Mourne Seafood Bar

The service was excellent, and the food was fresh. The restaurant had a rustic charm, though the noise level felt a bit high for the number of people there. The oysters were a highlight, super fresh, juicy, and briny. The sea bass was cooked well, but the skin could’ve been crispier, and the sauce didn’t quite enhance the dish. On the plus side, the samphire was a great touch, reminding me of sea beans. Unfortunately, I don’t remember seeing any lobster in the dish. (I should’ve ordered the lobster gratin, I saw it on someone else’s table and it looked wonderful. The description did not do it justice and it was not what I thought it would be.) The whole sea bream was flavorful and perfectly roasted, but there were a lot of bones, and I couldn’t taste the shrimp butter at all. I wasn’t a fan of the salt and chili squid, it wasn’t as crispy as I expected, and honestly, if I hadn’t been told it was squid, I wouldn’t have guessed. The mussels were tasty but tiny, which meant there wasn’t much of that rich jus left to savor. I guess I’m just more used to larger mussels. All in all, it was a solid meal, but there wasn’t that "wow" factor I was hoping for.

In future, probably give this one a miss if you’re a seafood lover. Date night! Shared some very sandy and crunchy oysters to start, but the mussels were tasty and made up for it. I had to send my main back due the sheer amount of oil that was pooling on the top of the risotto, and my partners fish was OK at best and accompanied by very bland baby potatoes and tomatoes. The service was good, the waiter immediately took my risotto to the kitchen after I mentioned about the oil, I was too full for a replacement so they gave me 50% off the dish (I ate all 5 scallops from the top in fairness). They also gave us a super tasty free dessert!

Unpretentious local seafood place in Belfast. As local as you can get. I barely see any foreigners except myself. I was recommended to try this place by the locals.. I went there alone and the staff and patrons were quite nice to me. Introducing me some nice small portions to try out. I ordered half a dozen of these local oysters. I heard they came from a place 30 minutes away. Amazing! Really fresh and tasty. Even ate some without the mignonette. Could have ate another 6! I tried the Crabs claws which are difficult to eat but once you get to the meat - Heavenly! Good buttery sauce to soak up the bread. Took me a while to get to the crab Meat. Very meaty and fresh crab! For my 'mains', i did small portion of the mussels. Very good also, fresh and easy to eat. The cream wine, shallot sauce! I could drink them all but it goes well with bread. Cleared up the mussels as you can see from my photos. Ate everything! I did have a local gin to wash these dishes down. Gunpowder Gin with tonic and lime. Have look at my photos. I will come by again for the other dishes in 2 months time! Thank you for the hospitality!

The cuttlefish risotto was very good, the couscous salad was bland and needed much more oil. The shrimp and crab were excellent. The mussels, however, were not good in terms of taste or smell. We asked, and they told us that unfortunately, mussels are like this during this season. Overall, we left satisfied.

Came here with friends while visiting Belfast and this was the best dinner experience of our trip. All of the staff were great, but a special mention to Louise who was funny, attentive and super friendly. The food was excellent and the atmosphere really relaxed. Not the cheapest restaurant in Belfast but worth every penny. We would definitely return.

Fabulous the food is superb and the service was really good went for my Mam's birthday and the staff suprised her with a brownie lovely touch to a great night out. The oyster and bloody mary was unreal. Need to book as it gets very busy.

The services were excellent, and all the staff members were kind and attentive. The food was fantastic and fresh, and even the dessert was delicious. However, one thing to note was that they concluded the total price with a service charge for the first contact, which felt a bit like a pressure tactic.

Really good menu and beverage list, wines were well chosen and complement the food. The oysters were 10/10 as was the appetizer. The main was under seasoned but flavorful. Service was scattered at best, they did have multiple large tables all at the same time.Overall the floor seemed disorganized with no one directing. Would definitely visit again as the food and beverage are very very good. If they organized their service they would be 5 stars all around.

Belfast is of course a sea town and you can expect to find amazing seafood here. This was a stop on the Belfast food tour. A simple pair of oysters, locally harvested this morning and shucked just before consumption, this was delicious. An absolutely perfect snack and I will need to return to see what else we have for a meal here later. [Review 1896 of 2024 - 874 in United Kingdom - 22918 overall]

Delicious food here! The Scallop and Chorizo Risotto was a great combination of flavors. The Sticky Toffee Pudding was to DIE for! Service was attentive, yet not obtrusive. The atmosphere was an eclectic mix of old and new. Prices were a wee high, but we felt it was worth it.

Great experience at this spot! My husband ordered the fish and chips and I ordered the mussels as an entree with fries. Delicious! Service was quick and polite. Would recommend

Came here last week when visiting Belfast. Easily the best of the three seafood restaurants I tried while there. We shared the seafood chowder appetizer, my boyfriend had the risotto, and I had the pan fried seabass. He also got an apple cider and I had a cocktail. Everything was amazing. The seabass entree was honestly one of the best dishes i've ever had. I can't recommend this restaurant enough!

Beautiful atmosphere next to Kelly's cellars bear garden you can eat out in the summer. Food is beautiful and reasonably priced.

This was the best food and service we had in all of Ireland! It is a must! The oysters were to die for

Great location very well situated near most hotels. Menu was awesome seafood was very fresh. service was wonderful. Great on all fronts!

Amazing food! We were recommended to Mourne from Jimmy, a local in Ballycastle and we we not disappointed! It's cozy, personal and our food was excellent!

We had arrived earlier in the days and were not decided on what we wanted for dinner. After later deciding on seafood we stopped into Mourne. Jackpot! Service, food and experience were all top-notch. From our oysters, sea food chowder, mussels and sea bass we were wowed by the consistency of each course. If you're in Belfast this is the place to go!

Really good service. The food was excellent as well! I had the Hake fish dish, which was delightfully flakey, tender, and flavorful. The chocolate dessert was a must.

Everything we got was phenomenal. You cannot go wrong here and the price is crazy low for the high quality you get. I cannot recommend Mourne's enough.

The locals will tell you that Northern Ireland isn't known for "great" food but they highly recommend popping into Mourne for some fresh seafood. The food and service did not disappoint. The seafood chowder was well flavored and packed with different types of fish, my seafood bass came whole with potatoes and it was nicely seasoned. The high light of the evening for me was the warm sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream! Wow, so good! As luck would have it, they had a tad bit of Jamaican Wray & Nephew White Rum on the bar, my fave rum & rare to find in Europe bars. If in Belfast, I definitely recommend making a reservation at Mourne. They certainly made my birthday dinner memorable.

Best raw oysters of my life and I've had them all up and down the east coast of the US. My scallop risotto was perfect and the fresh arugula salad with fennel was much appreciated after a week in Belfast where fresh veggies are rare.

Great service and food. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming. Location was easy to find.

Outstanding fresh seafood that is perfectly prepared. The servers are lovely. This is must-eat place when visiting Belfast. Reservations Recommended. We lucked out to get a table without a reservation. Mussels appetizer and beer battered cod were superb with a pint of Harp lager.

Fresh food and delicious flavours, staff were lovely set up scenery very country sea side not modern good atmosphere and certainly be back again, not too expensive

It was pretty good but wasn't the hype I expected. Whole sea bass was good value Linguine was not worth it Chowder was good but small portions or big size charge and a bit salted. Once again pretty good and fresh but for the money and hype and big reviews not worth returning in my opinion.

Consider Belfast isn't a foodie city, Mourne is a better restaurant where you can get some good seafood. Oysters, mussels, and the langoustines were all fresh and tasty. Crab claws was a miss, don't order, they tasted frozen. We tried walking in on a Sat night but was turned away as they had a full house so we made reservation for Sun night instead. Weekend can get busy so do make resy ahead of time.

Really enjoyed our seafood dinner. I had the seafood casserole and it was a lotta food. It has large prawns, mussels, and topped with an l'agostino, an oversized prawn or a mini lobster. Great service and atmosphere! Highly recommended!

I love good seafood and here, at Mourne's, the seafood is very good. First it's a nice place. It's old, but very cosy and it's a comfortable place to sit and eat. The menu is varied, the service is happy and friendly and they take obvious pride in the presentation of their food. It's difficult to pick a favorite...Fishcakes, smoked salmon, goat's cheese, bream...it was all world class. I managed to move away from Guiness and was pleasantly surprised by their Shandon Stout which gets a special mention along with their chips (big and proper) and their coffee. However, I need to make mention of the deserts. Fans of custard will love their pannacotta. It was nice, but not as good as the toffee pudding, and at least the equal of the chocolate fondant. Belfast is a wonderful city with some truly great eateries. Mourne's is up there with the best we tried.

I guess the only drawback about this place is the wait! It took me 4 days to get reservations for my team of 7 and the one I got was at night 9.15! But it was so worth the wait! I ordered the seafood casserole. It was too much for just one person but the gravy and the all the seafood in it was awesome! My teammates ordered the large mussels basket and they were delicious too. We had their sticky toffee pudding and oh boy! It was too too good! This place is a must try when in Belfast

Oyster, catfish were good , crab claw ok, lobster not worth it , dead lobster from yesterday, can not compare to what I had in Edinburgh and portee last week I will not come back P.S. few hours after dinner, I had to use toilet 4 times last night!!

Best monkfish presentation I've ever had! Very friendly and accommodating staff. Nice wine selections with the seafood. Had an instrument case with me and they went out of their way to store it safely for me while i was dining. Overall, mighty!

Going off of other Yelp user reviews, and because my boyfriend loves seafood, we decided we had to try this place for our last night in Belfast. The city's fresh, local, farm-to-table (or in this case, sea-to-table) philosophy had us entranced as it was. Starting with a delicious large hot pot of mussels was perfect, so much so that we decided to order raw oysters as well. I had never heard of Monkfish but after trying my boyfriend's Monkfish and Chorizo Risotto, it became my main meal instead of his. He had the hake and thoroughly enjoyed it. The service was lovely and there is a decent but small selection of local, craft beer on tap.

This place was recommended by our tour guide and seeing good Yelp reviews, we headed over and got there just in time as its a smallish place, with only 10 tables and a party of 6 had to be turned away as all tables were full. For appetizers, our group of 3 split a side order of Champ (local food, mashed potatoes with spring onions which completely changes the taste) plus the bread basket. For mains, I ordered the seafood platter for two which had smoked mackerel, Mussels, winkles aka whelps, rolled mops aka herring filet, oysters and for £12. My brother got scallops linguine and our friend got megrim (local fish). The potatoes accompanying the megrim had this amazing herb butter - basil, parsley and mint which tasted divine. The megrim tasted similar to sole. I loved the champ which was buttery and had a hard to describe zing due to the addition of the spring onion. The olive tamponade which came with the bread basket had oil, garlic and calamata olives plus in a twist that made it unique, there were capers! The scallops in the linguine were these small perfect bites sides of sweet and brine - so so different from the US where I just can't eat scallops as the taste turns me off. The linguine also had these marvelous roasted sun-dried tomatoes in the sauce which gave the dish an awesome piquancy. For the seafood platter, the star for me was the smoked mackerel - I could have just happily had that by itself. The Mussels were grand too - small and packed a punch. The winkles aka whelps were a bit too salty for me. The rolled mops aka herring filet was good and the oyster was ok, but not to my taste. Decor wise, liked that they had local artist's paintings on end wall for sale. The loo was nice - only one stall, but there was a nice waiting room. The one thing that was weird was that the food came all at once rather than the bread basket first as an appetizer. Good food and service, so I would definitely recommend and return to if was a local living in Belfast. Note: #219 of Yelp 100 challenge for 2016

Delicious seafood, fresh and prepared well. Raw oysters, seafood casserole and of course, their sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

Close to Kelly's Cellars - great and friendly staff. Held our table, we were running late. Extremely fresh seafood - not just fish & chips. Extensive menu, can't go wrong. We were not rushed and will go back if in Dublin. Don't let the reasonable prices fool you, expect an excellent dining experience without paying a small fortune. Make a reservation.

I was really looking forward to trying Mourne Seafood, obviously it's one of Belfast's top rated restaurants so I was expecting great things. I would advise booking if you're hoping to attend at the weekend and for peak times and large groups I would recommend booking weeks in advance. We managed to get a table at 6pm on Saturday evening but even then we had to wait two weeks to get booked in. When booking we were told that we had to have left our table by 8pm as they had a booking after us. I didn't mind this, as at least our expectations were set when we booked. One thing I liked was that they phoned on the morning of our booking to confirm we were attending. I liked this touch! When Saturday evening finally came round we couldn't wait. We were met at the door by the charming waiting staff and shown to our window side table upstairs. The decor is definitely simplistic, there's a wooden feeling to the place. I'm not sure if they are trying to continue the nautical theme by making it feel like you're on a boat. After browsing the menu we decided that we'd mix it up a bit and not have the traditional starter and main. Instead we decided to try a selection of starters. We went for the Mussels, Salted Chili Squid, The prawns, The seafood Chowder, a bread basket (for dipping) and a side of chips. The stand out from all these was the Salted Chili Squid, the flavours were excellent and it was some of the best squid I had tasted. Everything is was average to be honest. In comparison to The Dirty Duck and Molly's Yard I felt that Mourne Seafood was inferior. Don't get me wrong, the food was great but maybe I'm just spoiled. The service as great, the waiting staff couldn't have been more attentive. The wine list was also great and the selection of beer was vast. I really enjoyed Mourne Seafood but I think I was left disappointed mainly because of the hype before dining here. A solid four stars for me!

On our recent and frequent trips home to Belfast our first thought is: "let's get to Mourne Seafood!" We did and the experience was very disappointing. The bread was stoggy, inedible causing a disappointment in the dipping in the soup in which the mussels are cooked. A couple who were seated next to us asked us how we enjoyed our meal stating that their meal was bland and without flavour. How sad for us all as this is the restaurant that we refer to all and anyone who maybe visiting Belfast. This will not be our wont going forward, sadly,

Yeah - as Montell Jordan sang, 'this is how we do it' ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hiUuL5uTKc - for any nostalgia fans...) Basically I'm visiting Belfast for a couple of days and just had to go for quality seafood as I was so close to the coast and I wasn't disappointed with this visit. You're talking about pure quality in terms of the menu and ingredients and the salt and chilli squid was some of the best I've ever had - purely awesome! The prawn linguine main was a real treat to follow and tbh I could have probably ordered about 6 dishes of the menu as everything sounded appealing (although FYI - the portions are massive) and they do loads of daily specials. Really chilled out place, great staff, a great eclectic classic rock soundtrack - ticked all the boxes for me! I'll be back on my next visit!!

I stopped by Mourne Seafood Bar for a late afternoon lunch and was surprised to see that it was still very crowded. Luckily I was able to get a table without a reservation or much of a wait. I decided to try the fish chips; it was delicious and the portion was more than enough for me. I also tried the sticky toffee pudding for dessert and it was wonderful. The service was average.

I had heard so many great things about Mourne Sea food bar so I was really looking forward to coming here. There was so many things we wanted to try on the menu so we ordered a selection of starters and sides. We had the seafood chowder, mussels, prawns, squid, chips and a basket of bread. I enjoyed the food but it wasn't the best I've had. To be honest I prefer Molly's Yard and Dirty Ducks seafood chowder, the chowder we tried here was really thick and potatoey so of like stew. I also got a few weird mussels which sort of put me off. I was glad we were seated upstairs as the tables downstairs we really close together. The service was great, it was a busy night but the staff had everything under control. I was expecting a give this place a five star review (from reading all the previous reviews) but I think it's a good strong 4 stars!

Delectable seafood is exquisitely served here. I'm glad we were still accommodated even without a reservation. Eating here is a gastronomic experience.

Call a day or two ahead to make a dinner reservation - it's a small and very popular place. I really enjoyed our smoked salmon starter, though we could've used more bread. My hake entree was great - loved the mushroom broth with it very much. The seafood casserole was also a hit, including a big crab claw in it. Kid's fish and chips were delicious as well. Sticky toffee pudding was AWESOME. Will be back!

Great place. Smaller but very clean, food delicious, and wait staff very pleasant. I had the seafood chowder and seafood casserole.

Very tasty restaurant would recommend anyone in Belfast city centre to drop in for a bite to eat.

It's advisable to book here as it's busy and deservedly so. The menu has some great choices although I wouldn't miss the oysters to start - as Glenn M. says 6 for £7 is a great deal and the mignonette dressing is excellent. For mains I had the special which is a scallop linguine - the best seafood pasta I've ever had and probably ties for best scallops with the dish I tried at the Mourne's sister restaurant in Dundrum 3 days later. The scallops are small but you get loads so it's not like the normal unsatisfying two or three. The sauce was absolutely perfectly seasoned. Truly delicious and if it's on the menu you really should order it. I suggested my dad try the monkfish which he also enjoyed. Not quite as outstanding and I've had better versions but a solid dish nonetheless. He had the crab claws to start which sounded like they would be quite spicy and interesting (supposed to come with chilli butter) but were a little disappointing to me - the sauce seemed more creamy than expected and the crabmeat itself was underwhelming. Perhaps I just prefer crab cold. I had a very good espresso martini for dessert, also the house white chardonnay (from Chile) was extremely drinkable, so much so that my dad actually drank nearly all of it when I wasn't looking.

Tasty and affordable fresh seafood meal. We stopped by with a reservation for a meal for 2 at 7 PM, and the place was generally quite busy as there's not a ton of space. We split the seafood chowder and mussels to start, both of which were fresh and filled with seafood to eat. Our entrees were the sea bream and the seafood casserole, the former of which was a very fresh piece of fish and the latter similarly filled with fresh seafood. It's a fairly casual place with the tables close to each other and service not always on top of you but watching if you beckon. Overall, it's a nice, affordable seafood meal in Belfast.

I'm pretty sure Mourne Seafood Bar will never change, it really is fantastic and has managed to maintain and even surpass its very high standards of every aspect you would expect from a top, top quality restaurant. Given the reviews I'm definitely not breaking the mould or telling you anything new but I felt obliged to review such a fine establishment in Belfast. It's not every foodery in the world that would be able to have it's entrance as an actually working fish counter with fish mongers tirelessly cutting all day! The restaurant itself it quite small, seating roughly 40 people but you never feel like you're sitting on top of the table beside you or can hear everyone's conversation and I love the darkish, homely vibe of the restaurant floor despite the decor being actually pretty dull by today's standards but hey, what's that saying about if it isn't broken...? The main reason to come to Mourne is its menu and they really know how to muddle a fish lovers mind! On my most recent visit to Mourne, I can honestly say I would have eaten every single dish on the menu, without exaggeration. In the past I've had their excellent oysters with vinegar, monkfish, their homemade fish fingers and a few other delicacies but yesterday I opted for the crab claw and chilli broth to start and the dressers lobster special and both were simply divine. Light, full of flavour and impeccable cooked and presented. The waiting staff are also superb. Always clean and smart, friendly (which is a real requisite for a place that caters to so many tourists every day) and when they ask how everything is, it doesn't annoy me as much as it would in other restaurants, probably because the food is so good! They also have free wi-fi which automatically makes me like a place more as we all use our phones so much these days and it did make it easier to check in on the Yelp app...! So in short, if you want an EXCELLENT seafood meal (they do do steak) with great service, wine selection and ambience, seriously look no further... You will not be disappointed.

Our first meal at Belfast :) Fresh seafood plates were great!! Don't forget to order oysters!! It was sooooo creamy and amazing!!

We had a perfect long, lazy Sunday lunch at Mourne Seafood during our recent mini break in Belfast. You can't reserve a table for lunch so turn up nice and early if you want to be sure of bagging a table - we arrived at the Sunday opening time of 1pm and all the tables were taken by 1.30pm. The dining room is simply but effectively furnished; lots of dark wood, exposed brickwork, blackboards with the daily specials on the walls and a nice relaxed vibe. The young staff are very friendly and helpful. Everything on the standard menu and the list of daily specials looked very inviting so we bought some time by ordering the Mourne oyster stout and oysters while we swithered over our main courses. The oysters were delicious and at £7 for six I thought that this was a bit of a bargain compared to the eye watering prices you pay in London. If you like Guinness make sure you try the oyster stout because it's a very special pint. We shared a number of starters between the three of us to ensure maximum coverage of the menu; the crispy seafood dumplings and salt and chilli squid were very, very tasty stand out dishes. I had a starter size portion of the seared queen scallop risotto with crispy sage and bacon bits as my main dish - a lovey plate of food. Fully loaded with scallops this starter size portion was still a big plate of food; expertly cooked and beautifully presented. Our other mains of shellfish linguine and fillet of monkfish were all superb. There is plenty of good drinking to be had from the well priced wine list - we enjoyed a very nice bottle Muscadet Serve et Maine, Sur Lie which was £18.50. We enjoyed our visit so much that we returned the next day for another pint of the oyster stout and some oysters Rockefeller. A very special place and a "must visit" in Belfast if you want to eat well at a decent price.

Update: The minor digestive issues I had the night after eating these waterlogged oysters have turned into full-blown food poisoning, which has thrown a major wrench into my vacation, as I've been bedridden all day. Never trusting the oysters here again.

I enjoyed immensely my half dozen natural oysters - followed by baked cod with ratatouille--- but (having skipped lunch) still felt a bit peckish. So I ordered the smaller (medium) serving of local mussels with garlic cream sauce. WOW - there must have been over 200 of small but succulent mussels - superb flavour and mind-boggling quantity! Service very attentive- I hadn't booked but was made to feel welcome on a busy night.

Absolutely DELICIOUS oysters (the vinaigrette sauce was so good I ate the leftovers with a spoon ), salmon, mussels, the best hake we ever had, amazing tiramisu (not sopped in alcohol - just right!), plus the nicest and most accommodating staff. Prices were also incredibly reasonable. Would 100% return and actually wish we had gone back a 2nd night in a row after a disappointing meal elsewhere.

Amazing. So it was so good the first night that we returned the second. The fish was superb! The service friendly and the music great. Great location. Salmon and Monk fish were both stellar and highly recommend. Great wine select and of course there is Guinness, so all is right with the world. Well worth making a trip here.

Simple menu which I liked. 2 mains and a bottle of wine £60, staff are lovely but extremely busy. Hard to flag one down. Was seated upstairs but physically can't do them well so it was stressful. Wasn't my favourite.

Mourne Seafood Bar is 'the' place in Belfast to go for well, seafood! It is absolutely second to none! Its situated next t o Kelly's Cellar, which is how I discovered it, and while it is a strange location to have a restaurant, you forget all about it once your inside! The menu is extensive and everything is local and very fresh! The chef's really know what they are doing in here and offer everything from crab, mussels, oysters to cod and chips! had the sea bass which was absolutely cooked to perfection and so good I could have gone for more! It has a relaxing atmosphere while still buzzing with the humdrum of expectant and excited diners of all ages. I highly recommend this place for all Seafood lovers and guarantee it is somewhere you'll come again and again whilst in Belfast!

What a delight to find this place! We will remember it forever. Best fish I've ever had, and the place is charming and the staff really takes care of you. Love this place.

We were excited to get a reservation at Mourns since its on every top restaurant list. Its in a great location, right next to Kellys Cellar. Its small with great modern decor. Our server was incredibly knowledeable about the menu and wine list. Following her advice, we ordered a few small dishes (tapas style). We had the crab claws, squid, piri piri prawns, and mackeral pate and shrimp cocktail, which was my favorite. The others dishes were good but not the best Ive ever had. The food was really only worth 3 stars but I added the 4th for the incredible service.