The World’s 10 Best Seafood Restaurants
Seafood restaurants can be surprisingly diverse, but the common thread is an emphasis on freshness, restraint, and a cooking style that lets fish, shellfish, and other marine ingredients lead the experience. Across this guide, the cuisine ranges from French-inspired fine dining and Basque wood-fired cookery to crab-centric specialities, Mediterranean seafood bars, and luxury aquatic dining, showing how seafood can be both highly regional and highly refined. Le Bernardin, for example, explicitly presents seafood as its core identity and frames the fish as the star of the plate. What makes seafood dining especially compelling is the balance between technique and ingredient quality: delicate raw preparations, careful grilling, charcoal or wood fire, and sauces that support rather than overwhelm. Several of the listed restaurants are known for that kind of focused approach, whether through precise tasting menus, market-led menus, or ultra-specific signatures built around one species or one style of seafood. That makes the category attractive to diners seeking both craftsmanship and clarity of flavour. As a guide theme, seafood restaurants also travel well across coastlines and cuisines. A diner might encounter oysters and tuna in New York, whole fish over embers in the Basque Country, crab dishes in Colombo, or polished waterfront luxury in Dubai and Sydney. The appeal is consistent: dishes that feel close to the source, seasonal, and expressive of place, while still offering enough range for a broad audience of seafood lovers.
Le Bernardin
New York
Le Bernardin is a seafood restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, New York, at 155 West 51st Street, and its official website identifies the house as Le Bernardin by Eric Ripert. The site presents the New York branch with reservations, dining-room, lounge, wine and private-dining pages, confirming an active, formal restaurant rather than a casual neighbourhood operation. Its published contact details and branch-specific information establish the exact business and location. The restaurant’s own descriptions make seafood the centre of the experience, with a stated commitment to responsibly sourced fish and menus built around that focus. Lunch and dinner pages show a structured format, including tasting-style choices and lighter midday courses, while the lounge has its own offering. That arrangement suggests a carefully paced meal in which the sequence of dishes matters, rather than an open-ended all-day menu built for quick service. Menu pages illustrate the kitchen’s scope with oysters, tuna, hamachi, lobster, striped bass, halibut and other seasonal fish, and the house also notes that its cuisine and philosophy are supported by a professional wine programme. Aldo Sohm is named as wine director on the restaurant’s team page. The presence of wine service and cocktails, alongside a formal dining-room setting, points to a polished restaurant experience shaped around food, drink and precise service. Practical information further defines the atmosphere. The restaurant asks for business casual dress, recommends jackets and does not permit children under ten; strollers, high chairs and a children’s menu are not accommodated. These policies align with an adult dining room in central Manhattan, where the emphasis is on exacting seafood cookery, attentive service and a disciplined house style. The result is a highly specified restaurant identity rather than an informal or family-focused one.
Elkano
Getaria, Spain
Elkano is a restaurant in Getaria, Spain.
Le Petit Nice
Marseille, France
Le Petit Nice Passedat is a Marseille restaurant on the Anse de Maldormé, beside the Corniche JF Kennedy, where the Passedat family’s seafront house has long been the setting. Official pages identify it as a three-star restaurant led by chef Gérald Passedat. Its identity is closely tied to the city and the Mediterranean, with cooking presented as a reflection of the coastline, local waters and the products of the southern market rather than a generic French dining room. The dining room is described as facing the sea, with a sober, elegant décor that keeps attention on the horizon and the building’s waterfront position. The restaurant is part of a 5-star hotel, but the experience itself remains centred on the restaurant space and its maritime outlook. That combination of restrained interior treatment and direct sea setting gives the property a distinctive sense of place within Marseille’s coastal landscape. The kitchen focuses on marine produce, selected according to season and arrival, and the restaurant says more than sixty-five fish species may be brought in directly by fishermen. Examples cited on the official site include denti, daurade, pélamide, merlan, pagre and murène, all handled as ultra-fresh fish. Bouillabaisse is an emblematic dish here, reworked by Gérald Passedat into a structured service built around fish, seafood, seasonal vegetables and wine pairings. Overall, Le Petit Nice Passedat presents itself as a seafood-led address shaped by precision and locality. The cooking is framed around the rhythms of the market and the Mediterranean, while the setting adds a strong visual connection to the coast. Rather than a broad leisure complex, it is a focused restaurant in Marseille with a clear culinary identity, combining marine ingredients, seafront rooms and the Passedat family’s long association with the site.
Uliassi
Senigallia, Italy
Uliassi stands beside the beach and harbour in Senigallia, bringing Mauro and Catia Uliassi’s restaurant into direct conversation with the Adriatic. The setting is coastal, but the cooking moves well beyond a straightforward seafood menu. Memories, travel and the traditions of the surrounding region inform a kitchen that approaches familiar flavours with both curiosity and precision. Seafood has a central role, appearing in preparations that may combine shellfish with citrus, herbs or spices. Smoked spaghetti with clams and roasted tomatoes illustrates the restaurant’s interest in building layers of flavour around recognisable ingredients. The menu also makes room for meat and game, with a dedicated game tasting route reflecting another side of the kitchen’s repertoire. Classic selections sit alongside a Lab menu devoted to newer ideas. Guests can choose a tasting experience or explore the à la carte offering, allowing different levels of immersion in the restaurant’s work. Bread and pastry form part of the progression, carrying the attention to flavour through the whole meal. Uliassi suits travellers exploring the Marche coast who want to understand how its food culture can be reinterpreted within a contemporary restaurant overlooking the sea.
Ministry of Crab
Sri Lanka
Ministry of Crab occupies the Old Dutch Hospital complex in Colombo Fort, a building dating to 1681. Created in 2011 by chef Dharshan Munidasa with Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, it gives Sri Lankan mud crab a prominent place in the island's own restaurant scene. Crabs come in a range of sizes, including the large Crabzilla. Signature preparations include garlic chilli crab and black pepper crab made with dashi, combining Sri Lankan ingredients with Japanese and Mediterranean influences. Freshwater prawns, clams and oysters broaden the seafood offering. A no-freezer policy underpins the kitchen's approach to freshness.
Ossiano at Atlantis The Palm
Dubai, UAE
Ossiano Dubai is indeed a renowned fine dining restaurant located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Situated within the luxurious Atlantis, The Palm resort, Ossiano offers a unique dining experience characterized by its underwater setting. One of the most striking features of Ossiano is its stunning underwater setting. The restaurant is surrounded by a vast aquarium filled with marine life, providing diners with a captivating view of sea creatures as they enjoy their meals. Ossiano is known for its exquisite and innovative cuisine, which combines fresh seafood with modern culinary techniques. The menu features a variety of dishes prepared with the finest ingredients, offering a gourmet dining experience to guests. The restaurant offers a fine dining experience complete with impeccable service and attention to detail. From the elegant decor to the personalized service, Ossiano strives to create a memorable dining experience for its patrons. Ossiano offers a selection of signature dishes and tasting menus curated by its team of talented chefs. These menus showcase the restaurant's culinary expertise and commitment to delivering exceptional flavors and presentation. Ossiano has received numerous awards and accolades for its outstanding cuisine and dining experience. It is widely regarded as one of Dubai's top fine dining destinations, attracting both local residents and international visitors alike.
Angler
London, UK
Angler is a seafood restaurant at South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, London EC2M 2AF, in the City of London. Its official materials present it as a Michelin-starred dining room built around seasonal British produce, with fish and shellfish sourced through specialist suppliers, fishermen and day boats around the British Isles. As the rooftop restaurant of the hotel, it occupies a contemporary setting above the street, giving the venue a distinct London character that suits its central location. The menus focus on fish and shellfish, with supporting dishes built from carefully sourced meat and produce. Angler publishes an à la carte offering alongside signature tasting menus, including the shorter Taste of Angler selection, plus desserts and a wine list. Group dining menus are also available for business lunches, client dinners and larger gatherings, so the restaurant can cater for formal meals, celebrations and other planned occasions without losing its seafood-led identity. Beyond the main dining room, Angler offers a rooftop terrace and private dining facilities. The terrace is described as an outdoor dining space in the City, while the restaurant’s events information refers to private hire and celebrations. Its contact details place it within easy reach of Liverpool Street, Moorgate and Bank stations, which makes the venue straightforward to reach for daytime meetings and evening bookings across central London. The overall experience is shaped by refined, contemporary surroundings, seasonal cooking and views over London from the roof of South Place Hotel. Official descriptions place emphasis on attentive service and a polished City atmosphere rather than informal brasserie dining. The restaurant also states that it cannot cater for severe allergies to fish, shellfish, crustacea and molluscs, which underlines how closely the menu is tied to its seafood specialism and kitchen style.
Saint Peter
Australia
Saint Peter is Josh and Julie Niland's seafood restaurant in Paddington's heritage-listed Grand National Hotel. Its approach uses the whole fish, bringing lesser-known cuts into charcuterie, snacks and even desserts. This gives the menu a wider range of textures and preparations than a conventional seafood selection. The main dining room offers a lunch choice menu and an evening tasting menu, while the bar serves drinks with an à la carte food menu. A private dining room accommodates smaller groups, and rooms above the restaurant allow guests to combine dinner with an overnight stay. The current venue is on Underwood Street.
Estimar
Madrid, Spain
Estimar is a restaurant in Madrid, Spain.
The Cullinan – Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab
Dubai, UAE
The Cullinan – Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab is a restaurant in Dubai, UAE.