Durban might be best known for its delicious grilled meats and bunny chow, but its coastal location also makes it one of the top places in Africa to get seafood. What’s extra nice about Durban is that most of the top seafood places in the city are also right on the oceanfront, allowing for incredible views as you dine in the balmy weather. From fine dining hangouts to sushi hot spots, here are our picks for the best places to get seafood in Durban.

Jack Salmon Fish House

If everybody in your party wants seafood, this should be one of the top places on your list, as it’s the only thing the restaurant serves. Located right by the ocean, the restaurant uses clean white tablecloths and wood decor to effortless blend in with the surrounding environment. There are several types of calamari on the menu, along with classic items like kingklip fish and chips, and fresh catches of the day.

Roma Revolving Restaurant

Although it isn’t located on the beach, this revolving restaurant offers possibly the best view in Durban. They also happen to serve up some mean seafood. Some of the best items on the menu include mussels bourguignon, calamari alla genovese and fresh sole topped with Mozambican prawns.

The Grill Room @ The Oyster Box Hotel

Not only is the Grill Room at the fabulous Oyster Box Hotel one of most elegant dining establishments in Durban, it also has excellent signature seafood dishes. While you can get standard items like crayfish and prawns, its standout dish is the gigantic seafood platter for two that comes with salmon, linefish, calamari, mussels, langostine lobsters, crayfish and prawns for R1,200. Be aware that the dress code here is semi-formal.

Beluga

What’s a list of seafood restaurants without a great sushi spot? Although there are Beluga branches in Cape Town and Durban, it’s worth coming here for the delicious sushi and seafood on offer. Try the restaurant’s bam bam roll with steamed prawn, avocado and seared tuna, or if sushi isn’t your thing, the crayfish with carrot puree and kingklip will tickle your palate.

Al Pescatore

This restaurant lends Italian flavor to fresh seafood and has one of the best locations on the beach to boot. It has been serving diners since 1989 and specializes in calamari, including calamari fritti and calamari piatto, a Neapolitan-style dish. The prawn curry is also a can’t-miss, even though it isn’t exactly Italian.

Bel Punto

Not only does this stylish restaurant have one of the best views of the ocean in all of Durban, it also has a fantastic menu specializing in seafood, particularly prawns and lobsters. The menu changes regularly depending on what’s fresh, and rotates through mouth-watering dishes like baby crayfish pasta, salty Knysna oysters, and massive platters of shellfish. The restaurant also has a large bar/lounge area with a DJ that gets hopping late into the night, so you can burn off that pasta!

Cargo Hold at uShaka Marine World

While the premise of this restaurant-inside-an-aquarium is a bit cheesy, we couldn’t help but add it to the list. If you don’t think eating fish while watching their friends swim around is odd, then you’ll probably enjoy the novelty of the restaurant. All jokes aside, the restaurant is actually quite nice and serves up fantastically fresh seafood dishes.

The Oyster Bar @ The Oyster Box Hotel

If you’re looking for oysters, it simply doesn’t get any better than the Oyster Bar at the aptly named Oyster Box hotel. Although the bar doesn’t have a full menu, it has a large variety of oysters and champagnes in stock, which is perfect for a special night out. If you do get super hungry, just head over the Grill Room to fill up.

Daruma

This Japanese restaurant is undoubtedly one of the best in Durban and serves up everything from mussels and crayfish, to tempura and sushi. Their other location in Johannesburg was one of the first authentic Japanese restaurants to open in Africa back in the 80s, and after decades of experience, the chefs definitely know what they are doing.

CasaBlanca

For something slightly more casual and cheaper than most restaurants on our list, Casablanca makes a fantastic choice and has a wide range of options. Despite the name, the restaurant isn’t Moroccan (though there are a few Moroccan dishes on the menu) and specializes in meals from around the world. Some of the global specialties that diners love include the New Zealand mussels, the Falklands calamari tubes, and the Zanzibar seafood salad.

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