7 Seas Ecclesall Road: Sheffield has a plush new home for soul food without breaking the bank

That west end of Ecclesall Road has taken a beating in the past six months. In short order, what I like to think of as Sheffield’s alternative high street has lost a number of favourites. The Eagle and neighbouring Graze Inn closed their doors in late 2022 and have been defaced with eyesore graffiti no one cares enough to clean away.

Wizard Guitar shut up shop and took with it one of the street’s most vibrant storefronts. Columbo on the corner of Denham Road is gone, a few letting agents have left, and the total number of empty stores is starting to stand out like missing teeth.

It's positive, then, to see a new name open up and revive one of these lost storefronts. 7 Seas Soul Food is here and they’re bringing the heat with a menu that is complex, filling, tasty, and great value for money.

7 Seas is in their first week and they’ve done well to make their new home plush and welcoming. I really enjoyed the glass fronted kitchen where I could see the chefs hard at work for the lunchtime rush, and there’s a small patio out front I’m looking forward to seeing come alive in the summer.

My friend and I were only able to fit in a lunch order between meetings, but what a lunch it was. 7 Seas has a menu made of what I would normally wince at and consider high end items I can’t afford, but the team has cracked it.

This is a line up of flavourful, satisfying standouts. To name a few are some massive, stacked burgers, some pan fried salmon, chicken done either Nashville style or buttermilk with dipping sauces, crispy squid, and a banging selection of vegetarian options. Top of the menu was a soulful-looking salt & pepper tofu dish to show their priorities, so I’ve no hesitation recommending it to veggies. Add to that were some scotch bonnet curries that look dense and proper filling.

I went for the dynamite prawn soul bowl, made with some of the tastiest deep-fried shrimp I can remember ever eating that got that spice balance just perfect. My friend went for the lamb cutlets – you get three, out of the available flavours he chose honey & barbecue, and by the end he wasn’t ashamed to just pick up the bones and gnaw off all he could get. Just delicious.

To say nothing of the bed of greens, veg and rice both of our orders came stacked on. Both of ours came on a huge, filling mix of homemade slaw, spiced rice with peas, sweet potato chunks, avocado and this complex pineapple salsa stuff I couldn't get enough of.

So that was a two bowls of wholesome greens, some kicking deep fried prawns and three lamb cutlets… for £22. Add two glasses of Coke to bring that up to £27.

7 Seas is a cracking place for a business lunch or a catch up with friends. Please join me in welcoming the Seas team to Ecclesall Road.