Top five Shellfish restaurants

All that 'R in the month' stuff should be taken with a pinch of salt (or perhaps that should be a splash of Tabasco?): the advent of the Pacific or 'rock' oyster has meant that you can now eat oysters any day of the year - these farmed interlopers do not have any close season. But as a principle, 'only when there's an R in the month' is not fundamentally flawed.

Oysters don't finish spawning until September and October, when the coastal shallows start to cool down, so if you don't like your oysters flabby and milky, best wait until after summer. Mussels are at their best in autumn, as are scallops, clams and cockles.

Then, just when we are getting to grips with a fruits de mer feast, the calendar turns to November or December and foul weather conspires to make harvesting shellfish a great deal more difficult. So there you have it: if you like shellfish then this is the best time of year to tuck the napkin into your collar and tuck in. Here are five restaurants where you can plunge in with confidence.

BIBENDUM OYSTER BAR

Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, SW3 (020-7589 1480). Mon-Sun £75

The Oyster Bar at Bibendum is the prettiest part of the listed Michelin Building. Presumably once a garage, its high ceiling with its tiled frieze of brave motorists makes a perfect backdrop for shellfish overindulgence. The fruits de mer counter is visible from the roadside à la Française and the range of oysters on offer is particularly good. Count on Rocks and Natives and also on some French specials like Belons or Fine de Claires. There is a gently fishy menu to back up the fruits de mer.

J. SHEEKEY

28-32 St Martin's Court, WC2 (020-7240 2565). Mon-Sun £80

Sheekey's is marginally less celeb-focused than its nearby sibling the Ivy, but it still has a pleasantly oldfashioned look to it with a series of inter-connecting rooms and plenty of wood panelling. The menu majors in fish and, as well as great classic dishes like lemon sole belle meunière, you'll find all manner of shellfish, crab and lobsters, plus slightly less fashionable options like jellied eels. The set lunch is a genuine bargain and it is worth noting that this is a fine place for an elegant lunch at the weekend, when there is less hassle getting a table.

MR KONG

21 Lisle Street, WC2 (020-7437 7341). Mon-Sun £55

Mr Kong has a warren of dining rooms over several floors, it also has a warren of menus with manager's specials, regular menus and set meals all vying for your attention. Somewhere among this confusion, there are usually some fine fish and shellfish options. Steamed razor clams (the long shellfish that are sometimes called 'surf clams') will come with glass noodles and garlic and, while not the cheapest option, are improbably good. For shellfish fans, the steamed fresh scallops on the half shell with black bean sauce will also set the pulse racing. The eel dishes are good here. And the grandstand fish dishes like braised turbot with bitter melon and bean curd stick are well done.

RANDALL & AUBIN

16 Brewer Street, W1 (020-7287 4447). Also 329-331 Fulham Road, SW10. Mon-Sat (Sun dinner only) £70

When some bright young chaps took over one of the butcher's shops on Brewer Street, they kept the name and the decor (which is straight out of the 1900s) and turned the space into a yuppie paradise. Vast plateaux of fruits de mer vie with lobster and chips, dressed crab and spit-roast chicken, while the drink of choice seems to be champagne. The menu is pretty whole-hearted and genuine shellfish lovers will be pleased to see that 'fresh whelks with lemon and vinegar' and other less fashionable seafood delicacies are on offer.

WINKLES

238 Roman Road, E2 (020-8880 7450). Tue-Sun £70

Once 'seafood' and 'East end' in the same sentence usually preceded a reference to those stalls outside pubs, like those run by Tubby Isaacs. These stalls offered small pots of cockles, winkles and jellied eels to drinkers. Winkles is a different kettle of shellfish. A bright and modern fish restaurant with an excellent cold cabinet full of fresh seafood. Langoustines, crabs, oysters, shrimps, whelks and the eponymous winkles served with pins for anyone patient enough to chase the tiny morsels of meat. Other dishes range from a decent fishcake to 'diver' scallops. Fay Maschler is away