If you find yourself wandering the Barbican with a craving for seafood, The Harbour Seafood Restaurant & Takeaway is hard to miss. It sits at 21 Sutton Harbour, just metres from the water's edge, where the view takes in the Barbican's cobbles, the colourful fishing boats and the Mayflower Steps. It is the kind of place that works as well for a quiet table for two as it does for a family gathering of ten, and it takes both walk-ins and bookings, so you can turn up on a whim or plan ahead.
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Plymouth and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
The seafood here is fresh and sustainable, and the restaurant follows the Marine Stewardship Council's guidelines, which is a nice bit of reassurance when you are ordering from the sea. There is also a charitable side to the menu: for every lobster sold, the restaurant donates £1 to The National Lobster Hatchery, a Padstow charity that releases tens of thousands of juvenile lobsters back into the sea each year. On the takeaway front, the place is plastic-free, using biodegradable boxes and cups instead.
As for the food, the fish and chips are the obvious starting point. Cod and chips come in at £10, haddock at £11 and hake at £12, and there is a vegan version for £10 as well. The burger section is worth a look too, with The Harbour Burger and the chicken burger both £10 and a scallop burger at £14. Starters like the Barbican calamari, chilli poppers, halloumi fries and cajun prawns sit around the £9 to £10 mark, and there is a kids' menu at £7.50 a head with cod, cheese burgers, sausages, chicken strips and fried halloumi fingers to choose from. A couple of sides round things off, with the harbour curry sauce at £2 and a crusty baguette at £3. One customer, Sam Rice, summed it up simply: "The food was perfect and everything was so fresh! Best fish and chips I have ever had."
If you cannot make it in person, the takeaway and delivery side is well set up, with Deliveroo handling the home drop. They also do catering for birthdays and corporate events, so it is not just a place for a casual lunch. Opening hours are 11:30 to 21:00 from Sunday to Thursday, with a slightly later close of 21:45 on Friday and Saturday, which gives you plenty of leeway after a day on the Barbican. For bookings or to check the full menu, the phone number is 01752 228 556 and the email is info@harbourbarbican.co.uk.
Being right on the Barbican means there is plenty to do before or after you eat. The Barbican Theatre, Plymouth Boat Trips, the Mayflower Museum, the Elizabethan House and Gardens, the Royal Citadel and the National Marine Aquarium are all within easy reach, as are the Plymouth Gin Distillery at Black Friars, the Sutton Harbour Marina and Smeaton's Tower. The Plymouth Big Wheel on The Hoe is closed for the season and not due back until 2027, so it is one thing to leave off your itinerary for now, but the rest of the area keeps you busy enough.
