Why Choose North Sea Fish Restaurant

Q: How long have you been open?

We opened in 1977 and have been serving customers from the same street ever since. Our regulars have been coming back for decades, and many first-time visitors say it was the best meal of their trip to London.

Q: Do you only serve fish and chips?

No — our menu goes far beyond fish and chips. Alongside cod and haddock, we serve dishes including Cornish hand-dived scallops, grilled octopus, whole Dover sole, king prawn tempura, and our signature Fisherman’s Catch sharing platter for two. All fish mains are served with unlimited chips.

Q: Where are you located?

We are located at 7–8 Leigh Street, Bloomsbury, WC1H 9EW. We are around 10 minutes’ walk from the British Museum, about 5 minutes from Russell Square tube, and 6 to 8 minutes from King’s Cross and Euston.

Q: Have you received any awards or recognition?

Yes — we hold the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Award 2025, placing us in the Top 10% of restaurants worldwide. We are independently owned, family-run, and have maintained our quality for nearly fifty years.

TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Award 2025 — Top 10% of restaurants worldwide

North Sea Fish Restaurant is a long-established fish restaurant in Bloomsbury, central London, serving fresh fish and chips since 1977. We are a ten-minute walk from the British Museum, around five minutes from Russell Square tube, and six to eight minutes from King’s Cross and Euston. In nearly fifty years on Leigh Street, we have built a reputation on one simple principle: fresh fish, expertly cooked, served with genuine warmth.

When visitors are looking for fish and chips near the British Museum, North Sea is consistently one of the first names they encounter. Here is why guests from across London and around the world keep choosing us.

Do you use fresh or frozen fish?

We only use fresh fish — never frozen.

Every morning, before we open, a delivery arrives from Billingsgate Market, London’s historic wholesale fish market. Our cod, haddock, plaice, salmon, sea bass, skate and more are prepared the same day and cooked fresh to order.

We have operated this way since 1977. It is not a marketing claim — it is the operational reality our kitchen is built around, and it is why our fish tastes the way it does.

“Best fish and chips ever — amazingly fresh fish and unlimited chips. Nothing like it in London.”
— MichelleB, TripAdvisor

Is your food cooked to order?

Yes — every dish is cooked to order.

We do not hold fish under heat lamps. Every fillet, every piece of scampi, and every fishcake comes out of the fryer or off the grill and goes directly to your table.

We fry in groundnut oil — a deliberate choice that gives a cleaner, crisper result than cheaper alternatives. We also offer every dish grilled, or fried in egg and matzo meal on request.

That matzo-fried option is part of the great Jewish fish-frying tradition woven into the history of this dish and this city, and we are proud to offer it.

Whether you are visiting the British Museum, working nearby, or travelling through King’s Cross, we are a natural place to stop.

How long have you been open?

We opened in 1977.

London’s restaurant scene has changed beyond recognition since then. Chains have come and gone. Trends have risen and collapsed. We are still here, on the same street, doing the same thing — because we have never cut corners on the things that matter.

Our regulars have been coming back for decades. Our first-time visitors — many of them tourists from Japan, the United States, France, Italy, Germany and dozens of other countries — frequently tell us it was the best meal of their trip to London.

Do you only serve fish and chips?

No — our menu goes far beyond fish and chips.

Our cod and haddock are at the heart of the menu, but over nearly five decades we have also built a menu that includes Cornish hand-dived scallops, grilled octopus, whole Dover sole, king prawn tempura, and our signature Fisherman’s Catch — a grilled sharing plate for two featuring cod, salmon, sea bass, king prawns, scallops, calamari, whitebait and sardines on samphire.

All fish mains are served with unlimited chips — just ask for more.

Where are you located?

We are at 7–8 Leigh Street, Bloomsbury, WC1H 9EW.

We are perfectly placed for visitors and locals alike — around the corner from the British Museum, the great garden squares, and the literary quarter that has defined this neighbourhood for two centuries.