Matty Matheson's landmark Toronto restaurant — Prime Seafood Palace elevated the city's seafood dining to a new level when it opened in 2022. Whole fish, pristine raw bar, whole lobster, and a theatrical room on King Street. One of the most talked-about Toronto restaurant openings in recent years, and it delivered everything the hype promised.
Neighbourhood: King West · Address: 900 King St W, Toronto, ON · Hours: Wed–Sun 5pm–11pm | Closed Mon–Tue · Price Range: $$$$ · Phone: (416) 304-0410 · Editorial status: Not yet verified
With its full raw bar, show-stopping whole fish, and live-fire grill, Prime Seafood Palace delivers seafood you won’t find elsewhere in Toronto, all in a totally striking setting designed for memorable occasions.
Matty Matheson’s team brings a steakhouse-level obsession to seafood, roasting fish over open flame and plating pristine crudo with serious chef precision. The honey-hued, timber-finned dining room feels more like a Nordic design showroom than a typical bustling restaurant, and their focus on both spectacle and subtlety is rare in a city of big, fast concepts.
Prime Seafood Palace is the Toronto restaurant that proved Matty Matheson — the Hamilton-born, tattooed chef who became one of Canada's most recognizable food personalities through Vice Munchies videos, cookbooks, and the Apple TV+ show The Bear (where he played a recurring role) — could translate media fame into genuinely great cooking. The city's food press had covered the opening as a major cultural event. The restaurant delivered.
The building on King Street is a converted heritage space that Matheson and his team transformed into something that feels genuinely theatrical without being precious: high ceilings, white tablecloths, serious service, a raw bar that anchors the room. The aesthetic is grand seafood palace — the kind of formal fish restaurant that barely exists in Toronto, which was itself part of the restaurant's appeal.
The food centres on whatever is pristine and seasonal. The raw bar rotates through oysters sourced from Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and occasionally the West Coast; the crudo changes weekly based on what the fish market delivers. Whole fish — roasted and served simply, with sauce built from the bones and whatever aromatics make sense that week — is the kitchen's signature commitment: buying whole fish and using every part of it, rather than receiving pre-butchered portions. The whole lobster is theatrical and excellent. The wine list is considered and not obviously priced.
The reservation situation in the first six months was, by multiple accounts, the most competitive in the city. Seats dropped monthly and were gone within minutes. The waitlist operated on weeks-out timelines. The demand was genuine — not manufactured through artificial scarcity or Instagram hype, but driven by the fact that the food was as good as the anticipation suggested it would be.
Prime Seafood Palace is owned and operated by Matty Matheson — the Hamilton-born chef and food personality known for Vice Munchies, his cookbooks, and his role in the Apple TV+ series The Bear. The restaurant opened in 2022 and became one of Toronto's most talked-about restaurant openings of that year.
The whole roasted fish is the defining order — it changes based on what is freshest and best that week. The raw bar (oysters, crudo) is excellent and is a good way to start. Whole lobster is theatrical and worth it for a celebration. Ask your server what came in fresh — the kitchen responds to market availability.
Reservations at Prime Seafood Palace are competitive — they release monthly and book out quickly. Set a reminder for when the next month's reservations open. Cancellations do come available. The bar has some walk-in availability on slower weeknights. Book via their website or OpenTable.
At the $$$$ level, Prime Seafood Palace delivers what the price suggests: serious ingredients, skilled kitchen, considered wine list, and formal service. For a special occasion or a celebration, it's one of the city's better options at that tier. It's not for a casual Tuesday night — it's for a meal you'll remember.
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