If you’re craving your favorite seafood meal but can’t make it to the shore, don’t worry. These Lehigh Valley seafood restaurants will make you feel as if you’re dining right by the ocean.
3rd & Ferry Fish Market
Be part of one of the finest seafood restaurants in the Valley. At 3rd & Ferry, you’ll see that the high ceilings and spacious atmosphere are just as enticing as its food and cocktail menu.
Watch chefs prepare your fresh meal whether you take a seat right at the bar or in the second-floor dining area. Relax and enjoy one of the many cocktails 3rd & Ferry offers, like The Nor’easter, made with Kraken spiced rum, thyme passion fruit syrup, cranberry-infused pomegranate juice, orange juice, pineapple juice and creole bitters. If you’re feeling a bit simpler, grab a Guinness or a Founder’s All Day IPA.
3rd & Ferry’s extensive menu has a variety of delicious options. Start with the Raw Bar and indulge in Middleneck clams or a chilled lobster tail. If you’re with a group, try the Tower featuring eight oysters, eight clams, 12 mussels, four colossal lump crab, six shrimp cocktail, classic ceviche, tuna tartare and wakame salad. Sounds amazing, right?
After you work your way through the Raw Bar items, dig into some entrees. Enjoy the broiled crab stuffed tilapia with lobster sauce, rice pilaf and broccolini or the shrimp and clam linguini. Maybe you decide to start off your entrée with an appetizer … lobster bisque, crab chorizo mac & cheese made with aged cheddar, fontina cheese and a crumb crust or a beef tenderloin carpaccio with shaved fennel, scallions, fried capers, dijon truffle aioli and a toasted baguette. I’m thinking you may have to come back a few times to try all the delectable menu items.
3rd & Ferry even sells some of its phenomenal seafood at the Easton Public Market so not only can you enjoy its freshest items at the restaurant, but you can bring it to your family table as well. 56 S. 3rd St., Easton, (610) 829-1404
Henry’s Salt of the Sea
Indulge in French-inspired seafood at this Allentown seafood restaurant where you can soak up the casual and welcoming atmosphere with your family or significant other. Henry’s Salt of the Sea offers a plentiful menu with options for everyone’s taste buds. Sticking with its French inspiration, the restaurant offers escargot with garlic butter and lobster Francaise, which is a dish of egg-battered, cold-water lobster tails made with mushroom, tomato and caper.
Enjoy your meal in the spacious dining areas or at the full-service bar and, if you don’t want seafood for the entire night, that’s okay becauase you have options. Henry’s offers a Jack Daniels filet mignon au poivre, a broiled filet mignon, and veal and chicken dishes.
All entrées include a salad bar, potato and a vegetable. If there’s one thing you can be sure of at Henry’s Salt of the Sea, it’s knowing your meal came straight from the sea. 1926 W. Allen St., Allentown, (610) 434-2628
Adagio
Come into the fairly new Bethlehem restaurant Adagio and experience handcrafted seafood dishes made to perfection.
Located on Pembroke Road, Adagio is the place to go for mouthwatering meals from the sea. You can even choose from an array of items from its land fare section to change up your palate.
The restaurant’s bar is now open and includes an extensive wine list, more than 25 craft beers and its own special cocktails.
Start your meal off with appetizers like blackened tuna bites with an herb butter sauce, crab dip or six raw blue point oysters on the half shell. Then try a combination entrée like a crab cake and rib-eye steak or a New York strip and lobster tail.
If the combos aren’t what you’re looking for, try an entrée like sea bass served with white wine sauce, honey dijon salmon, Caribbean jerk tuna or king crab legs. Don’t forget to choose your sides, which range from a baked potato with old bay butter to rice and vegetables. 530 Pembroke Rd., Bethlehem, (610) 625-3777
Marblehead Chowder House
This Easton staple has been around for 20 years and serves an authentic coastal meal and experience to its guests. Its décor makes you feel as if you’re eating right by the shore.
Try Marblehead’s award-winning Bloody Mary or order your favorite cocktail while you’re waiting for your lunch or dinner. Also, make sure you check the blackboards for daily fresh seafood specials.
Some appetizers include lobster risotto balls made with scallions and sweet red peppers finished with a lobster cheese dipping sauce, crab pierogies sautéed with bacon, onions and butter and a mussels marinara dish.
Try not to fill up from the appetizers, as there is an abundance of remaining culinary options. Enjoy fresh-shucked oysters, crab and shrimp gremolata made with linguine, artichoke hearts, bacon bits, garlic, lemon zest, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh parsley or a Chowder House Tradition such as its famous crab cakes.
If you’re a fan of lobster, you’ve come to the right place. You can order a whole lobster cracked and cleaned, lobster macaroni and cheese or a Lobster and Shrimp on the Ritz, which includes Maine lobster chunks and jumbo shrimp baked with a creamy champagne sauce and topped with Ritz Cracker crumbs. 4101 William Penn Highway, Easton, (610) 258-4301
Emeril’s Fish House
Hidden in the vast Sands Casino in Bethlehem, Emeril’s Fish House is a gem you must experience. Upon walking in, tables flank the bar, which greets you immediately.
Enjoy a specialty cocktail from the fish house while you browse over the New Orleans-inspired menu. Try a Kentucky Porch Light made with Maker’s Mark Cask Strength, apple liqueur and cranberry or The Streetcar created from cognac, blood orange liqueur, lemon, egg white and Angostura.
Once you’ve taken a few sips of your delicious drink, it’s time to pick a selection from the menu. Small plates are available, which range from sweet corn hush puppies made with house bacon, scallion and creole remoulade to grilled octopus plated with arugula, capers, green olives and fingerling potatoes. If you’re craving something heartier, go for the seafood etouffee bowl filled with shrimp, andouille, scallops, mussels, trinity vegetables and rice or a fried seafood platter of gulf shrimp or sea scallops. If you still haven’t found anything you like, try catfish or striped bass fresh from the grill. The options are endless.
Generous helpings of side dishes are available as well as steaks are available for those who are in the mood for turf and not surf. 77 Sands Blvd., Bethlehem, (484) 777-7777
Youell’s Oyster House
If you’re looking for an upscale-but-welcoming seafood restaurant, Youell’s Oyster House in Allentown is your place.
Youell’s has served guests since 1895 and offers seasonal items from the sea. Some house specialties on the food menu include seafood mascarpone and sambal shrimp. The mascarpone dish is sure to please with its haddock, gulf shrimp and scallops sautéed in a rich sauce of roasted garlic and mascarpone cheese with roasted red pepper and spinach served over lobster ravioli. The Sambal Shrimp is a bit simpler and is made with Gulf shrimp sautéed in a spicy sambal cream served over jasmine rice with fresh sweet corn and bacon gumbo.
Youell’s also offers farm-raised steaks, which are pan-seared in a cast iron skillet. Try the 20-ounce porterhouse or the 12-ounce New York strip steak. Feel free to add sautéed mushrooms, onions or peppers and a cold-water lobster tail or some grilled shrimp to your dish.
If crab is more your style, order one pound of Alaskan king crab, the crab and cheese dish broiled in a casserole with a blend of cheeses or the lump crabmeat served hot or chilled with drawn or brown butter.
Pair your food with a cocktail from one of the restaurant’s extensive drink lists, including red and white wines, martinis, sangria cocktails and specialty craft beers. To give you a sneak peak of the Oyster House’s martini options, they offer The Arroyo made with raspberry liqueur, Kahlua, sour mix, orange juice and champagne or a Chocolate Raspberry Martini made with Godiva chocolate, vanilla vodka and raspberry puree.
Seafood lovers will not be disappointed at Youell’s Oyster House. If your mouth is watering already, just wait until you enter the restaurant! 2249 Walnut St., Allentown, (610) 439-1203
- Top photo: 3rd & Ferry
- Remaining photos: BigStock
