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Meatless for Lent? Here are 17 restaurants with great seafood dishes

Rebecca King
NorthJersey

We have the ocean to thank for so many delicacies.

Sweet, succulent scallops. Flaky, buttery salmon. Bright, crunchy shrimp. Briny oysters. Mild cod. Meaty swordfish.

And the Lenten season is the perfect time to lean into a love of seafood. Traditionally, Catholics abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent, which runs this year from Feb. 26 to April 12. But fish is still on the table for Friday dinner.

Here are 17 restaurants that serve fantastic seafood to get you through the seven Fridays of Lent.

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Oceanos Oyster Bar & Sea Grill, Fair Lawn

Few restaurant owners in North Jersey are as obsessed with seafood as father-son duo Peter and Nikos Panteleakis of Oceanos Oyster Bar & Sea Grill. The two head to the Fulton Fish Market around 1 a.m. daily to hand-pick the slippery selections that will grace the dinner plates at Oceanos hours later.

Oceanos South African lobster tail

Choices include wood-grilled swordfish, butter-soaked steamed lobster and mussels Lyonnaise in a Dijon, garlic and white wine broth. Soak up all that scrumptious sauce with a bit of bread, hand-rolled by Peter.

Go: 2-27 Saddle River Road, Fair Lawn; 201-796-0546, oceanosrestaurant.com.

Varka, Ramsey

Varka opened in 2005, introducing many North Jersey food lovers to fine Mediterranean seafood. Varka's signature is its Tipsy Lobsters, so named because of the wine they're baked with. Choices include the Santorini lobster with white wine and tomato broth, topped with feta cheese ($32 per pound), and the Chardonnay, named for what it's based in as well as tarragon butter sauce ($30 per pound). Also recommended are the genius lobster gyros with cucumber tomato relish and mint tzatziki ($19) and the hearty halibut served with pearl onions and citrus emulsion ($37).

Go: 30 N. Spruce St., Ramsey; 201-995-9333, varkarestaurant.com.

Jockey Hollow, Morristown

Try the mussels fra diablo from Jockey Hollow.

Jockey Hollow chef AJ Capella, a Culinary Institute of America graduate and the recipient of the 2017 Garden State Culinary Arts Rising Star Chef Award, is a wizard with fish. Capella whips up mouth-watering dishes that include organic Irish ocean trout ($34), steamed black bass with carrot foie puree ($36), Barnegat scallops with short rib agnolotti ($36) for guests in the four different dining rooms of this spacious old mansion. Not surprisingly, fresh-shucked oysters are the specialty at the Oyster Bar.

Owner Chris Cannon proudly notes that Jockey Hollow gets most of its seafood from Viking Village in Barnegat Lights and Local 130 Seafood in Asbury Park. You can be sure the fish on your plate was swimming in or near Jersey waters just a short time before you sat down for your meal.

Go: 110 South St., Morristown; 973-644-3180, jockeyhollowbarandkitchen.com.

Stern & Bow, Closter

Photo of Omakase Oysters, photographed at Stern & Bow in Closter on 11/26/19.

With a name like Stern & Bow – bow is the name for the back of a boat and stern, the front – this Closter restaurant better have good seafood. Rest easy, it does. The name has a second meaning as well: it’s owned by restaurateur Russel Stern who formerly owned Harvest Bistro & Bar (today, the space houses The Hill). Standouts include fried oysters with spicy aioli and apple relish ($19) and a dish called Big Easy Prawns, giant prawns which rest on a bed of stone-ground grits and Creole-spiced barbecue sauce ($29). But these are hardly your only two options. The menu also features pasta, appetizers and entrees laden with seafood and fish. For something a bit different, opt for the oyster omakase, instituted by Kevin Joseph, founder of New York City’s Oyster Week. Slurp fresh oysters prepared in a host of ways until you can't eat anymore. Treat yourself to a glass of wine, too.

Go: 171 Schraalenburgh Road, Closter; 201-750-3350, sternandbowrestaurant.com.

Viaggio, Wayne

One heck of a great trout dish you might just have at Viaggio's "chef's bar."

The house-cured ocean trout that chef/owner Robbie Felice serves lucky guests at his five-seat chef’s table is reason enough to dine at Viaggio — during Lent or anytime. The menu at this rustic Italian BYOB changes seasonally (so ocean trout may not be available all year-round), but Felice makes sure it features several seafood dishes. Much of its fish comes from local waters, though Viaggio also sources from the Mediterranean Sea. Viaggio is an Italian restaurant, after all.

Go: 1055 Hamburg Turnpike, Wayne; 973-706-7277, viaggioristorante.com.

Osteria Crescendo, Westwood

The Branzino alla Griglia with swiss chard alla panna and sungold tomato from Osteria Crescendo in Westwood on Thursday July 18, 2019.

Closer to Westwood than Wayne? Head to Robbie Felice’s second restaurant, the more modern-looking, cocktail-serving Osteria Crescendo for fish dishes that are decidedly delicious. Currently, you can dine on spaghetti with white wild shrimp ($24), poached monkfish ($32) and branzino alla griglia ($31).

Go: 36 Jefferson Ave., Westwood; 201-722-1900, osteriacrescendo.com.

Potbelly’s Riverside Café, Rockaway

00000591a Rockaway, NJ   4/4/2015 Trout season opens!: Anglers lined the Rockaway River in Rockaway during opening day of Trout season.  Here, owner of Potbelly's Riverside Cafe Robert Grow welcomes anglers by sponsoring his 7th year of river clean-ups and fishing contests along the Rockaway.    JOHN C. MANNA / FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER

Potbelly’s looks like the type of place you'd find fishermen feasting after an exhausting day on the water. It’s simple and homey, situated right next to the Rockaway River. 

Among customer favorites, according to owner Rob Grow, are smoky blackened salmon BLT, sweet sugar-crusted salmon, gooey lobster mac' and cheese, crispy fish (wild-caught cod) and chips, littlenecks, seared tuna (Grow recommends it prepared rare to optimize the flavor) and crab cakes.

Go: 26 E. Main St., Rockaway; 973-627-7877, potbellysriversidecafe.blogspot.com.

MS Sushi, River Edge

The shrimp balls at Ms Sushi are scorched on top.

This small mom-and-pop shop offers fresh sushi, sashimi and other Japanese dishes plus Korean eats. Consider getting the shrimp ball appetizer, a ball of rice covered with a thin slice of shrimp that's torched and glazed to give it both a smoky and sweet taste ($9.95), or the intricate Kamikaze roll, shrimp tempura avocado topped with spicy tuna ($12.95).

You can watch the sushi chef preparing your roll behind a counter that stands next to a display of fresh fish on ice.

Go: 494 Kinderkamack Road, River Edge; 201-523-9090, facebook.com/Ms.SushiPage.

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Cafe Chameleon, Bloomingdale

Scallops at Cafe Chameleon. Bloomingdale

Chef Bryan Gregg was named the Best Jersey Seafood Chef at the 2015 Jersey Seafood Challenge. That same year he won the Seafood Showdown prize representing New Jersey at the Great American Seafood Cook Off in New Orleans. So you can be pretty confident that Gregg knows how to prepare and cook seafood. We recommend his tender scallops with braised cabbage and smoked apple (Gregg’s scallops nabbed the Seafood Challenge award). Other choices from the sea include octopus with burnt satsuma ($18), pan-seared halibut ($30) and wood-grilled Arctic char ($28).

Go: 60 Main St., Bloomingdale; 973-850-6969, cafe-chameleon.com.

Seafood Gourmet, Maywood

Head to the back of Seafood Gourmet to find the restaurant, where dishes like this halibut are served.

Fish lovers don't come to Seafood Gourmet to be wowed by its decor. The restaurant tucked into the back of fish market Seafood Gourmet is stark with white walls and simple tables. Fish lovers come for the fresh fish that owner John Ciarvolo buys at the famous Bronx Fulton Fish Market and prepares at his restaurant. Ciarvolo heads to the market at 3 a.m. “I’m used to getting up so early now,” he said. “It becomes your life.”

What to eat? Fish and more fish, including tasty crab cakes ($10), sesame-crusted Chilean sea bass ($28), slurpable Connecticut Littlenecks served on the half shell (the best around, says Ciarvolo, $12 for 12), and wild salmon stuffed with lobster ($27).

Go: 103 W. Pleasant Ave., Maywood; 201-843-8558, seafood-gourmet.com.

Jack's Seafood Shack, Montclair, Cresskill and Edgewater

In the mood for a melt-in-your-mouth lobster roll made creamy with a bit of mayonnaise? Or perhaps you prefer your lobster roll warm and dripping with butter. You can get either type — Maine or Connecticut, respectively — at this popular mini local seafood chain. If lobster isn’t your thing, you’ll find plenty of shrimp, mussels, cod, grouper and crab dishes.

Word to the wise, this spot goes by two names: Jack's Seafood Shack in Montclair and Edgewater and Jack's Lobster Shack & Oyster Bar in Cresskill.

Go: 718 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair; 973-893-5283. 1040 River Road, Edgewater; 201-224-2808. 38 Union Ave., Cresskill; 201-266-6575, jacksseafoodshacknj.com.

Lefkes, Englewood Cliffs

Check out the fresh catch of the day at the raw bar at Lefkes.

At this year-old Mediterranean/Greek restaurant, take your time before dinner admiring the display of mollusks, crabs, snapper and Dover sole on ice. Order whatever strikes your fancy — however you'd like it cooked: grilled, sauteed, roasted, braised.

Recently, Lefkes brought Stavros Baribas to helm the kitchen. The chef and owner of now-closed casual Greek restaurant Syros Taverna in Englewood had received critical praise for its grilled and fried whole fish. Baribas plans to slowly change the menu, but you can be certain that fish, lots of fish, will remain on the menu.

Go: 495 Sylvan Ave., Englewood Cliffs; 201-408-4444, lefkesnj.com.

DPs Pub and Seafood Grill, Garfield

Yes, it's a dive bar. Yes, people come here to guzzle beer. And, yes, the food, especially the seafood, is good. Really; just ask its many patrons. Plates of spicy buffalo shrimp ($6.95), tender braised tuna steak ($14.95), buttery Maine lobster roll ($9.95) and juicy soft shell crabs ($10.95) are regularly plunked in front of hungry customers there for a good time and great food. Trust the locals on this one.

Go: 732 River Drive, Garfield; 973-246-7795, facebook.com/dpspubgarfield.

Blue Morel, Morristown

The chili cinnamon Chilean sea bass at Blue Morel has become a customer favorite.

It may be housed inside a hotel (the Westin Governor Morris Hotel, to be exact), but Blue Morel is far from your typical, generic hotel lobby restaurant. The kitchen is overseen by acclaimed chefs Thomas Ciszak and Dennis Mathews. The two dare not remove the chili cinnamon Chilean seabass with potato-wrapped shrimp ($42) for fear customers will revolt. Nearly half of the menu is devoted to seafood (sourced from Local 130 in Asbury Park and NJ company 40 North Oysters) – featuring dishes such as herb-crusted organic salmon ($30), day boat scallops ($34) and jumbo lump crab cakes (market price).

Go: 2 Whippany Road, Morristown; 973-451-2619, bluemorel.com.

The Quiet Man, Dover

Little Neck Clams at The Quiet Man in Dover.

This classic Irish pub serves some mean littleneck clams. The morsels are sautéed in a rich broth made with white wine, crushed tomatoes and a pantry of spices ($13.95). Start off with the clams then move on to Alaskan cod fish and chips ($17.95), Maine lobster-filled ravioli ($14.95), sautéed Atlantic flounder fillet francaise ($23.5) or pan-seared African red snapper fillet ($23.95). A cold draft of Guinness from the grand, polished wood bar is recommended as well.

Go: 64 E. McFarlan St., Dover; 973-366-6333, quietmanpub.com.

Cheng Du 23, Wayne

Whole fish with Cheng Du hot bean paste and chili sauce at Cheng Du 23 in Wayne.

Cheng Du 23 — one of North Jersey's best Chinese restaurants, nestled near the hulking Willowbrook Mall — offers delicious Szechuan whole-fish dinners. We recommend the flaky, cooked-to-perfection branzino (market price). The filling dish comes drowning in bean paste and chili sauce — bring friends to help you finish it. Cheng Du 23 also serves a whole fish with minced pork, pickled vegetables, scallions and chili sauce.

Go: 6 Willowbrook Blvd, Wayne; 973-812-2800, chengdu23.com.

Elia, East Rutherford

Seafood tower at Elia, one of the year's best restaurants

Dining at Elia is like a trip to a Mediterranean island without the airfare. The clean white patio-esque chairs, the open kitchen, the outdoor seating, the crusty bread, the earthy olive oil — how far from the Aegean Sea can you be ... at least in your imagination?

Dining on Elia's Cherry Stones clams ($2.25 each), firm and flavorful Mediterranean pink snapper (market price), and zingy grilled lemon shrimp with goat cheese polenta ($35) is akin to taking a delicious vacation.

Go: 240 Hackensack St., East Rutherford; 201-939-9292, elianj.com.

Rebecca King is a food writer for NorthJersey.com. For more on where to dine and drink, please subscribe today and sign up for our North Jersey Eats newsletter.

Email: kingr@northjersey.com Twitter: @rebeccakingnj  Instagram: @northjerseyeats