I wish that there were more places around like Fish Shop, and to get this quality of cookery/seafood on the same premises, the restaurant must be placed in a natural location where it can thrive and deliver. I always enjoy coming out of capital cities for that very reason, because you know this type of cuisine is going to be ten times better than ordering it in the middle of Notting-Hill. Obviously! Fish Shop has a bib gourmand for 2025 and is fully deserved, even from the outside you can already tell that the night is going to be worth your time and energy, it looks like a pleasant space to eat in, before you have even stepped foot inside.
And when you do enter, your positive thoughts have been confirmed- You have made a sound choice. Along with a very warm welcome before being shown to our table, as I sat down to my left, there was a blackboard written in chalk with the specials of the day and another across the room on the wall- I don’t normally pay attention to this elsewhere but at Fish Shop I took the time to glance at them. We wanted to order lots of different things to try, as it was the occasion to do so, and everything on this menu attracted me. I wanted to eat it all!
We started on the snacks section; how can you resist? Plates of smoked haddock bhajis with aioli came first- Generous in size, coming in threes, superbly crisp and enjoyable in flavour, everybody wanted more of them. The crab crumpet continued this trend, you could easily just polish off one after the other, but we had to keep some space for the mains! The Haggis bon bons with prune ketchup, were a little bit smaller but equally delicious, jam packed with a deep haggis taste. The East Coast fennel salami was one of the better cold cuts I have tried for some time in a restaurant- With no chewy bits! The last snack, their sourdough bread and butter were quality with a good thick crust, paired with their butter. And all of this was even before we began with the larger courses! A brilliant start.
Initially we ordered too many lobsters so we took one off, which was a good job, or we would have been left with too much food, struggling to finish it, with a prized lobster having died for nothing. Our eyes were bigger than our bellies, but it was also the fact that everything looked so tempting. Before this however, I had to take a dish that I always choose, if I see it, and that is the fritto misto with lemon and garlic mayonnaise. It is one of my favourites. The portion size was plentiful, enough to share for the whole table and not just one person. I didn’t finish it all and offered it around. The batter was the right amount in relation to the fillings, and you had those crisp little nugget parts as well, with lemon on the side to squeeze and the mayonnaise for dipping. It was a good fritto misto.
Now for the main event… Those gorgeous lobsters- Macdruff lobsters split and grilled with garlic butter. There would be no better way to serve them than like this. It is all about the product, and wow what quality at a realistic price. This is lobster as it should be, served with a wonderfully fresh salad of garden herbs and leaves, chips and more mayonnaise and some seaweed buttered potatoes. You will not be wanting for anything else I can assure you!
To end this feast, it had to be the hot chocolate fondant with yogurt sorbet- A fine completion to say the least, we were happily content from start to finish. If everybody followed suit and adopted a small, product focused led menu, with unpretentious, excellent cookery as the lead, there would be many better nights out for everyone. Why does it only have to be in certain places and locations where this is achievable? Anyway, it all starts with a good chef who has sense and ideas that are successful. Things don’t have to be so complicated when it comes to serving delicious fish and seafood, and Fish Shop understands this entirely. Thank you, team, for such a pleasurable night on the culinary front.
