The Potted Lobster - Bamburgh — Restaurant in Bamburgh

Came here for a special celebration meal and chose lunchtime as booking was quite some weeks in advance. Had chosen this restaurant on recommendation and then further after reading many seemingly positive reviews… resultantly, so looking forward to eating here and enjoying some of the famous north easts finest seafood; but it all transpired to be an absolute travesty and horrible let down. Service was poor from the off and consistently right the way through until we left, but that was nothing in comparison to the food… we had a sharing platter that was terrible in both quality and size of contents! The single 1/2 lobster was no where near the boasted size of at least 500g - it was minute and badly overcooked and therein pretty much tasteless, along with tiny portions of barely a tablespoon or so of items like the shrimps, same with the prawns and they had distinct bleachy taste, and unpalatable… many other items were equally of poor quality and bad tastes, nothing was in anyway close to the freshness of the sea and of the enjoyable divine taste of lovely seafood we all love and appreciate - but that is not found here! A large amount of this sharing platter was bulked out with small fillets of indistinguishable white fish which was not very tasty, but was in very greasy batter that had a displeasing taste. Items that should have been a luxury weren’t, i.e.rollmop herrings (which were quite slimy); muscles that were cracked or unopened shells, with many other shells empty; large prawn heads with no body (it would seem were in there hidden under other items just to bulk out the base of the trays?). There are many other points I could comment on; succinctly though, all it was incredibly over priced rubbish. We had however ordered a bottle of pink fizz (which was nice and properly chilled thankfully)… but this lunch was well over two hundred pounds!!!

Management were disinterested in our feedback and then necessary protests - things became quite rude. Horrible money grabbing place and completely disinterested in any level of quality… flabbergasted at how they manage to have such great reviews: which they do NOT deserve. We also noticed another couple having to complain whilst we were dining and they also got the disinterested short-shift we had. Nasty place. Eat here at your peril, we were also both ill just a matter of a few hours later (and this was all we had eaten all day)!

Awful disgraceful restaurant....

We were genuinely excited to be visiting The Potted Lobster. After all it was one of the highest rated fish restaurants in the area, and having had great food everywhere we had been up till then, the expectations were very high.

Unfortunately we were let down.

Let me firstly say that for the most part the service was exemplary, apart from one major hiccup which we will come back to later.

The food however was a major disappointment. My starter was nice, I had scallops, which were well cooked. My wife did not have a starter. Then the main courses arrived. This was where the evening took a turn for the worse. I had turbot on a bed of crab and pea risotto and my wife had Sea trout.

My wife seldom complains about her food, but her fish was actually very lukewarm at best, and almost raw at the thicker part of the fish. Her meal was taken away to be replaced and I was left to eat mine on my own.

My turbot was overcooked and completely lacked seasoning. The risotto was a lovely flavour, but was at the point of almost disintegrating.

The lovely waitress did offer my wife a free glass of wine while she waited for her second plate to arrive, but I was offered nothing even though I had to eat on my own, then wait for my wife to finish. By the way the second piece of trout was very well cooked, but it definitely wasn't the freshest piece of fish. Trout and Salmon always develop an acidic twang when it is not really fresh, as this did

As I said before, the service was great, apart from one major hiccup. Our bill came and my wife was just about to pay, when I asked how much it was. After learning the amount I decided to check the bill. We had been charged for a bottle of wine instead of a glass!

So I am afraid all in all a bitterly...

Our July 2025 visit to this awesome restaurant just confirmed what I've gushed about it in previous reviews. The food is sublime, the wine is superb, but what sets this restaurant apart is that when you combine great food, and great wine with the friendliest and most lovely service, it makes for a truly memorable night. Again tonight, with friends and a teenager, nothing was too much trouble, and it made the whole experience "perfect". Tonight on our annual visit (5 years now) and again it did not fail to impress. We had the Potted Lobster starter (awesome) and Prawn Cocktail as well as Shetland Mussels. All superb. The mains of Special Monkfish, Fish and Chips, the Crab Special and the unbelievable Seafood Platter for one (on the menu as a dish for two but you can order a single). It was incredible, and it was enormous....Half a Lobster and huge Lobster claw, Roll Mop, Cold Prawns and Squat Lobsters in the cold shelf, then Tempura style Prawns and Monkfish Tail, a large portion of Mussels, Fried Velvet Crab, Salt and Pepper Squid and two Langoustines on the hot top deck. It came with a generous side salad, chips and bread, I didn't even get to those. It was nothing short of spectacular. We had two lovely bottles of wine and drinks, finished off with Brownie, Choux Buns and Creme Brulee.....again everything was exceptional. We absolutely love this place and wished we lived closer. This is the best review I've ever written and it is deserved! Footnote. We sat in the dog friendly section even though we left the dog behind this visit. Several we'll behaved dogs and this side of the restaurant is very nice. The larger restaurant room is...