Osters by Lovage: Serious Seafood on Gosforth High Street

Gosforth High Street is not short of places to eat, but genuine destination dining is rarer. Osters by Lovage at number 125 is exactly that — a seafood-led restaurant from the team behind the acclaimed Lovage in Jesmond, and a spot that has earned a place in the Michelin Guide in both 2024 and 2025.

We paid a visit recently, and the short version is this: the food is excellent, the staff could not have been more accommodating, and the room has a cool, relaxed feel with chilled-out music playing quietly in the background. It is not cheap — but the quality matches the price.

The room

Osters gets the atmosphere just right. A reclaimed timber feature wall, warm pendant lighting, parquet flooring, and a framed lobster print set a tone that is smart without being stiff. Tables are well spaced, service is attentive but never hovering, and the volume sits at that comfortable level where you can actually hear the person across the table. It feels like somewhere you could go for a quiet weeknight dinner or a proper celebration.

The food

The menu leans hard into the sea, which is the whole point. Snacks open proceedings — oysters served two ways (with shallot vinegar and lemon, or with pickled strawberry and a bloody Mary gel), a baked oyster with caper butter, and Pink Lane sourdough and focaccia to start you off. From there the starters read like a greatest hits of modern British seafood cooking: king scallops with English pea purée and crispy Parma ham, crab ravioli in a prawn bisque with bottarga and samphire, salt and pepper squid, and tempura king prawns with a lemongrass and corn velouté.

Mains keep the standard high. Monkfish arrives with a chorizo crust, piquillo pepper sauce and Jersey royals; there is octopus with romesco, stone bass with feta and beetroot, Scottish hake, and — for the seafood-averse — a sirloin steak with bourbon peppercorn sauce and a roasted sweet potato, coconut and lime dhal for vegetarians. Sides are worth the extra: parmesan and truffle fries, and confit hispi cabbage with miso butter, both do their job. The cooking is precise and confident, and the plating is careful without tipping into fuss.

Best for: Best for a seafood dinner that feels like an occasion — book ahead, especially at weekends.

What it costs

There is no getting around it: Osters is a treat rather than an everyday. À la carte starters run from around £12 to £18, and mains from roughly £20 for the vegetarian dhal up to £39 for the sirloin, with most fish mains in the high twenties to mid thirties. A discretionary 10 percent service charge is added to the bill and shared equally among the team.

If you want to try the kitchen for less, the set menu is the one to know about — two courses for £25 or three for £30, available Wednesday to Friday evenings, Saturday lunch, and Sunday. It is genuinely good value for cooking of this standard, and a smart way to sample the place before committing to the full à la carte.

The drinks list is thoughtful too, running from house spritzes and cocktails through a well-chosen whisky and cognac selection to local beers, alcohol-free mocktails and softs. Osters also runs a bring-your-own-bottle night on the third Wednesday of each month with no corkage fee — worth diarising if you have a good bottle at home.

Visiting

Osters is at 125 Gosforth High Street, NE3 1HA. It opens Wednesday to Friday from 5pm to 9pm, Saturday for lunch (12pm–2pm) and dinner (5pm–9pm), and Sunday from 12pm to 5.45pm. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Booking is strongly advised — you can reserve through the Osters website or by calling 0191 825 0240.

For a suburban high street to have a Michelin Guide-listed seafood restaurant on its doorstep is no small thing. If you have been meaning to try it, the set menu is the perfect excuse.

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Been somewhere in Gosforth worth writing about? Get in touch — we would love to hear your recommendations.