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Review by Paul Nelson |
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IT SEEMS that with roughly a dozen branches scattered throughout
London and with more due to open, the restaurant chain fish! has surreptitiously
and quietly crept up on me.
Therefore it was with a great deal of initially suspicion, and secondly enormous
delightful surprise, that I was led to have dinner not entirely against my
will, to the branch in Cathedral Street, in what appear to be the original
cloisters of Southwark Cathedral.
The place itself is remarkable. It's a huge glass building with a high roof,
outside tables under canvas, and with a menu my hosts insisted is identical
throughout London.
As a completely new customer, knowing nothing of the place, I was fascinated.
Naturally, it is primarily a fish restaurant, though just as carnivorous restaurants
have a nod toward fish with sole or cod, fish! has a similar acknowledgement,
a nod toward meat with steak and chicken.
Of course that is not what anyone would go to fish! to sample. So with
a certain amount of panache and secure that I know as much about fish dishes
as the next man, plus a further conviction that I cannot be surprised in this
field, I entered into the menu with confidence.
To begin with you make your choice from a list of fish dishes that are freshly
available on the day. It is a surprisingly large number.
At my initiation there were a dozen varieties of fish on the menu for the
main course from a list of 23. There were further choices in the fish starter
section.
Having chosen the fish of your choice, and here is where the eyebrows rose,
you decide whether you wish it steamed or grilled and after that you choose
which sauce you desire. There's a pleasant choice here of Salsa, Hollandaise,
Herb & Garlic butter, Olive Oil dressing or Red Wine fish gravy. What?
This last held my interest in an iron grip.
Watching what my companions chose with a very beady eye, I went for the Marinated
Herrings as an overture. They turned up in a creamy tartare sauce. The chums
had Devilled Whitebait and Rock Oysters.
At this stage we also ordered a bottle of Pinot Grigio and still water.
Unable to resist the unknown, I went for the Red Wine fish gravy to accompany
the steamed Sea Bream. As a side order I went for boiled new potatoes. The
companions went for grilled Sea Bass with Herb and Garlic butter and steamed
Sea Bass with Olive Oil dressing. With the grilled Sea Bass, an order of chips,
with the steamed, boiled new potatoes.
The result of this was a replete standstill, though there eventually had to
be coffee, Coke and yet more oysters as a savoury.
The result was a brilliant evening meal as night fell on what must be one
of the more romantic venues in London.
So how was the taste?
Speaking for myself, the Red Wine fish gravy was such a startling and brilliant
accompaniment that I was delighted. In truth, the fish was so perfectly filleted
and cooked that the sauce could have been dispensed with, but the sheer divinity
of this addition to the taste made the evening one I will long remember. To
murmurs of delight, the companions, old hands at the game and blasé
about the joys of these restaurants, attacked their meals with the air of
being out again for an evening with an old friend.
As a guest, I had to admit it would be a hard act to follow when I return
the compliment of dining out. The event was such a sure-fire success.
Now for the reckoning.
I noted the side orders were £1.90, Salad £2.90. The wines ranging
from house white at £9.90 to a Pouilly Fume at £26.50 and red
house £9.50 to a Brouilly at £21.00. Dessert dishes were all £3.95.
For the family there is a children's menu for £6.95.
From the varied number of dishes I felt we were very conservative in our choices.
This will not happen next time. Very large Rock Oysters cost £1 each,
the Sea Bass was priced at £14.50 and was almost more than could be
tackled. My own Sea Bream was £10.95 and here I repeat there was no
trace of a bone in these generous filleted portions. Nothing on the seafood
menu was more expensive than the Sea Bass. Everything comes with a garnish,
of vegetables, green and otherwise, cold or hot, as and when necessary.
The service is as fast as can be possible when you recall that you have decided
on the manner your dish is to be cooked, so everything is as fresh as the
management boasts. The wine is a definite bonus to the meal and the particular
bottle was £13.90.
I have to say that so far I have not tried any of the other branches of this
restaurant, though there is one near to where I live and possibly another
near to where you live too, but I am assured that the high standard is maintained
throughout the group. Should I find this not to be so on my next visit, I
will add a rider to this appreciation.
As far as other fish restaurants go, I found this not only a rich vein of
excellent food, but one which is much more amenable to the wallet than is
the general trend.
The reviewer remained anonymous to the management.
fish! Restaurants. London branches at: Cathedral Street, Borough Market, SE1; Battersea, 41a Queenstown Road, SW8; Canary Riverside, 33 Westferry Circus, E14; County Hall, 3b Belvedere Road, SE1; Fulham, 92-94 Waterford Road, New Kings Road, SW6; Putney, 296-298 Upper Richmond Road, SW15; Blackheath, 1 Lawn Terrace, SE3; Earlsfield, 537-539 Garratt Lane, SW18; Clerkenwell, 140-142 St John Street, EC1V; The City, 22 Old Broad Street, EC2N.
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