8 Seafood Spots to Try During Lent and Beyond

These local eateries have fish Fridays covered during Lent with dishes served for the religious observance and all year round.
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Stock photograph by Sebastian Woman Photography via Unsplash.com

For 40 days each late winter/early spring, many Christians celebrate Lent with prayer and fasting that involves giving up something and not eating meat, except for fish, on Fridays through the Friday before Easter, also known as Good Friday. Find great fish dishes served on Fridays during Lent and beyond at these restaurants in southeast Michigan.

Scotty Simpson’s Fish & Chips

Scotty’s has been a staple in Detroit since 1950 and boasts the original owner’s famous fish and chips recipe, which features three pieces of cod flown in daily from Nova Scotia, battered and served with Idaho fries, or cole slaw, and tartar sauce. Other fish options include the seasoned grilled fish, Scotty’s Famous Fish Sandwich, lake perch, jumbo shrimp and chips, and more. Chicken and burgers, too. Scotty Simpson’s Fish & Chips, 22200 Fenkell, Detroit; scottysfishandchips.com.

Pearl’s Deep Dive

Take a step back in time at this 1920s-inspired seafood restaurant. The menu is made up of a variety of underwater delicacies including east and west coast oysters, shrimp cocktail, crab cake, sea scallops, and lobster rolls. If you’re still drinking during Lent, or you visit after, pair your meal with a glass of red or white wine, beer, or try one of their specialty cocktails like Ryan’s Old Fashioned or Dancing Raspberries, which arrives at your table smoking from the dry ice. Pearl’s Deep Dive, 100 S. Main St., Royal Oak; pearlsdeepdive.com.

Joe Muer Seafood

The Bloomfield Hills location is offering a variety of seafood specialties this Lenten season. Enjoy Broiled Lake Superior Whitefish with capers and Joe’s tartar sauce, Wood GRilled Loch Duart Salmon with warm potato salad, pickled onion, and smoked salmon caviar, or Dover Sole a la Meuniere with Herbs de Provence and brown butter. Other menu options include 14 kinds of sushi rolls, deviled crab balls, fried calamari, oysters Rockefeller, tuna tartar, smoked whitefish pate, and much more. Joe Muer Bloomfield Hills, 39475 Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills; joemuer.com.

Oak & Reel

Hour Detroit’s 2022 Restaurant of the Year features a full menu of pastas, salads, entrees including chicken and steak dishes, and of course, fish. Make a meal of raw oysters by the dozen or half-dozen. There’s also spaghetti with lobster, octopus salad, lumache (squid ink, shrimp, crab and fine herbs), scallops, groper, and much more. They even offer pan roasted dover sole and salt baked branzino as whole-fish dishes. Oak & Reel, 2921 E. Grand Blvd,, Detroit; oakandreel.com.  

Black Pearl

Start your meal with coconut shrimp, oysters on the half shell, salmon cakes, or seafood gumbo. You can also jump right into your meal with an entrée such as Atlantic misoyaki salmon, fish tacos, swordfish, or lobster rolls. This spot also has an extensive spirits list that includes vodka, gin, tequila, bourbon and more. Black Pearl, 302 S. Main St., Ann Arbor; blackpearlannarbor.com.  

Harbor House

Start your dinner out with shrimp cocktail, calamari, or crab cakes before ordering from the main menu. That menu includes fresh salads (you can add shrimp or salmon for an additional charge), crab combos or lobster combos. Single-serve seafood dinners include Atlantic salmon, Gulf’s finest shrimp, catfish, Icelandic cod, lake perch, and frog legs. Those meals come with potato soup and salad. Fish sandwiches, too. Harbor House, 34250 Groesbeck Hwy., Clinton Township and 440 Clinton St., Detroit; harborhousemichigan.com.

Fishbones

Fishbones has an extensive sushi menu filled with mouthwatering options like tuna, salmon, yellowtail, smoked salmon, snapper, squid, eel, octopus, mackerel and more. Not feeling the sushi? Check out their dinner menu for even more fish options including appetizers like catfish beignets, oyster rockerfeller, and calamari. There’s also seafood gumbo, maple-glazed salmon salad, and some New Orleans-inspired eats like blackened shrimp and grits, southern fried catfish, and crawfish étouffée. Fishbones, 400 Monroe St., Detroit, and 23733 Jefferson Ave., St. Clair Shores; fishbonesusa.com.

Gandy Dancer

Whether you’re looking to cover dinner or grab a lunch, Gandy Dancer has fish dishes for both. For lunch, choose from raw oysters on the half shell, Maryland style crab cakes, fish chowder, lobster bisque, blackened salmon Caesar salad, fish tacos, and shrimp and artichoke linguine, among others. The dinner menu is expanded with a seafood trio, ban seared sea scallops, Alaskan king crab legs. Plus, catch of the day and specialty Chilean sea bass, mahi mahi, and more. Gandy Dancer, 401 Depot St., Ann Arbor; gandydancerrestaurant.com.

This post has been updated for 2024.