Prawn on the Lawn — Restaurant in London

We both love shellfish and wanted to go somewhere weve not been to before. Having recently got my wife into Oysters, I wanted a restauarant that not only served Oysters, but also Crab, Lobster, Mussels, Scallops etc. I looked at a few in the London area, but was also looking for something more casual than the stuffy upmarket Mayfair eateries. Prawn on the Lawn caught my eye initially as I read that they also had a restaurant in Padstow Cornwall and that is a well know area for fresh Shellfish and Fish. I booked it for 8.15pm and was told that we could only have 2 x bar seats, if im honest, having sat there, I much prefer to sit and watch the open kitchen prepare the delicious dishes than sit at a table for two! Our server Shania (Sha-Ny-Ya) was informative and friendly and explained the dishes and different types of Oysters on offer. We had a selection of Carlingford and Maldon Oysters to start that were superb, Prawn on the lawn (Sourdough Toast, Advocado and Prawns) then followed by our main course of Fruit de Mare, which was a huge platter of Dorset Crab, Prawns, Mussels, Cockles, Razor Clam, Scallops etc. The staff were very friendly, the food superb and I for one will definitely be back, Highly recommend this low key casual shellfish restaurant.

Update 8th December 2022: We went there again for a client dinner, NO LOBSTERS, NO CRABS, NO PRAWNS, No signature dish Prawn on the Lawn, some reason about Avocado not being sustainable, Small plates were very small, Mains were small and frankly quite expensive and actually for 4 people the cost even with two bottles of red and one white and a few extra's , for over £500, we came out of there still hungry.... I know costs have gone up everywhere post Covid and because of the ongoing issues with a war across the waters, But at these numbers, with no Shellfish, I can think of better places to go, so for now will not be returning... Oysters were...

We’d wanted to go here for ages and finally got a date night booked in for a Saturday evening. Our reservation was at 6.30 and it wasn’t too crowded at all, although it did fill up later - but it felt cosy rather than crammed. The tables have brown paper on which I thought rather unique and fun. The menu was chalked up on a nearby board and seemed to change slightly during the night.

Everything was brought out separately which I liked - we could focus on one plate at a time. We had the fish tempura which was tasty but I wouldn’t say it was particularly noteworthy. This was followed by the cod collar with a jerk marinade which was absolutely delicious and wonderfully meaty.

After this, came the monkfish which is a densely meaty fish - but very tasty. We’d ordered the cannellini beans and the crushed potatoes to go with it which all went well together. Crushed potatoes were seriously good, definitely recommend!

My other half had a couple of glasses of wine as recommended by our waitress, I stuck with soft drinks.

The plates are all full of flavour and not too big, so we opted to share the orange and hazelnut chocolate mousse for pudding, which was excellent.

If you’re a fish fan, this is definitely a place you must visit.

I did wonder about how child-friendly it would be as I saw a child aged around 5 or 6 eating there. They don’t do kids meals, but the waitress said the fish tempura and potatoes would probably be the main choice for kids (of course, if you have children who are open to trying exciting new things, they’ll have the best time - sadly, despite my best intentions, my children are highly suspicious of...

Perfectly balanced, in flavour and texture. Simple ingredients prepared into incredible seafood tapas dishes. intimate, open kitchen characterful staff. Each dish was unique and paired back to the point of balance rather than competing flavours. The signature dish - prawns on guacamole on toast was garnished with micro coriander. The seared tuna just melted as it should and the sweet soy marinade not too strong to overpower the tuna. A surprise favourite cos lettuce with truffle oil and parmesan was peeled apart and recreated into the bowl. Thai mussels were cooked to perfection... still delicate but cooked was on a secret bonus salad of mint, lemongrass and thai basil each of which complimented the thai base. The crab dish was a little plain but then crab is often like that for me, it had a new ingredient for me - Mooli which was like shaved radish. The Buratta was fresh and the anchovies and almonds crunchy. Last but by no means least, the scallops and nduja were like a next level oyster hit, served in shell. Wow. Had dessert not cause I wanted to but because I didnt want it to end. Affogato - ice cream with sherry on top. Delicious end to a special meal. Cant wait to go back and try the dishes I missed. Make sure you book in advance on...