After the previous unhappy experience at the Fish & Grill in South Croydon, I wrote to complain, and got a very good reply from Malcolm John’s PA, with a welcome offer of a free bottle of champagne next time we visited. So as our friend H was visiting, we thought we’d share it with her. The PA made the booking for us, and sure enough when we turned up the house champagne (normally £39) was on ice at the table.
It was a busy Friday evening, but the service was prompt and attentive with the bread basket (a very tasty selection) coming quickly, though the lead waitress still didn’t smile much. The choice of starters is impressive, and mains live up to the restaurant’s name. In the end we had the scallops with pomegranate which were excellent, the yellow fin tuna tartare with ginger and white radish which is always very good and deep fried squid with courgettes and artichoke – OK but not so special.
The place was getting quite lively now, but the waiters were very good at keeping people happy and enjoying the evening, giving a nice feel to the place: smart but not formal.
The market fish of the day was Dover sole, which H went for. It was a good sized fish, and came with a good pile of hot crisp chips. B’s choice was stir-fried Atlantic Prawns, also a good size, with plenty of depth of flavour. I had the seafood mixed grill – a fine selection of swordfish, sea bass, prawns and mussels – good but probably just the sum of its parts. We washed this down with a couple of bottles of Argentinian Viognier at £23 each, bringing the total with service to £154 for a very pleasant evening.
So top marks to Malcolm John for handling our complaint well, and for another good meal. The gesture won’t have cost them much, but has re-confirmed us as regulars there, and at his other restaurants.
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