Oysters · County Antrim
Mourne Seafood Bar, Belfast
The Belfast room that grows its own shellfish, and the easiest good oysters in Northern Ireland.
Our position
Book it for your first night in Belfast, order the oysters and the fish of the day, and skip the Cathedral Quarter tasting menus.
Mourne Seafood Bar sits on Bank Street off Belfast's Castle Street, and it is unusual: the business runs its own shellfish beds in Carlingford Lough and Dundrum Bay, so the oysters and mussels on the plate are theirs rather than a supplier's.
The room is plain, loud and consistently good, which is exactly what you want on a first night. Oysters to start, whatever whitefish landed that day after, and a glass of something cold. Belfast prices, which after Dublin will feel like an error in your favour.
It is a ten minute walk from the Grand Central and the Merchant, and it books out on Friday and Saturday two weeks ahead. Weekday lunch is a walk-in most of the year.
- The bay
- Carlingford Lough and Dundrum Bay
- The oyster
- Pacific rock, from the restaurant's own beds
- Season
- All year
Book the table
What to book at Mourne Seafood
Dinner at Bank Street
About 2 hours · from £14 for six
Book direct, two weeks ahead for a weekend table. Weekday lunch is usually a walk-in.
Reserve directLough Neagh shoreline food and drink tour
About 4 hours · from £75
Northern Ireland's inland fishery, eels and all, with the growers and smokers. Book it for the day before dinner at Bank Street, not after.
Check dates and book
Every oyster room in one place: the oyster booking page. Or plan the week around this table.
What we order
- Half dozen of their own rock oysters
- Dundrum Bay mussels
- Whatever whitefish is on the board that day
- A glass of Picpoul rather than the stout, here
Finish here after
The Duke of York
Belfast
Ten minutes away, in the entry, and the whiskey wall is real.
Kelly's Cellars
Belfast
1720, low ceilings, and the best pint in the city centre.
Practical
- Where
- Bank Street, off Castle Street, Belfast city centre
- Book ahead
- Two weeks for a weekend dinner
- Currency
- Sterling, not euro
- Pair with
- The Titanic Quarter in the afternoon, the Duke of York after
Last checked September 2026. Source: the venue.
Questions we get
- Do I need pounds rather than euro in Belfast?
- Yes. Northern Ireland uses sterling. Cards work everywhere and most places will not take euro notes. There is no border check driving up from Dublin, but there is a currency change.
- Where do Mourne Seafood's oysters come from?
- Their own beds in Carlingford Lough and Dundrum Bay. That is the reason to eat oysters here rather than at a general restaurant: the chain between the water and the plate is a short one they control.