Join Harden's Platinum Club for Member's Benefits - save 60% with our special offer!
RestaurantsNorthumberlandBamburghNE69

Harden's says

There's also a sibling branch in North Wales (High Street, Abersoch, Pwllheli LL53 7DS)

survey result

Summary

£80
 ££££
4
Very Good
4
Very Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

An “excellent restaurant” whose “super-friendly welcome” is a prelude to ultra-fresh local shellfish and seafood (the “best we’ve had for years”, according to one reporter), particularly if you go for the “delicious” titular crustacean, which comes in various renditions. Conditions “can be noisy” and, for the odd visitor, the trip “didn’t live up to expectations” given the elevated price, but the majority verdict is that all aspects are “very well done”. The team run a sister venue, The Whittling House, which lies just to the south in Alnmouth, and there’s a younger Potted Lobster spin-off in the Welsh seaside resort of Abersoch, offering catch from the Llyn Peninsula.

Summary

£78
 ££££
3
Good
4
Very Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“Great fish and shellfish” – in particular, locally caught lobsters – are the lure at chef Richard Sim’s unpretentious spot, “with dishes paying tribute to the quality of their produce”. It can be “tricky to get into these days in summertime, which reflects the restaurant’s excellent (and well deserved) reputation”.

Summary

£76
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“Seafood so fresh it’s practically still swimming” – including Lindisfarne oysters and locally caught lobsters – is the trump card at Alnick-born chef Richard Sim’s “gem” of a restaurant – “a real must if you ever venture near Bamburgh”. There’s a sibling venture on the far side of the country, at Abersoch on the Llyn Peninsula in Wales.

Summary

£71
  £££
4
Very Good
3
Good
3
Good
* Based on a three course dinner, half a bottle of wine, coffee, cover charge, service and VAT.

“Fabulous fresh seafood” – “the best for miles” – plays to packed houses at this “delightful” spot from well-known Alnick-born chef Richard Sim, which is generally agreed to be “one of the best restaurants in Northumberland” – “no wonder it’s so hard to get a table”. “For a seafood restaurant they serve amazing veggie food”, while the menu also stretches to local beef and “delicious desserts”. There’s now a spin-off far away in Abersoch on the Llyn Peninsula in Wales.

For 35 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).

Have you eaten at The Potted Lobster?

3 Lucker Road, Bamburgh, NE69 7BS

Restaurant details

Highchair,Portions
Yes
No dress code

The Potted Lobster Restaurant Diner Reviews

Reviews of The Potted Lobster Restaurant in NE69, Bamburgh by users of Hardens.com. Also see the editors review of The Potted Lobster restaurant.
Simon E
Had very good whole lemon sole. Excellent f...
Reviewed 8 months, 14 days ago

"Had very good whole lemon sole. Excellent fish, well cooked"

Report this comment
Craig H
Very well cooked seafood, but elevated pric...
Reviewed 8 months, 24 days ago

"Very well cooked seafood, but elevated prices."

Report this comment
Grace I
Good quality seafood which was beautifully ...
Reviewed 11 months, 4 days ago

"Good quality seafood which was beautifully presented and very tasty. Neither food nor wine is cheap but a nice place for celebrations"

Report this comment
Have you eaten at The Potted Lobster?
Post your own review of The Potted Lobster and contribute to our annual restaurant review guide.
Post your own review

What the Newspaper Critics are saying

The Times

Giles Coren enjoyed a satisfying and extremely good-value family lunch at a seafood haunt on the northeast coast with a plastic-covered menu backed up by fast-changing blackboard specials.

Everything the Corens ate was excellent, including half a dozen oysters from nearby Lindisfarne and pan-seared scallops with crispy belly pork and quince, while the prices were “extraordinarily generous these days”: mussels marinière with chips for £29 “could have fed two people happily”, while lager and lemon battered haddock and chips “was genuinely two foot-long fillets of (heavenly) battered fish for £21 that would have been two £21 portions anywhere in London”.

Giles Coren - 2026-03-08

Prices

Traditional European menu

Starter Main Pudding
£11.50 £29.50 £10.00
Drinks  
Wine per bottle £24.95
Filter Coffee £2.90
Extras  
Bread £6.00
Service 10.00%
3 Lucker Road, Bamburgh, NE69 7BS
Opening hours
Monday12 pm‑9 pm
Tuesday12 pm‑9 pm
Wednesday12 pm‑9 pm
Thursday12 pm‑9 pm
Friday12 pm‑9 pm
Saturday12 pm‑9 pm
Sunday12 pm‑9 pm

Best Fish & seafood restaurants nearby

Jolly Fisherman
Fish & seafood restaurant in Craster
£62
  £££
3
Good
3
Good
4
Very Good
The Old Boat House Amble
Fish & seafood restaurant in Amble
£61
  £££
2
Average
2
Average
3
Good
Longsands Fish Kitchen
British, Traditional restaurant in Tynemouth
£51
   ££
3
Good
3
Good
2
Average

View more nearby restaurants »

Best similarly priced restaurants nearby

Cook House
British, Modern restaurant in Newcastle upon Tyne
£80
 ££££
3
Good
3
Good
3
Good
The Rat Inn
British, Traditional restaurant in Hexham
£80
 ££££
3
Good
4
Very Good
3
Good

View more nearby restaurants »

Restaurant news

View more ›

NEWS
Review of the Reviews

NEWS
Conor comes to Covent Garden

NEWS
Punk dream up in smoke as Brewdog sold to cannabis conglomerate