Yep, this place is great. We were wandering along the seafront looking for a place to have our…read morefirst plate of oysters and spotted this place with a few tables out front. Very casual. On the board, they advertise various kinds of oysters, fish and chips and half lobsters. They were out of the cheapest oysters so we got the local tressels, half dozen for £10. Still a good deal as they are much more in London. We also ordered a raspberry wheat beer. As we waited, we spotted the fish and chips which is ENORMOUS. Seriously, if you can, order that too. The half lobster looked pretty good too, and a great deal at £13.50. Our oysters were large, fresh and delicious, so good we came back later for another round. I was thrilled with the place. Definitely would come back for a visit.

A+ casual beachside dining. Sitting back in deck chairs in the sun with fabulous raw oysters, fish…read moreand chips and lobsters. Great experience and a very relaxed atmosphere. They also serve local beers here. I had the kentish ale which was very smooth.

I Like Wheelers....always have. But I like the Oyster house too....Which is better?!…read moreTheres only one way to find out. Not in a fight. Oyster House wins of course...But Wheelers is such a cute little place - a bit like your nans house....in a cosy way.

My first wonderful lobster was at Wheelers in Old Compton…read moreStreet,London with some luminaries of the art world who virtually lived there, & my last was at this unpretentious little place in Whitstable. I know which place I prefer : here by a long shot. Fabulous for all the reasons given by the other reviewers. I am now so nostalgic to return. Hey, maybe I'll just ring them now & go this weekend!I did go! : just as good as ever : just more expensive Fabulous oysters 70p each -elsewhere in Whitstable 50p/60p but bigger & top quality hereThen I went back more recently. Got food poisoning. The owners refused to accept responsibility & made no apology. For that alone,I will never return. How sad

It was after 8pm on a bank holiday Sunday and we were struggling to find an establishment still…read moreopen for dining. Thankfully the lovely people at East Coast Dining Room welcomed us and we opted to sit outside in the cool evening air. We started with Prosecco and Elderflower cocktails and half a dozen delicious oysters. I decided on seared scallops to start, served with cauliflower purée and pickled grapes. They were so good that I was reluctant to share with my partner (it's our thing, we share) and I even refused a taste of his starter. He decided on a sirloin to start, slow roasted with a radish and tomato salad and served with a mustard cream. In a word, he described it as awesome. For our main course, I decided on pork tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto, served with aubergine purée, roast peppers and courgettes and presented on a Parmesan polenta. It was very tasty and the tenderloin was very tender and juicy indeed. I especially liked the aubergine purée. My partner chose the lemon sole, pan fried with scallop roe and seaweed butter and served with spinach and sautéed potatoes. I had a little taste and it was fantastic. All in all, the service was superb and our meal practically perfect. We will definitely return.

Came here for a meal with family a while back; I have to apologise as I can't recall what we all…read moreordered and I tried a bit of everything, but the menu tends to change reasonably regularly and I enjoyed everything I ate (without exception) so I thought I should come back and leave a review nonetheless. The staff here are honestly some of the nicest people, whether it's the managers or the waiters, always smiley and keen to make you feel at ease. When people ask for a nice place to take friends for an evening meal in and around Kent I always recommend this place, cosy great location (near the sea, so perfect to stop by after a long coastal walk) and great company. Can't recommend it enough.

We stayed in Whitstable for a few days. A lovely small town. Great location and lots of…read morerestaurants. We looked forward to dine here the first night. We knew there are no reservations, you just wait in line until a table of your liking gets free (inside our outside with a view). We arrived around 7pm and waited for a table outside. It only took about 20mins, which was less than expected. Our Bulldog was welcome as well. Got a table with amazing sunset views. Breathtaking. Sadly the location and the sunset were the only highlights that night. We enjoy fish and seafood. All over the world. Normandy, Scotland, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Thailand, Japan. And so on. We've had our share of great and not so great fish and seafood. Sadly the food here belongs to the latter. Visually it was a feast for your eyes. But sadly not for your taste buds. The lobster was pretty small and very dry. Overcooked and overpriced. The oysters just ok, nowhere near irish, french or scottish quality. Not creamy enough. The shrimps were fine. But nothing near great. Best to drown them in the sauce and Mayo that came with The seafood platter was all cold food - but we knew that before ordering, nothing wrong with that. It's just the quality that was missing overall. The salmon was possibly the worst. Low quality, smelly fish. Seasnails were ok, but the small shrimp not. Just tried one. Fries came with the lobster. Soft and soggy. There was also bread and salad. I enjoyed the bread and butter the most of the whole meal. Which is a sad statement. Had some wine with our meal. 20cl mini-bottles of a quality that's best to forget. Staff was very very busy, but ok. And as I said, the views are amazing. But you could grab some take-out food anywhere and sit down somewhere on the Whitstable beach and get the same view. We really wanted to enjoy this place. But quality wasn't there. And the prices for that really way too high. Whitstable is a place to come back to one day. The Lobster Shack isn't.

Where do I start. We queued up outside to be told to be told to find our own table and then we had…read moreto order via an awkward app that charged for sending in the order. We ordered a pint of lager, a glass of prosecco, 6 oysters; a whole lobster with chilli and chorizo, a prawn and lobster roll and because the app wasn't clear, extra chips and a side salad. The £6 pint of warm lager and £8 glass of cheap prosecco came with and in plastic glasses. This was the highlight of our meal. There was no lobster detectable in the lobster and prawn roll and the prawns were almost frozen. The chips were damp and arrived in a paper tray; these are not twice cooked potato sticks of excellence, these tasted straight from the freezer to the fryer. My girlfriend wanted some ketchup to go on the damp chips, but it needs to be ordered via the app at 20p per sachet plus ordering fee. The bill at this point was North of £80 and they want 25p for sauce sachets. The salad was a limp, uninteresting mix of lettuce and cucumber with an unpleasant gloopy vinaigrette over it. The £37 lobster arrived and it was small, dried out and tough. I didn't even know it was possible to dry out a lobster while cooking it, perhaps it had been split lying under a heat lamp for half an hour. The oysters hadn't arrived. I'd had enough. So I called over a waitress. I explained my lobster was dry and tough and the oysters hadn't arrived. She literally just shrugged, that's it, nothing else. We asked if we could see the manager. A young man came over and asked with a surly, aggressive manner what the problem was. I explained that the lobster was dry and actually tough and he almost sneered "do you want another one or a refund?". No apology, no sorry, just a replacement or refund offer. I asked for the refund. I then went on to ask when the oysters were coming. To which he responded that the food delivered in whatever order it came out of the kitchen. I explained that I'm fine with this but the starter shouldn't arrive after dessert has arrived or one has left the restaurant. Instead of an apology what I got was a defiant "I've got three people shucking oysters" Which he had, at that moment, for 25 of the previous 30 minutes it was one guy working on his own. I could see him from my table. This is a case of the manager thinking that his problems should be mine when in fact my problems should be his. I am after all, the one paying for the service that he is failing to deliver with a bad attitude. I didn't mention any of the other issues with the food as the angry manager just didn't seem interested customer satisfaction or service. He left our table instructing me to go to the counter and ask for a refund before we left. My oysters must have been prioritised as they arrived on a plastic tray five minutes later. I ate the oysters which tasted nice, but had their revenge on me half an hour after we left, which was surprising as I can eat anything without issue. Perhaps there's something in the old saying about only eating shellfish when there is an R in the month. Neither of us needed to use the toilets when we were there, which is great because you need to queue outside for them. We left the Lobster Shack with the chips, salads and lobster uneaten on the table; the table service here is just delivery and clear up after you have left. All over we had an appalling experience. Even after the refund I'd ended up spending £45 for some warm drinks, half a dozen oysters and a prawn bun. It could have been turned around with a polite, friendly apology of some sort. So often what could have been a poor experience is saved by good staff who understand customer service. They don't here. The location is great, the building is great it has the ambience of a West Coast surf bar. That's where the good stuff stops. The barely existent service is surly and . unpleasant, the food awful and awfully expensive. Warm drinks in plastics cups. This is not a West Coast surf bar. I can't imagine it gets any business from locals, it's a place tourists go, regret and never return to. I certainly won't be going again and I've been eating at the parent restaurant, the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company for 30 years.

Went here with a bunch of friends for dinner. The weather was pretty dull in Whitstable but the…read moreatmosphere inside was great. Our server was attentive and patiently persevered the bad jokes that my friend Tony was cracking. Everything on the menu is seafood, so don't come here looking for steak...but the seafood is fresh and well cooked. The sea bass was delicious...although Tony wanted more potatoes...but the others who had it were content...Tony's a bit of a complainer. I had the sea bream and it was excellent. Recommend this to anyone lucky enough to be in Whitstable for the weekend. PS Tony asked me to point out that he did bring his Sonos speaker with him for the weekend so we could listen to music, and he felt the review above didn't really communicate the value he was bringing to the weekend.

Oysters served several delicious ways! I tried the Rockefeller with spinach and cheese and Casino…read morewith bacon, Parmesan and a little spice...excellent! The grilled scallops with a pint of Oyster Stout (staying with the theme ) were perfect, as were the cabbage and bacon and heirloom tomato and onion sides. Right on the beach I look forward to coming back during a sunny day.

Got a takeaway from here that we took to the beach. Got a range of stuff, all up to expectations…read moreand perfectly tasty but the butterfly prawns were top notch, really brilliant, garlic and ginger and chilli flavours all well balanced and the reason why I went back for a sit-down in there not long after. Really hope they still do them as I plan to go back again soon! And also, they sell sake (Japanese wine/liquor) which is cool as I don't see it sold in many other places, fun to try. Would recommend.

Fabulous, welcoming little cafe/restaurant. The tap water is especially tasty...everyone thought…read moreso. The coffee was almost as good as Starbucks.

Always great food and friendly service. We particularly like the calamari, very light batter that…read moremelts in your mouth. The green salad is also my favorite salad in all the world! It gets busy so booking is recommended!

Solid 4 stars for this seafood joint in Coastal England within this cute town of Whistable…read more Reservations are strongly encouraged! Luckily, I came for lunch with a reservation right when they open and got seated on their outdoor balcony with a lovely view. I can probably eat 12 fresh oysters just by myself, they were super fresh and tasty! I ordered the Crab and Winkle Fish Pie and they did NOT skimp on the fish. I was surprised when the entree was brought out, I expected the fish to be in the pie, similarly to American-style chicken pot pies. Regardless of the presentation, it was good. The lobster roll was delicious too, wish I had gotten that after sampling a few bites. Overall, a cute restaurant and a great experience. By the time I was leaving, the restaurant was packed. Opt to sit outside on the balcony if possible, especially on a sunny day! #19/2019

You will be sadly disappointed at this spot! Prices are extremely high for the food. The oysters…read morewere the smallest I have ever seen! I would recommend eating downstairs.

Absolutely amazing garlic shrimp on a thick piece of sourdough, as well as a wonderful side salad…read moreof burrata and roasted butternut squash with pine nuts on arugula. Excellent serving sizes (including big prawns!) and incredibly tasty.

Delicious choices. I got the Buddha bowl, others got the fish curry that was amazing and smoked…read morehaddock on toast. Loaded fries and Mac n cheese were ok but we are from America so we didn't really come to the Uk for Mac n cheese or fries did we??