Fish restaurant near Brentwood

Over in Essex, we go with M&S to Alec’s near Brentwood. It’s in a very pretty location opposite a cricket pitch and with good views down over the valley. And inside is very attractive too : elegantly laid table with plenty of space between them,  interesting picture of crustacean on the walls – for Alec’s specialises in fish and seafood.  It’s a Friday night so we’ve been told we have to book at 7pm and be prepared to hand the table back by 9pm – an arrangement I’ve never liked since Conran first started doing it.  So to be on the safe side,  we turn up at twenty to seven – to be told our table was booked for quarter past!  Anyway we sit down straight away, order some wine (NZ sauvignon blanc @ £18) and beer, and turn our attention to the menu.

There is a wide range of interesting sounding fish and seafood starters plus a crispy duck and an asparagus salad;  main courses include several different fish dishes (some quite expensive at £25 - Dover sole, wild seabass, turbot, lobster), plus a small number of meat dishes – steak, lamb, pork.  After ordering we get the bread (good), and some very large green olives.

M has grilled mussels and I have razor clams, which come with similar crusted toppings, mine with more chilli -  very good.   B has sashimi (tuna, salmon and cod) with pink ginger and wasabi – also very good. S has white crabmeat ravioli with asparagus and tomato, which she says is good, but looks a bit heavy to me.

The sun shining through the window makes the place look bright, and it fills up pretty quickly, with Essex’s great and good in their finery. One table of eight seems to have been allowed to book for 8pm, but otherwise it seems we are all eating against the clock.

Main courses are also impressive.   S’s roast cod is excellent – flaky, tasty with a good little crust on it. M’s battered cod and chips is more ordinary – but what do you expect?   B has grilled monkfish and king scallops with Atlantic prawns in a “lemon butter sauce” – it’s all tasty but the sauce is much richer than you would expect and she’s not able to finish it.  My hake with Asian fish sauce is delicate and tasty, very good value.  We also have some side dishes, but they are nothing special.

It’s now ten to nine, as we are presented with the dessert menu.  There are some interesting options, but we’re not up for it, so M and I order liqueur coffees.  We’re then asked to leave the table and go upstairs to their lounge to finish our wine and have the coffees.  As it happens that’s fine – but I wonder what would have happened had we ordered dessert. We hadn’t loitered over the food – the timing was all down to them.

Upstairs is nice too – rather modern seating, but comfortable enough, and a piano player being ignored by everyone –  a pretty thankless job.

Anyway it all comes to £211 for 4 before service- but that was with 4 bottles and the coffees.  Impressive food and location – but a shame about the booking policy.  Maybe going earlier in the week would be a more relaxing experience.