Being so close to the ocean, we’re blessed with the ability to obtain some of the freshest seafood around! Many restaurants take advantage of this natural resource and put out some of the finest seafood dishes around. We’ve spent a good amount of time dining in the county and present our top 20 Jersey Shore seafood dishes in Ocean County.

We listed these alphabetically by dish. If you’re looking for our Monmouth County list, you can find it here.

The Top 20 Jersey Shore Seafood Dishes in Ocean County

1. Barnegat Light Sea Scallops – Mud City Crab House, Manahawkin
One of our favorite places at the shore! Their local scallops are one of the reasons we stop by whenever we’re leaving LBI.

2. French Fried Lobster – Howard’s, Beach Heaven
Fried lobster + french fries = deliciousness. What more can you say? I suppose we could add a disclaimer due to the deliciousness of this dish!

3. Garlic Crabs – Bum Rogers Crab House, South Seaside Park
When you call yourself a crab house, you better have some great crabs. Needless to say, Bum Rogers has some of our favorite crabs on the Jersey Shore; especially their garlic crabs!

4. Jumbo Shrimp Scampi – Water’s Edge, Bayville
A flavorful take on shrimp scampi, with sundried tomato, garlic, shallots, fine herbs, butter and white wine. It’s ripe with flavor and yet still allows the flavor of the shrimp to shine through!

5. Lobster Roll – Shore Fresh Seafood, Point Pleasant
A summertime staple on the Jersey Shore. We’ve probably eaten around 20 lobster rolls this summer and this one from Shore Fresh Seafood is easily one of our favorites!

6. Linguine in White Clam Sauce – Panini Bay, Tuckerton
It’s difficult to find a good linguine in white clam sauce. Many places will served it too oily, or with out enough garlic; not Panini Bay! Their white clam sauce makes us wish we could dock & dine their daily just for this dish!

9. Peel & Eat Shrimp – Baker’s Water Street, Toms River
Peel, eat and repeat. Sitting at Water’s Street and enjoying these shrimp is a favorite past time of ours!

10. Pineapple Shrimp Ceviche – Martell’s Lobster House, Point Pleasant Beach
The presentation on this ceviche dish is visual treat. One bite into this pineapple bowl of ceviche and you’re in for a culinary treat! If only all plates looked & tasted this good.

11. Red Mussels – Spano’s Ristorante Italiano, Point Pleasant Beach
Order the red mussels, and make sure you order them hot! The flavor of the sauce, the heat, and the freshness of the mussels balance each other out perfectly!

12. Seared Day Boat Scallops over Risotto – Ohana Grill, Lavallette
There’s nothing like the freshness of day boat scallops; their quality and flavor simply can’t be beat! If you’ve never tried them before, Ohana Grill is a good place to start. Combined with a perfectly cooked risotto, this is one of our favorite seafood dishes around.

14. Seafood Pescatore – PJ’s Place, Seaside Heights
Shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari served in a white wine garlic sauce. It’s a simple fresh seafood dish and for the price, you can’t beat it!

15. Shrimp and Scallop Combo – Gregory’s Seafood, Manchester
For 20 years now Gregory’s as been entertaining guests with some of the shore’s freshest seafood. While menu item’s have changed over time, the freshness is still the same today as it was 20 years ago!

16. Sinatra Classic – Spanish Potato Grill, Brick
This over-sized dish for two, is one of the most impressive seafood dishes in Ocean County. It has it all – lobster, king crab legs, snow crab legs, jumbo shrimp oreganata, clams oreganata, and steamed mussels, as well as rice and potato chips!

17. Stuffed Salmon – Oyster Creek, Leeds Point
Salmon stuffed with crab cakes, brie cheese and served over rice with asparagus and a balsamic glaze. It’s so good and so close that we had to include it in our Ocean County article (even though it’s in Atlantic County.)

18. Twin Lobsters – Beach Haven Fishery, Beach Haven
Two 1 pound to 1 1/4 pound Canadian Lobsters steamed to perfection, split, cracked and served with French fries, cole slaw, butter and lemon. It’s textbook steamed lobster, done to near perfection.

19. Pan Seared Red Snapper – Senza Cucina, Bayville
If you follow our Instagram page or have read some of our earlier articles, you’ll know our affinity for Senza Cucina. Their Italian and seafood dishes like this seared red snapper are some of the best around! Go see this hidden gem for yourself.

20. Zuppa di Pesce – Rockafella’s by the Sea, Ortley Beach
What’s not to like at Rockafella’s, a BYO that we named as one of Ocean County’s best earlier this summer. The Zuppa di Pesce is a seafood dish that reminds us what we named them one of the best!