Best Seafood Restaurants in Downtown Bellevue

Best Seafood Restaurants in Downtown Bellevue (2026 Guide)

The Pacific Northwest has more right to a serious seafood dining scene than almost anywhere in the country — and downtown Bellevue is where that claim is most fully realized on the Eastside. The options here span every format and price point: a refined Pacific Northwest raw bar at Seastar Restaurant, a first-of-the-season California seafood concept at Water Grill, sustainable wild-caught fish at its most approachable at Duke’s Seafood, and Peruvian ceviche in leche de tigre from a globally acclaimed chef at La Mar Cocina Peruana. Each restaurant is built around a distinct identity — different occasions, different diners, different culinary ambitions — and each commits to its format without compromise.

The choice of where to eat seafood in downtown Bellevue is largely a question of what you’re after: raw bar refinement and PNW sourcing discipline (Seastar), theatrical abundance and first-of-season freshness (Water Grill), principled sustainability and everyday approachability (Duke’s), or a distinctly Latin take on Pacific seafood that’s unlike anything else on the Eastside (La Mar). Ascend Prime adds a sushi and raw bar dimension at 31 floors above street level for those who want the full Bellevue experience. Monsoon Bellevue brings a Vietnamese lens to Pacific Northwest ingredients in a way that earns its place in any serious seafood conversation.

This page covers every meaningful seafood destination in downtown Bellevue, organized by format. For the broader downtown Bellevue dining landscape across all cuisines, see our master restaurant guide.

Editorial note: All selections in this guide are made independently by the Downtown Bellevue Network editorial team, based on firsthand local knowledge, reputation, and community feedback. Listings are evaluated on a quarterly basis to ensure accuracy and relevance. No business pays to be included.

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Best Fine Dining Seafood in Downtown Bellevue

Downtown Bellevue has two dedicated fine dining seafood restaurants, and they’re different enough that choosing between them is a meaningful decision rather than a coin flip. Seastar is intimate, PNW-rooted, and raw-bar focused — the better choice when sourcing discipline and quiet refinement are the point. Water Grill is more expansive, California-influenced, and built for celebration — better when you want visual impact and tableside abundance alongside the quality.

Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar

  • Cuisine: Seafood, New American
  • Price Range: $$$$ ($60+ per person)
  • Why It’s Great: Chef John Howie’s seafood restaurant is the more focused, ingredient-driven counterpart to his steakhouse — and the raw bar is the reason to make the reservation. Oysters are sourced from Pacific Northwest beds (Taylor Shellfish and neighboring producers), served alongside crudo and sashimi preparations that reflect the same sourcing discipline as the hot menu. The overall approach is tighter and more PNW-rooted than Water Grill: smaller in scale, more specific in identity, and more closely tied to what’s excellent in Pacific Northwest waters at any given moment. The wine pairing program is serious; private dining is available for special occasions.
  • Must-Try: The rotating oyster selection from Pacific Northwest beds — ask which are freshest that day. The hot crab dip appetizer has a devoted local following. Any seasonal Pacific halibut preparation reflects the kitchen’s strengths most clearly.
  • Best For: Pacific Northwest seafood lovers, oyster connoisseurs, refined date nights, business dining when the client appreciates quality over spectacle, special occasions

Water Grill

  • Cuisine: Seafood, American
  • Price Range: $$$$ ($60+ per person)
  • Why It’s Great: Water Grill brings a distinctly Californian seafood sensibility to Lincoln Square South — abundant raw bar presentations, whole roasted fish built around what’s arriving first-of-season, and a dining room designed for celebration and impression. The brand’s “first-of-the-season” sourcing philosophy treats the menu as a document that changes with what’s arriving at peak quality, rather than a fixed offering that ignores the calendar. Where Seastar skews intimate and PNW-focused, Water Grill is more expansive: bigger room, broader reach, more theatrical plating. The Washington State debut of a 30+ year California institution — and it has executed the concept well from the outset.
  • Must-Try: Whatever whole fish is in season — the kitchen’s sourcing philosophy ensures it’s always the freshest option on the menu. The Shellfish Tower for the table makes a statement for group dining. Ask the server what arrived this week.
  • Best For: Celebratory dinners, groups who want visual impact alongside genuine quality, seafood devotees who prioritize freshness above all, first-time visitors who want a memorable Bellevue Collection experience

Steak & Seafood in Downtown Bellevue — Best of Both

Several of downtown Bellevue’s best steakhouses carry serious seafood programs — enough to merit inclusion in a seafood guide for diners who don’t want to choose between the two. These are the picks when the table is split or when you want the flexibility of a menu that does both well.

Home Comfort Alliance 300 x 250 - March 2026

Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi

  • Cuisine: American Steakhouse, Japanese, Sushi
  • Price Range: $$$$ ($60+ per person)
  • Why It’s Great for Seafood: The sushi program at Ascend Prime is the most serious raw seafood offering at 31 floors above Bellevue — omakase-caliber preparations that rotate seasonally alongside the Wagyu steak menu. A5 Wagyu nigiri is the bridge between both kitchen identities. The raw bar and sushi counter operate with genuine Japanese precision rather than as a steakhouse afterthought. If your table is split between sushi and steak (or between fish and beef), Ascend Prime is the clearest solution downtown — and the panoramic Cascade views don’t hurt the conversation.
  • Must-Try: The seasonal omakase sushi offering; A5 Wagyu nigiri for the kitchen’s dual-identity signature; ask about the daily sashimi selection before committing to the a la carte menu.
  • Best For: Mixed tables with varying preferences, anniversaries, business dinners where a split menu serves everyone, anyone who wants sushi and steak in the same meal at altitude

Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar (also listed above)

Seastar’s Pacific Northwest raw bar and paired wine program makes it a natural choice even for diners who typically lean toward meat — the hot crab dip and oyster program regularly convert skeptics. See the full entry above.

Best Pacific Northwest Casual Seafood in Downtown Bellevue

Not every seafood meal needs to be a $100-per-person occasion. Downtown Bellevue has one restaurant that threads the quality and sustainability needle at an accessible price point — and does it without making you feel like you’ve settled.

Duke’s Seafood

  • Cuisine: Pacific Northwest Seafood, American
  • Price Range: $$$ ($35–60 per person)
  • Why It’s Great: Duke’s is the most principled seafood restaurant in the Bellevue Collection, and the one that earns the most loyal repeat business from downtown regulars. The 100% sustainable wild-caught seafood commitment is not a marketing claim attached to a conventional menu — it’s the organizing principle of every fish that comes through the kitchen. The award-winning chowder has its own devoted following among downtown regulars: thick, loaded with wild clams, and a meal in itself on a Pacific Northwest afternoon. Grass-fed beef burgers offer a high-quality alternative for non-fish eaters. The happy hour is one of the better deals in the Bellevue Collection. An essential downtown institution.
  • Must-Try: The wild seafood chowder (non-negotiable on a first visit); the wild salmon preparation of the day, which varies with what’s arriving at peak condition; the grass-fed burger if you want to understand why sourcing quality matters even at the burger end of the menu.
  • Best For: Sustainable seafood advocates, locals who want quality without ceremony, happy hour, casual upscale dinners in the Bellevue Collection, anyone who wants Pacific Northwest seafood at an accessible price point

Best International Seafood in Downtown Bellevue

Pacific Northwest sourcing doesn’t have to mean Pacific Northwest preparation. Two of downtown Bellevue’s most compelling seafood experiences apply international culinary traditions to local and regional fish — one Peruvian, one Vietnamese — and both make a strong case for why international seafood cooking belongs in the same conversation as the PNW fine dining options above.

La Mar Cocina Peruana

  • Cuisine: Peruvian, Latin American, Seafood
  • Price Range: $$$ ($35–60 per person)
  • Why It’s Great: La Mar is the most significant international seafood opening on the Eastside in years — brought to Bellevue by chef Gastón Acurio, whose restaurants helped establish Peruvian cuisine as one of the world’s major culinary traditions. The ceviche clásico is the anchor: fresh fish cured in leche de tigre (a citrus, ají amarillo, and cilantro marinade that transforms the protein), served with cancha corn and sweet potato in a preparation that is both elemental and precise. Tiraditos — Peru’s answer to sashimi, but with Latin acidity and heat — are equally accomplished. The pisco cocktail program (pisco sours, chilcanos) is as deliberate as the food. Nothing else in the Pacific Northwest does Peruvian seafood at this level.
  • Must-Try: Ceviche clásico (order this first — it sets the standard for the meal); any tiradito preparation; pisco sour (made properly here, which matters more than it sounds); the causas (Peruvian potato starters) are quietly excellent.
  • Best For: Adventurous eaters, seafood lovers who want a different culinary lens, cocktail-forward dinners, anyone who wants to understand why Peruvian cuisine has earned its global moment, special occasion dinners with an international emphasis

Monsoon Bellevue

  • Cuisine: Vietnamese, Contemporary Asian, Pacific Northwest
  • Price Range: $$$ ($35–60 per person)
  • Why It’s Great for Seafood: Monsoon’s Pacific Northwest ingredient philosophy applied to Vietnamese culinary tradition produces seafood preparations that are unlike anything else downtown. The kitchen sources locally — Hood Canal shellfish, Pacific salmon, seasonal fish from regional waters — and applies Vietnamese techniques (lemongrass, fish sauce, fresh herbs, charred aromatics) that bring out entirely different qualities in those same ingredients. The refined pho uses slow-simmered broth with a depth that most Vietnamese restaurants don’t achieve. Complimentary parking in the Courtyard Off Main garage removes the friction of an Old Bellevue evening. Reservations accepted and recommended for weekends.
  • Must-Try: Any preparation featuring Hood Canal shellfish or Pacific salmon — the kitchen’s local seafood work is its most distinctive output; the pho for a demonstration of what slow-simmered Vietnamese broth tastes like at its best; seasonal wok preparations that rotate with what’s available locally.
  • Best For: Vietnamese food lovers, Pacific Northwest seafood fans who want an unexpected preparation, date nights, foodies who appreciate the intersection of two culinary traditions

How to Choose: Seafood in Downtown Bellevue

For the best raw bar and PNW sourcing: Seastar Restaurant. For theatrical abundance and first-of-season freshness: Water Grill. For Wagyu and sushi in the same meal with a view: Ascend Prime. For sustainable wild-caught seafood at an accessible price: Duke’s. For Peruvian ceviche and leche de tigre: La Mar Cocina Peruana. For Vietnamese technique applied to Pacific Northwest fish: Monsoon Bellevue.

More Downtown Bellevue Dining Guides