Bonnie Gull Seafood Bar

Great pre-​dinner spot. We enjoyed the freshest most delicious oysters and cocktails to start our evening.

two visits, one 5 months ago and one April recently. First had fantastic oysters on half price happy hour (deal seems to be gone now); waitress helpfully rushed in our order. Terrific oysters. Gigantic fish and chips, bread/​mackerel pâté was good, small mussels starter a little weak.

Second branch of this seafood restaurant situated in Exmouth market. More spacious than the original Fitzvoria branch so great for a couple of prams. Mussels were plump and fries crisp and tasty. Our only gripe was the relatively limited lunch selection and highchairs which hadn’t been cleaned between little guests. Friendly staff accommodated our messy sprogs.

Blondie and I went for an early dinner meal, arriving shortly after they opened and were shown to the best boat shaped table.
We ordered the Bonnie Gull house white with a mix of a dozen oysters, all delivered promptly. The white was delicious and very well priced for the quality. Oysters were fine and had been shucked perfectly. We were eager to try the potted brown shrimp in seaweed butter. The butter was not set, which disappointed my friend and the seaweed was of the laver bread variety, which I have not had before. It wasn’t to my taste but not necessarily bad. Salad was overdressed.
The music and general ambience were most pleasant, and service was excellent throughout.
I will keep it in mind when in the area.

Had a pretty decent lunch in Exmouth Market, watching the world go by. The location is great. The space inside is lovely. A little seaside action in EC1.
I really wanted to give it 4 stars. Maybe if I came back and tried some more of the menu I will. The crab toast with dripping is great — but the avocado, which seemed to be out of a jar?!?, ruined it. the flavours are too delicate.
the fishfinger sandwich was superb — could’ve done with bigger bits of fish but it tasted great, home made tartar, mushy peas, brioche bun. the best thing we had.
the cockney po-​boy was bad — one it wasn’t a po-​boy — get a soft roll or put it in the same brioche as the fish-​fingers. two the deep fried oysters, mussels just didn’t work, too heavy. sorry Bonnie.
The bloody mary tasted great, real spicy and the oyster was beautiful but for £10 it was far too expensive and should’ve been double the size.
£50 including tip for the above, plus a glass of white. not too bad price wise.

Positive: good food quality
Negative: expensive, waitress has little knowledge of the food, portion was small and waitress should have suggested that we take sides, we waited almost 1hr for out food to arrive at a time when the restaurant was almost empty.
Conclusion: if you have a lot of time and want great tasting but small portion of fish choose this restaurant.
The only reason I didn’t give them 1 star was because the food did taste very good but the surrounding service is not good enough for the price point!