Rye Fishmarket & Seafood Bar — Local services in Rother

I was really looking forward to this place, but unfortunately the experience didn’t live up to the hype. We waited in line for nearly an hour just to get to the ordering counter. Once we got there, it took another 20 minutes to place our order because the staff had paused taking new ones—they were completely overrun and visibly overwhelmed.

There were not nearly enough tables for the number of customers, so it felt like a scramble just to find a place to sit. The whole setup felt disorganized. I could see into the kitchen, and it was clear that the team was trying to do too many things at once without a clear system.

One big suggestion: assign one person just to the grill. Let them focus on grilling the fish non-stop while someone else handles the fries and bread. It would make things run a lot more smoothly and probably speed up the whole process.

The food might be great, but the experience really needs some improvement before I’d consider...

It was our first visit to Rye this morning - my partner wanted some pan-fried Brill this evening and my plan is to cook a seafood risotto tomorrow evening. So, we've not eaten the fish as yet but judging from the reviews I shan't have any qualms whatsoever. Visiting the shop was a delight - I was like a kid in a sweet shop. There was such a large variety of fresh fish that I would have liked to have bought, but I stuck to the script (i.e. Brill and seafood for the risotto). Aside from the fish itself, I was served by Dan (according to my receipt) and he's a star. Nothing was too much trouble and he's a credit to the company. We aim to visit the seafood bar sometime during our weeks' stay. The people of Rye are so lucky to have this shop on...

So this a weird one - very hard to review. On the one hand, the food is stunning and tastes like it's straight out of the sea - which, I understand, it pretty much is. So 5* for that bit. On the other, it feels relatively expensive for what is, in effect, a take away. The drinks at the associated bar are VERY expensive. So that probably knocks it down. And then you're sitting in (what feels like) a car park. Which knocks it down a lot. Put that food on the sea front/river side and it would EASILY be 5* - it deserves to be "date night" food. Dressed crab, fish sandwich, lemon sole and a few oysters - gorgeous. But in the car park? Maybe I'll go back...