Big Mussel

We had great service from our waiter but the rest of the experience was a bit average. I tried the seafood platter which was an assortment of deep fried, battered bits and pieces. Unfortunately it was, after a few mouthful, quite sickly And the tempura batter over what could’ve been nice prawns was terrible… mushy and liquid instead of crisp and light. Person eating with me had a steak dinner which was well cooked, but all in all everything we had was over priced for the quality. Not aided by the cheap interior which having lived in Brussels I can say bears more resemblance to a train station café than any Belgian restaurant. Many, many better places to eat even if the service would be hard to beat.

I took my girlfriend who is a big seafood fan. The atmosphere when we went in was lovely. The downstairs did seem a little crowded but we sat upstairs. We got calamari as a starter which was nice but there’s only so much you can do with calamari. There was plenty of sauce which is nice.
We then had our mains I opted for the fish food platter and my girlfriend had paella well it was absolutely delightful. The prawns on the paella where huge and all of the things on the seafood platter where delightful.
There was an acoustic artist on when we sat down this added to the atmosphere and was lovely. Any louder and it might have been awkward but was very good background music.
Overall fabulous place and will be visiting again!

I found this hard to believe, but seafood restaurants are actually few and far between in Newcastle !
The big mussel came well recommended so when visiting for a friends birthday and she strangely decided that seafood would be the ideal pre-​lash dinner, we happily obliged !
It has an interesting décor, the tables and chairs aren’t really up to much, and the place setting could only be described as school lunch esque (paper place mats, bent cutlery). In fact, if you didn’t look up you could easily convince yourself you were in your local primary school lunch hall. However, if you are able to look above waist height, you realise that it actually has a fairly interesting décor albeit a little dark, with an open kitchen and mezzanine floor above.
They offer a Cheaper lunch menu and also have a great range of seafood on the main menu interspersed with offers, all for a very reasonable price. We opted for starters, I had scallops which were cooked very well. They came with a sweet potato purée which complimented nicely. A friend had fresh homemade calamari which had a crispy coating and the squid was not chewy or overcooked.
We also decided to have some oysters. I don’t know why. Oysters are terrible! They really are an acquired taste and it depends on whether you cook them plain or with some kind of topping, or if you steam or even grill them. The ones at big mussel pretty much come as they are from the ocean, with a slice of lemon on the side. I was definitely not a fan, but they were a popular dish that evening as many people around us were enjoying them, so I can only assume they were cooked well!
I had a seafood linguine for my main, which, although the seafood was varied and fresh, didn’t actually have much flavour. The seafood and pasta were cooked well, but I was expecting a stronger tomato base which unfortunately was not delivered. It was very watery and flavourless which didn’t appeal at all!
One of our party absolutely hates seafood and they didn’t have the most extensive menu to cater for her. she ended up with a roast chicken dinner that made me reminisce of the school dining hall again…
Overall it was a good evening and we had a good laugh but I probably wouldn’t go back. If you are really into your shellfish, they have a great selection and have good deals on buckets of steamed mussels which might be worth the trip, but if you don’t like seafood, don’t go to a seafood restaurant. Simples !

It’s a shame that there are so few seaood resturdants in Newcastle. I’ve vistied the big mussel several times over the past few years and it’s very very average. The seafood is far from fresh and it seems the majority of the menu is fried! On my recent trip in this March i opted for the lobster which was tough and to be honest pretty scabby for the £20 they charge, I know this is not outrageous for a lobster but if you witnessed the size and quality i’m sure you would agree.. I find the seats uncomfortable and feel like i’m sat in a school cafateria. I believe this place has potential it just needs a kick in the right direction. I probably would return but not in the immediate future.

Excellent sea food. I’ve been to this place several times and it never let me down. It doesn’t look encouraging on the outside, but I like decours inside.

We had a great value early bird meal (£10 for 1kg mussels) lovely and staff very friendly and helpful.

My first night in Newcastle, and my boyfriend and were strolling around looking for a place to eat. The idea of fresh seafood called to us, and there was a good buzzy atmosphere inside with live music! The restaurant is very casual but in a pleasant, relaxed way, and there was a fella with a guitar perched up high in a crows nest playing a variety of pop music past and present.
We split the Ultimate Fish Pot (which is available for one or two) and the seafood linguine. We got the fish pot Thai style, you can choose from a variety of delicious sounding flavors. We got prawns, calamari, scallops, and mussels in this pot. The Thai flavoring was tasty but not strong enough to me — I really wanted that chilli flavor! The prawns were a little tough but I was crazy about the mussels and scallops.
The Seafood Linguine was a pretty simple dish, but the sauce was nice and the seafood of good quality. Again, like the fish pot, stronger flavor would’ve gone far.
They do this fun thing, the «clock saver,» where the time you order is the price you pay for the dish! This only applies to some dishes, not all, but the earlier you order the cheaper the dish. Probably a good way to save money if you’re willing to eat an early dinner!
The seafood was overall good but not stellar, and the dishes could’ve used stronger flavors all around. I’d be happy to give this place another try but I think we had very high hopes and wanted a little more from our meals. Fun place to go, though!

decent restaurant and its real local for us for when we finish work. i would say we been here 4 or 5 times now and its always been ok.

Had the Surf & Turf here, fantastically well cooked, the Restaurant was a little on the quiet side (not many in) when we arrived (but was slightly busier when we were nearly finished, possibly due to the jazz evening that was scheduled). But as I have already said the food was fantastic and due to the fact that my G/​friend couldn’t manage a full portion of her choice, the manager/​owner couldn’t have been more helpful and arranged for only a half portion to be served. Top bloke.
Would definitely go back again.

Anywhere that has tangerine & black as major features of its colour scheme can’t be all bad but they need to learn the difference between Belgian (the type of beer they stock a lot of) and Belgium (the country said beers come from). I was lacking an appetite on the night we ventured in here so didn’t really do justice to the suasages, mash & large Yorkshire pudding I ordered but it was nice enough. As can be seen from the photo above the cod that arrived was a hefty piece of fish so portion size is not something we could have an issue with. Service was reasonably prompt and perfectly courteous.

If you want great mussels go up the hill to barluga.

The Big Mussel was pretty good. The inside had a lively atmosphere, but there was some very loud music which made conversations difficult. We ordered a large summer seafood platter which came chilled, which wasnt what we were expecting (we werent warned about this), but it turned out to be very good. Still would have like to have had some nice warm steamed seafood.
There were some strange service issues. First, in the middle of meal the server asked if we wanted some bread with our meal as if it were an afterthought, so we said yes, but then we were charged for the bread on the bill. Not a big deal, but just a bit annoying. Additionally, after having talked with both our server and the owner about the advertised student discount on our way into the restaurant, they did not apply it to our bill and when I asked about it the response was a bit sketchy. Something like, ‘Oh, you caught that’ and a wink. It was odd.
Otherwise it was an enjoyable meal and I look forward to going back for some hot, steamed seafood.

Fresh, delicious seafood! This restaurant looks much nicer on the inside than on the outside, which is frankly a little run-​down looking. They have a huge menu of any sort of seafood you can imagine. After a yummy lobster soup starter, we ended up sharing a summer platter of mussels, lobster, oysters, crab, crayfish, whelks and sea asparagus. Delicious, but all cold (I guess because it’s summer). If it had been a hot day on a Mediterranean beach, we probably would have been pleased, but in the freezing cold and bucketing down rain of a Newcastle evening, I wished I’d had the steaming hot mussels instead.
My one quibble, which makes me hold back from 5 stars, is the «jazz band» (two guys with guitars playing Stevie Wonder covers) were so loud that conversation was difficult once they started playing.

This place is very well known and popular with students and locals alike. The student snapfax often offers cheap meal deals for this great seafood joint where you can try the best mussels in town.
It’s open all day and is a great choice for lunch or dinner (or both for that matter…) and although they serve all kinds of fish the best choice in my opinion would be mussels and chips. The décor isn’t anything exciting, it seems as though the place has maintained the same look since it opened however many years ago but I spose that’s part of its charm and anyway the food and service are excellent and that’s what counts when you are looking for a good-​value hearty meal!