Seafood Restaurants in Bethlehem

The towering willow that gave the Willowtree Inn its name still stands over the outdoor patio, where the institution's staff has been serving comfort-food classics for more than 25 years. Inside the kitchen, the cooks prepare offerings from an eclectic menu spanning everything from burgers to chicken marsala. For private events, they go above and beyond by recreating dishes from the hosts' family recipes. On Thursdays and Fridays, the tunes of live entertainment permeate the dining room.

Chef John Talbot delivers mouthwatering fare from the land and the sea to rest on Creed's elegant white tablecloths. Yellowfin tuna drizzled with ponzu sauce ($29) and chimichurri-topped New Zealand king salmon ($28) headline a list of fresh charcoal-grilled fish. Manager and sommelier Josef Plattner is often on hand to offer suggestions for which wine to pair with a New York strip steak ($38) or to mingle with a mustard-herb-crusted rack of lamb ($36). Though the menu favors meat, there are also a number of tasty vegetarian options, including the house-made vegetarian ravioli, stuffed with crimini mushrooms and ricotta cheese, served with fried spinach and a gazpacho coulis ($18). With its soft cream-hued walls and tasteful décor, Creed's is an ideal location for romantic get-togethers or business meetings with bands of ravenous highwaymen.

Importing seafood from across the world, the fanciful fishmongers at Adelphia outfit a nautical menagerie of fresh fish species($6–$20/pound), plus lobster, shrimp, and crab, as well as in-house salads and dips. Although prices and selection fluctuate with worldwide availability and narwhal whims, recent featured fish include encrusted corvina, wild haddock, and fresh swordfish steaks. Search for invisible pearls of wisdom in a batch of 100 topneck clams, or partake in protein-enriched appetizers with bacon-wrapped scallops. Adelphia's saltwater wundercooks also dish out fresh soups, such as Maryland crab ($3.09/14 oz.), as well as a peloton of gold-label dips in flavors such as shrimp, lobster, Cajun Krab ($2.99/7 oz., subject to market fluctuation), and the Ahab-appeasing White Whale Worchester.

In 1772, soldier, scholar, and businessman Andrew McMinn saw the need for a way station for travelers, so he opened his home to those with coin. The building served as a base for General Francis Murray during the Revolutionary War, and has passed through the hands of generations of owners, ultimately taking on the name The Temperance House. Whatever its title or whoever its proprietors are, the location has provided a place to meet, eat, and plot against the British throughout its 200-year lifespan. The current managing couple, Carlene and Pasquale Deon, enhances the building's rustic charm with fully restored décor to preserve the historically rich interior. Their chefs craft menus that blend culinary styles from France, Asia, and Italy into an international menu of fine eats that includes everything from kimchi rolls to gnocchi with buffalo mozzarella. :m]]

Drawing on his culinary background working in East Coast bistros and stately hotel kitchens, Mile High Steak & Seafood’s Executive Chef David Robinson crafts a rotating menu of upscale steakhouse cuisine. Robinson, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, refuses to cut corners with his ingredients, going so far as to fly in fresh seafood and grass skirts overnight from the Honolulu Fish Company. He only chooses aged certified Angus beef for his steak-centric entrees, and he revs up traditional sandwiches and appetizers on the bar menu with high-end items such as shaved prime rib, artisan cheeses, and lobster. These gourmet bites pair palatably one of the bar’s signature cocktails or glasses of wine.

Even in his down time, Robinson keeps his culinary skills sharp, coordinating charity events for the Chester County SPCA and the Brandywine Hospital Strawberry Festival. But even with his busy schedule and impressive resumé, he’s still thankful for landing his “dream job” at Mile High Steak & Seafood.

Since it was launched in 1904, the Moshulu has led a colorful life: sailing the seas of Europe, South America, and Africa, circumnavigating Cape Horn 54 times, and ferrying around all sorts of goods, from lumber and grain to copper ore and nitrate. But by 1975, the Moshulu, tired from the stress of constantly evading sea monsters, was ready to retire. Today, it’s docked at Penn’s Landing, the largest four-masted sailing ship afloat and a restaurant serving the culinary creations of executive chef Anthony Bonett. Bonett matches the extravagance of the luxury liner’s interior with an equally upscale menu of modern American cuisine paired with an extensive wine list.

With 360-degree views of the Philadelphia waterfront and skyline in the background, his staff decorates crisp white tablecloths with plates of North Atlantic jumbo flounder, 9-ounce cuts of filet mignon, and highly praised Hawaiian ahi tuna tartare. Private parties can be held in a tented space, heated and floored with weathered hardwood, or aboard multi-level decks left open to fresh sea breezes and the quiet whispers of passing mermaids.