struggle when little fish restaurants try and make out they are something special.