The Whitstable Oyster Company in Canterbury

I had battered fish and chips with mushy peas and tartare sauce. The components were distinctly average and no better or worse than your average chippy. The portion of fish was probably the smallest I have ever been served and, despite the up market location, a rip off at £25. On the plus side, the staff were very pleasant.

Review: Whitstable Oyster Fishery I recently visited the Whitstable Oyster Fishery with friends, and it was a fantastic experience. The decor has a charming New England vibe, setting a relaxed and inviting atmosphere. The staff were attentive yet easygoing, making us feel right at home. The menu offered plenty of gluten-free options, and our waitress was knowledgeable about food intolerances, which was a huge plus. We started with oysters, which were fresh and delicious—devoured by all of us! For mains, we each tried something different, and my sea bream was outstanding. Living in the Mediterranean, I eat a lot of fish, but their sea bream was on another level—thick, perfectly cooked, and full of flavor. I added a side of spinach for a fresh, green balance. Dessert was a delightful surprise, as they had a gluten- and lactose-free meringue with ice cream and fruit compote. It was the perfect finishing touch to a wonderful evening. Highly recommend for a memorable meal!

I recently went here with my wife for an unplanned birthday meal. Although we hadn't booked they were able to accommodate us without any waiting. It's a lovely location, nicely decorated, the staff were professional but not standoffish. Unfortunately they didn't have any raw oysters but the grilled ones with garlic, parmesan were lovely. The scallops were really good as were the fish and chips but I would have preferred a dressed crab to a potted crab. I tried their own brewed beer but it wasn't to my taste, no complaints though. It's good to try different things or you'll never know. A very nice mealwhich left us too full for a dessert. The choices looked very good though and we did try the wait and see approach but we were too well fed.

Lovely restaurant setting. Staff very helpful and engaging. Had the cod and chips, which were delicious and a healthy portion of both too. Thoroughly recommend and we will definitely be back next time we are in town.

Best oysters in town! Sea bass mouth-wateringly good. Went 3 times during 4 night stay at Hotel Continental (also good).

The restaurant is charming inside and we were lucky enough to see the sunset over the oyster beds from our table. The staff were lovely. The scallops and the crab gratin were delicious starters. The Dover sole was perfectly cooked and the new potatoes and tender stem broccoli were perfect sides. We tried a nice local Kent white wine. We had a lovely evening with delicious food but it was expensive.

I’ve never visited Whitstable before, and a lover of seafood and a virgin for oysters my husband decided to surprise me with a trip here. I LOVED it. The staff were so friendly, the interior decor rustic, nautical and comfy. We couldn’t believe how busy it was for a lunchtime on a Tuesday… completely full! Our food was delicious - I had the crab and my husband had the lemon sole - and I’m glad to say that my first experience with oysters was a positive one (YUM). It was made even better that the view in front of me was where the very oysters I was eating came from. Absolutely blown away and I cannot WAIT to come back.

Great staff and lovely atmosphere, enjoyed mackerel beautifully cooked and amazing fish and chips,would definitely recommend

Xmas present vouchers for the Oyster Farm Tour on a Saturday morning at 8:30am, what an amazing present and what a fascinating insight into the farming of close to 4 million oysters per annum!! Loved every minute of it even the glass of vino at 10:30am to wash down our fresh rocks!!! Strongly recommend…..(if you like oysters)

Beautiful place, food and service. Year after year they manage to keep their standards up. Exceptional fish/ seafood quality. Worth every penny.

Food delicious. Lovely setting right on the beach

What an awful place, hosts are rude and uninterested in accommodating. Avoid this place.

Met by a very rude host who, before allowing us to even look at the menu, quizzed us on what we were going to eat, stating rudely that “you can’t just come here for drinks”! When we replied that we would get a few starters as it was already late afternoon, we were told that they couldn’t afford to give us a table for so little! The restaurant was more than half empty and we felt very belittled by the host, why should it matter what we wanted to eat? Very disappointing!

The value for money at this restaurant is very disappointing. The meals are too plain and lack creativity. For example, their bream dish is simply a piece of bream served with three small potatoes—nothing else—for £33. There’s no sauce, nothing. The food is significantly inferior to other restaurants in the same price range, where the menus are thoughtfully crafted, and the dishes are rich and complex.

Wonderful meal and the staff we lovely. Highly recommend. Wish we’d ordered more oysters.

Beatiful food. The major fault for me is the incredibly over inflated price for drinks and the 12.5% service charge. I know its discretionary but you're more likely to keep it if you make it 10%

Food excellent - decor fantastic - waitress was lovely but the floor manager was unbelievably rude! We politely asked the waitress if we could move to an outdoor table as it would have been much better for our 2 year old daughter (who was being disruptive) - waitress asked manager and came back to apologetically say her manager said no - ok fine, end of story we thought… Then the floor manager came to our table apropos of nothing and quite aggressively explained that she had told us we couldn’t have an outdoor table when we arrived (she did, we were only asking as our daughter kept running outside) - I said all is well we just asked because of our daughter - she very dismissively said there are kids everywhere and walked off… There were no other children in the restaurant, no reservation signs on any other tables & the table we asked to move to was empty during our entire stay… Fair enough if that’s your policy, but I have never been spoken to with such rudeness in a restaurant in my life!

Amazing location, building with superb food. Great sunsets.

Nice if you like that sort of thing.

Some of the best fish I’ve ever eaten ! Genuinely delicious food but the worst service For a £200 Michelin rated meal I’m shocked at how bad the service was , no smiles , no asking about our trip and had to constantly chase to order food and drinks . Such a shame

My wife and I had a wonderful meal at The Whitstable Oyster Company. The food was just fantastic and the staff were friendly and helpful. Not cheap, but some things are just worth paying that little bit extra for!

Had a lovely meal with my son recently. This was his first time trying oysters so we ordered a few different starters as tapas instead of a main. Absolutely delicious and had a lovely waiter who made us feel very welcome.

Tried to get a table outside - I admit we hesitated and I know it was busy but the main waitress has attitude that needs addressing. I don’t appreciate her uppity manners nor her should have been here earlier comment . I’m sure the food is gorgeous but the service is not with a smile

Went in for lunch , 4 of us waited 45 minutes for fish and salad , restaurant was not busy! Fish was excellent, the best I’ve had But the salad was disappointing, just a hand full of green leaves, no tomatoes,no onions, no dressing, expected more from a quality restaurant

Just great. Late lunch with fantastic oysters and scallops and great fish for a main. Attentive, helpful and happy staff.

Fish and seafood restaurant, but for picky eaters used to Italian cuisine is classic.

Amazing restaurant serving the most fresh and delicious seafood. We had a wonderful evening, thanks to lovely staff, food and ambience ♥️

Apparently been booked out for the last 1.5 hours… Similar situation with the inside tables. Went elsewhere. Won’t bother wasting time trying here again. Obviously prefer to look empty at lunch time on a Friday instead of accommodating paying customers… 🤷🏽‍♂️🤦🏽 #Empty

Fresh Oysters are great! May try other seafood next time!

Went with my partner and we both got food poisoning

We where a little overwhelmed by the many restaurant options in Whitstable and chose this place by appearance and google rating - and havent regretted it at all. Located right at seafront, bright and cozy interior. Went here with our 1-year old and the staff was lovely, welcoming and very helpful. Food was absolutly delicious, we had oysters, fish'n chips (with homemade tartar sauce) and mussels in an incredible cider sauce. Prices are a little high.

Beautifully cooked and presented scallops for starters, the mains were lovely too as were the desserts. The staff were cheerful and helpful. A bit pricey maybe, but worth it.

Really excellent. All the dishes were cooked and presented perfectly and the service was excellent. I highly recommend this place

Price-performance ratio is not quite right

Food was great. Thought it was a little overrated in terms of atmosphere being a bit lacking but the food was excellent. Quite pricey but get what you pay for with food.

A delicious late lunch here this week. Relaxing atmosphere, excellent service and very good food and wine. My only slight niggle was that the moules weren’t piping hot as I like them but that may be because they waited a few minutes to serve them at the same time as the other dish we’d ordered which was excellent. Overall, a very good meal.

This was my 1st visit to Whitstable oyster Co. We were celebrating a 50th birthday!! The food was amazing We all had a wonderful time. Great service staff very friendly lovely atmosphere. I had pan fried scallops in a herb + garlic juice for starters + beer battered fish with scrummy chips. Would highly recommend. Well done W/stable oyster co.

Gorgeous oyster bar with very local produce. Indoor and outdoor seating is available. It gets quite busy during peak times and seasons so recommend booking ahead. The food was delicious but the cocktails were standout. We tried the Oystertini and the Bloody Mary shooter, both come with oysters and if you are a savoury cocktail fan these really hit the mark. Very ingenious pairings and concepts. We shared the moules (which were slightly cold), crab gratin, scallops and the grilled oysters Royale. The scallops were cooked to perfection, tender and the garlic butter sauce was an excellent addition. The grilled oysters were flavoursome and still juicy. The gratin could have had more crab flavour as the cheeses were the main flavour.

Went here for lunch with friends recently for the firs time . Wonderful menu,food excellent ,staff very attentive . Will be going back

A very good lunch, scallops and halibut cooked to perfection. Not cheap but worth every penny and definitely recommended.

Delightful meal, fish was superbly cooked & oysters in garlic & samphire divine, highly recommended 👌

We were extremely lucky to visit on a perfect summer evening. We dined outside in warm evening sunshine, can't remember much else, perfect.

Popped in on a Thursday at 1500 for some drinks. Walked in and an older lady approached and we asked for a table for 7 with 2 kids and was told they was full. I enquired about the garden as I had already seen there was only 2 tables of people outside and lots of spare tables and was told it was too windy so they were not serving outside. ( this was clearly not true as there was people outside just drinking and it was barely windy). I then again repeated it was just for drinks and the women replied “this is a restaurant we don’t do just drinks” at this point I said ok but could I use the toilet and she said “well it’s a bit late now”. Won’t be returning. Even if it is just a restaurant there is no need to speak to people so rudely when they’ve not been like that with you. Also if there’s table free id think you’d want some people to buy some drinks.

Really delicious selection of fresh seafood and unique flavours! We had the grilled oysters (the Royale was out of this world), crab tartine and Thornback ray wing with capers - all were absolutely delicious! We had a wonderful table by the windows which was perfect for a sunny day (we couldn’t sit outside as you have to book this in advance). Definitely recommend for a nice meal in Whitstable!

Well I must say if you're going to spend £24 X2 on fish and chips I would certainly expect a bit more than what you can get from a chip shop on the high street. The cod was watery and the batter was well just tasteless and not crispy at all. Was as if it had not been cooked at a high enough heat and was just soft and dripping in grease and tasteless. Chips were ok but worth £24 each!?Absolutely not. No Michelin star ⭐ on this occasion. Not sure that all the reviews are genuine. Was a hot day but no fans going inside so was sweltering.

The food and setting are lovely however for the price I would expect better service. It took a good 15-20 mins for someone to take our order and then our food came before our drinks, which we then had to chase up. We then had to ask multiple staff for the bill and then to pay. As it was busy you would have thought they would want the table back asap. Paying a 12.5% standard service charge I would expect the staff to be more attentive.

After having what my husband and I thought was delicious, he had traditional rock oysters, I had the garlic butter and parmesan, we both had fish and chips, and he had flour less chocolate cake and I had the Eton Mess, we had tap water and 2 glasses of wine and beer between us. Not long after coming out of the restaurant I had to go down an alley way by someone's drive and was violently sick, on our way home to Epsom Surrey my husband had to stop off at a service station and had violent Diarrhoea and also when we got home, later that night I myself had Diarrhoea too and it cost £142.00 for the whole meal, it's just put a damper on the restaurant and doesn't want us to come again unfortunately.

food looked amazing, however the service left a bad taste in our mouths. Given the high prices, we would expect a service which is more aligned with similar venues at the same price point. We were made to feel very uncomfortable at points; concluding with the staff pressuring us to pay the bill early while we were still enjoying our experience, which was significantly disrupted by the poor manners of the waiting staff. Another note - there were swarms of flies surrounding the beams and fishing rope on the roof inside the restaurant which was quite off-putting.

Lovely place, incredible oysters, very good and nice service. A place to go.

All very good until the bill asked for - then very slow and pretty awful…

Had a lovely meal here with a nice sea view. The oysters were the freshest and therefore, tastiest I've ever had.

What an amazing restaurant, ate out four times within whitstable and this was by far the best food option within the town, the drinks and food were both great and the vibes of the restaurant are unmatched

If you love oysters and fish, it's ace.

Everything is very expensive! Well prepared Overpriced oysters and fish!

Delicious food and friendly staff! We visit on a Sunday and the restaurant is fairly packed. The food comes quite quickly and the services are excellent. We try the local brewery beer, which is wonderful. The halibut is nicely cooked. The raw oyster is also really nice. Would love to visit again.

Family atmosphere with several options for oysters, fish and other sea food. I recommend booking, as it fills up easily.

Overpriced and mediocre. Firstly, they didn't know their own wine selection, the scallop was overcooked and rubbery, the turbot tasted like it was frozen when it wasn't fresh, the salad an after thought. There was dust falling off the lamp shades, which wasn't appealing. Definitely not worth the money I paid for with 12.5% service charge.

Fabulous meal, attentive staff.

It was my first time having oysters and my first time in Whitstable. Wanted to go here since they seem to be the experts with oysters and I was not wrong. Seemed like the oysters were farmed fresh from the front of the restaurant. The oyster shoot was very interesting and I enjoyed the fresh oysters. The fish and chips portions were pretty hefty

We had a lovely long lunch here with our friends who live in Whitstable and recommended it. The seafood was delicious and fresh with lots of local catches on the menu, service was good and the location and atmosphere were great. I would come again.

This was a very very nice sea food dining experience. Great wine, great ray and cold crab. Perfect mustard mayonaise and a very nice espresso martini to finish lunch and give enough fuel for the afternoon dip 😋

Great sea food. Oysters were divine. Cod fish & chips were superb. Fab restaurant

If you're in to oysters & fish & crab ect The place to go nice food clean very popular book early to avoid disappointment worth a visit...

Excellent food and service but it was just a shame that we were on a table tucked away in a corner at the back of the room and squished in behind another table.

Somewhat expensive for the location - you wouldn't be surprised to see these prices at a high end restaurant in London, but you cannot fault the quality for the most part. The fried squid was decent, but unspectacular - the batter wasn't especially crispy and while it did not retain too much oil, it didn't shine. The chargrilled scallops were fantastic, on the other hand, and the balsamic smothered salad they came with was a perfect pairing. The sea bream was excellent - fresh, succulent, and perfectly seasoned, but the garlic and rosemary didn't make that much of an impression on the overall flavour. Perhaps turning them into a sauce or emulsion after cooking would deliver punchier flavours. The highlight had to be the fish and chips. Almost the platonic ideal of the dish - implausibly flaky and melt-in-the-mouth buttery fish with an almost crunchy batter. Excellent chips, and mushy peas that could almost be a dish on their own. The tartare sauce was a bit too chunky for my liking, which was a shame as I would have loved to have more of it. Desserts were very good, with the panacotta with pistachios and blood orange the highlight for me. Eton mess can only even be so good, and the cheesecake did not hit the same heights.

Lovely sunny day great feeling out there lots off fun x

Beautifully prepared meal. Can't much more local than the oyster beds in front of the restaurant. Fish was done with delicate sauces to highlight the freshness of the fish. Staff were great. Any table in the house, wait if you have to. It's worth it.

Great atmosphere and great location and they know this. But probably because of food costs ? The side salad 🥗 was really small and served in a small bowl I would put nuts in !! Likewise the portion of chips was minimal along with the glasses they serve your dinks in! Once they put in the ice cream, you are lucky if you get three good sips of drink. I notice the wine glass on another table was small too !! Great service, but overall disappointing 👎🏽 Also worried me that no one was going into the sea 🌊 on a beautiful day ! Because of the sewage scare.. I wonder about the fish we are eating in general 🤢

Food is just ok considering the price. No serive. Don't recommend. Try shops along the sea.

Had a great meal here, the food was excellent I would recommend this to anyone that likes seafood and fish. I had the dressed crab as a starter followed by the Thornback Ray, the only criticism I can make is that the dressed crab should be served with some slices of toasted bread. The staff were excellent and the setting very nice.

A friend lives in the area and booked this place for lunch . Starting with the service .. impeccable and courageous.. the food was exemplary and one of the best sea food restaurants I have been to and I have been to a few around the world ..the diver sole , cod & sea bass were fresh delicate and flavoursome .. if in the area it’s a must to visit PS the wine selection was comprehensive ..

Never ever agian use to be nice to come to with family....... The staff are passively aggressive the food is a dispointment OVER PRICED NEVER AGIAN

Phenomenal dinner at the Whitstable Oyster Company. Venue is sizeable and quiet, with a great atmosphere. The staff were so friendly, attentive and answered all our questions. The food blew us away, we rolled out stuffed ! A must visit if you’re in town.

Had dinner here, and the food was fantastic, really could not go wrong! The halibut was superb 👌 and a massive piece I was very happy ! The wine was also great, highly recommend!!

Hadn’t booked but when we arrived, they said we could have a table for four up to 2pm (it was then shortly after 12.30). So we sat and ordered oysters and seafood starters and fish for mains. Great native oysters, wild seabass turned out to be just a fairly meagre filet. Anyway it was all very tasty and everyone was having a very pleasant seaside lunch. At 1.35 having finished our mains, one of the staff said would we like desserts which we rather fancied. Then a rather fierce-looking lady who had spent her time earlier wandering around the tables without seeming to do anything, intervened in a very negative manner. It was suggested that we should maybe go for ice-creams at one of the establishments near the port. Actually, the customer care at that point had descended to zero. We didn’t mind that she was anxious to reclaim the table even though her colleague had indicated we had time to finish our meal. What was galling was that there were several alternative places where she could have moved us to have our desserts although we would have in any case been well away before 2pm even if we’d had our desserts at the original table. It’s a good address with fine fish and seafood but at £285.75 for the four of us, I rather felt we were entitled to finish our meal within the allotted time.

A balanced and nuanced menu based around fresh seafood and fish. The oyster "shooters" were an excellent amuse bouche to start a sea-side feast.

Not cheap but really excellent food and wine and very good and pleasant service.

I loved this place my wife and I started with 12 native Oysters and fir main course my wife had fish and chips which she raved over. I had roasted Turbot with a light cheese topping Served with a crispy green salad and an a sweet tomato and onion salad. The fish was cooked perfectly soft flavourful flesh all washed down with a bottle of proscecco. The Service was brilliant, the waiter was attentive and helpful with advice on the menu. This is not the cheapest restaurant you will ever visit but in my opinion it is worth every penny.

I was firstly disappointed when I phoned and the restaurant was full but the lady who answered offered a table for 2 in the bar area with same menu. Glad I accepted that offer as the service and food were amazing. My wife and I had 12 native oysters to start, And she had some of the best fish and chips. I followed with roasted Turbot with a light cheese sauce and an crispy green salad with a side if tomato onion balsamic salad. The turbot was beautifuly cooked. The flesh was so soft and full of flavour. This washed down with a bottle of proscecco. The service was brilliant our waiter whose name I did not get was really attentive and helpful with advice on the menu. This is not the cheapest place we have ever eaten but with the food and service it is worth every penny. I highly recommend this restaurant.

In brick surroundings, this was a pleasant, candlelit meal with friends. Food was good, service likewise, but considerably overpriced, presumably on the back of the perceived shishi reputation of The Whitstable Oyster Co., which has mopped up whole swathes of Whitstable. As with some boarding schools, the more spartan the accommodation, the more blinkmaking the fees ...

Their pan-fried scallops with garlic butter was yum. The large crab was big enough for two to share as a main. It was great value at £39 - very meaty with natural sweetness and fresh. The mocktails were delicious too. A lovely place on a sunny day with natural day light flooding in. It's a popular place, and we were lucky to get a table just walking in. There was a long wait for food to be served, as it was a very busy day, do take note if you have a schedule to stick to. Very friendly service.

Food was quite bland but you can't really say anything bad about handing food to a customer😂 and the atmosphere was really lively and I bought so mango sorbet ice cream on the was back home from Whitstable

We was visiting whitstable for the weekend and love seafood so originally we was going to try wheelers I tried to reserve a table but couldn’t get through so pleased we couldn’t as we managed to get a table here and wow so pleased we did !! The setting in right on the beach with amazing views and the staff are so friendly and lovely touch with candles and wooden floor, we had the native and rock oysters and were so fresh and huge and tasty, I had baked haddock and my husband had the crab which was all delicious, just come you will love it and we will definitely be back

Fabulous fish meal. Highly recommended this restaurant.

Top drawer seafood restaurant. Food excellent. Service professional. Cocktails superb.

I wanted some fresh seafood and I was not disappointed. Very nice authentic place where you can see the oyster farm just outside in the sea. Everything was fresh and tasty, we had a lovely time. If you like sea food and fish, this is the place to go.

Probably THE restaurant in town. Very, very nice atmosphere, very well furnished, great location. Very nice outdoor area, unfortunately we weren't able to get a table there. Friendly attentive service, good drinks. Fantastic food!

Visited with me partner as a final day of the holiday treat/date night. The atmosphere was great, the hosts and staff were amazing and attentive. The food was really tasty and hot. My only criticism was that the portions were small, I ordered mine with new potatoes, and got 4. Other than that it was amazing.

The fish was amazing so fresh oysters were great nice size,9 vegetables so flavoursome highly recommend but i would suggest booking this resturant as its very popular.

This is a lovely restaurant on the sea. They were accommodating to our pram. Lovely fish and dessert. Good service. It was expensive though, and probably overpriced for an out of season lunch.

Booked this restaurant as a Birthday treat with my girlfriends and the first time I had visited a Michelin starred restaurant. I had expected an outstanding customer service experience and exceptionally delicious food, but I was sadly disappointed on both levels. The Moules Mariniere and Moules au Cidre were apparently very good, the Baked three Cheese Crab gratin lacked any taste of crab and the Dressed Crab which I had, contained pieces of shell! The wine was expensive and mediocre, served in very average wine glasses. No staff came to check on how our food was or pour the wine. (Which we were more than capable of doing, but given the Michelin status, I had expected a better level of table service.) At the end of the meal I had to go and find someone to be able to pay our bill. Beautiful views and pleasant atmosphere. But sadly overall, an expensive but disappointing evening.

We booked this restaurant for our day trip to Whitstable on a Sunday. We are a family group of 3 + a 2YO. The restaurant is very kids friendly. They have high chair, changing table and they even made plain pasta for our LO even though it’s not on the menu. We ordered a lot of seafood (see photos). Because we live in London, we were just very happy by the value of money of the food here. We ordered a whole lobster, mussels, scallop, crab dip sauce with bread, half a dozen of oyster, for £150. We felt it was really good value! Recommend!

A solid 4/5. Delicious food, good service.

Fabulous 👌 Friendly, efficient service. Relaxed atmosphere. Amazing food.

Lovely atmosphere and excellent service. I had the lobster which was not as good as I had hoped especially given it's very high price tag.

Perfect! The food was excellent- small plaice for starters followed by mackerel with apple sauce. Both beautifully cooked. Friendly & knowledgeable service. Can’t find anything to fault. Many thanks, first visit to Whitstable- and def not the last

Lovely fresh oysters but disappointing chips. Extremely average Picpoul. Panna Cotta too much gelatine, ice cream liquid, coffee thin. Can always spot poor coffee when the froth on the cappuccino sits on the top as airy bubbles. Overall not great value. Good location and decor.

Great menu with lots of choices centred (obviously) on seafood. Five of us had a range of different dishes and we all enjoyed everything. Not cheap, but reasonable prices and you get what you pay for! Good service.

Great atmosphere, top quality food and very good service. The portions are well sized and all the dishes were great. Would highly recommend and would visit again.

Honestly this is probably the best seafood I have ever eaten. Every dish was exceptional but the Monkfish was absolutely one of the best main courses I have ever eaten. The staff were absolutely lovely and I couldn't recommend this restaurant anymore!!! An absolute must try and I will definitely be back 😍