Smart fish restaurant in Richmond

 An offshoot of its parent in Mayfair, Scott's Richmond opened in September last year. We'd heard some good things about it, so decided to push the boat out and give it a try. 

As the weather was looking OK, I decided to book outdoors on the Terrace. The choice of times was very limited, nothing between 12.45 and 3.30, so I went for the earlier time. Conscious of their strict sounding late-arrival policy, I was glad our bus delivered us to Richmond in good time. Part of the restaurant's appeal was its view over the river, so we walked along the riverside path from the bridge - only to find ourselves far down river without having seen the restaurant. After some hasty discussions, we retraced our steps and found it on the corner near the main Riverside steps - it just didn't have a river-level frontage.

We are taken in, up four flights to the Terrace, to be given an excellent table by the veranda, directly overlooking the river. Down below are swans, geese and to our surprise two herons, which we spend a lot of our time watching. The weather is ideal - warm and sunny, but with a breeze and not too hot. They do have heaters and awnings so they can perhaps deal with less good weather too. A light background track of American songbook and other easy listening plays gently (thank goodness). 

B is fascinated by the staff's dress code. We'd been greeted at the door by a black guy in a cream suit with a Panama hat - very New Orleans jazz. The reception desk staff had boring green suits. Our waiter, Vinnie, wore a smart Burgundy waistcoat and bow tie, while over-seeing the proceedings was a head waiter looking like Lurch in a really odd Burgundy suit. There seemed to be other waiters in green waistcoats, and the minions (inevitably young women) delivering bread were in dull green tunics. The head honcho, dressed in a dark blue suit and pale pink tie, smarmed his way round some of the tables (not ours) looking more like a junior Tory minister.  But nonetheless Vinnie was welcoming, friendly and lightly amusing. The service even extended to providing some diners with sunglasses and sunscreen. 

Unsurprisingly, the wine list goes up quite quickly. There is an Argentinian Torrontes for £44 and a Spanish Macabeo for £36, but I select the Rioja Verdejo at £48. There were also French rosés at £48. 

The menu is pretty wide-ranging, and there is a selection of specials - halibut (£40), oysters and lobster roll (which was quite popular). I pass over the oysters and caviar quite quickly, and though B does suggest a couple of tempura fried oysters we just go straight to starters. B unusually decides against the scallops, and instead has baked spiced crab, presented attractively in the shell. From the first mouthful she is sold. It is indeed delicious, a good hit of chilli, but with the crab flavour coming through.  That allows me to choose the scallops, seared in their shell with Thai green butter. These are excellent too, though much less spicy than B's crab. 

For main course B has the char-griddled tiger prawns (which are also available as a starter). These are also spiced, coming with jalapeno and tamarind. Deemed very good but a bit "cotton-wool", suggesting they were frozen, all eight of them were nonetheless polished off without trouble. My fillet of hake, with romesco sauce and salsa verde, was excellently cooked with a crisp thin layer of skin and very flaky fish.  We had both been tempted by the monkfish and tiger prawn masala, but thought that the sauce might have been too overwhelming - it looked good on another table though.

We also had some very good fries (at Vinnie's prompting) and a tomato salad, which included some very sweet (in both senses) yellow tomatoes.  The fried aubergine with tamarind yoghurt at another table also looked amazing.

We opted not to have desserts. Cinnamon doughnuts appeared elsewhere and we quickly despatched. 

All the other tables on the Terrace had been occupied, some had a second sitting. One table moved inside for their dessert, maybe asked to do so as new people arrived soon after. There was no pressure on us to move though. So the booking window seemed justified, rather than perverse as it had seemed to me at the time.

After a second bottle, and two bottles of Eira sparkling water, I tried to guess what the bill would be. Inexpensive was not what I expected. And it wasn't. It did come in under £250, with 13.5% service which seems to be increasingly common. Scott's is part of the Caprice group, so I guess it's no surprise that it has the same service policy as the Ivy.

Value for money? Well it is a lot. The excellent table on the Terrace in good weather was a big plus - maybe without that we might not have felt so well-disposed. I did look in on the main dining room as we left - it was elegant and imposing, but few tables had a river view. So definitely one only for very special occasions - or when someone else is paying!

Southbourne fish restaurant

 We are down in Southbourne on the coast visiting our friends P&M. The focus of the visit is dinner at Sobo Fish, a favourite of theirs. The restaurant is at the edge of the main shopping area of Southbourne, on the main road into Bournemouth and so easily accessible by bus.

It's a hot evening when we visit. Our table is in the centre of the main room - not by the blackboard menu, where we are warned we might be photographed! - so not particularly airy, but overall it's not too hot. There are little hutches outside at the back, but we aren't offered one of those. 

There is a wine menu - we choose a Sauvignon/Gros Mansegn at £28, described as "semi-dry" - but otherwise you have to refer to the blackboards. The mains are on our side of the room, so P takes a photo of the starters/"table nibbles" menu on the other side.  B opts out of starters as she thinks here preferred main course could be very large, and I have crab cake with aioli from the "nibbles" list. This is just the one crabcake, but it is full of flavour. M has the tempura prawns while P does go for the full "starters" option of mussels in a Thai curry sauce - amusing as before going he'd said he fancied curried mussels. M's prawns looked as you'd expect, but P's mussels were certainly a good tasty dish.

The mains menu is priced at £15 including a side, but with supplements ranging from £2 to £10. In fact, all but one option includes a supplement, so they might as well have priced the items separately.  There is a very extensive choice of options. 

For mains, I have a skate wing. This is a good sized - that is, not too huge - portion, served with prawns, small clams and capers.  Nicely cooked with a crisp exterior and soft inside. I have the skinny fries with that. B's choice is the hot shellfish bowl - prawns, clams, mussels, razor clams, langoustine, in a light broth (£10 supplement). It's certainly a full-on dish, but the lightness of the broth means it is a manageable amount. Her "side" was a Caesar salad. 

P has the "flat fish of the day" - plaice - in Moroccan spices, which looks excellent. M has the duo of sea bream fillets. Between them they share new potatoes and roasted fennel. 

We have room so between us order a lemon roulade and a creme brulee. The roulade is remarkably light, as indeed is the brulee, which has a thin layer on top. 

Service from an all female crew, supervised by "Jackie", was a little mixed, in that there seemed to be a couple in training who were yet to get up to speed. The more experienced staff were very friendly and welcoming. 

The total is £190, before service, which is very good value for a well executed, fresh fish menu. And it's only the following day I learn that "SoBo" is chic slang for Southbourne! 

Sea bass menu from Rick Stein

After the success of our French Table meals, we've decided to try out more of the restaurant delivery options. Rick Stein deliver anywhere in the country for around £8, and their three-course menus are a reasonable £50 - £60, so rather cheaper than TFT - the sea bass option was just £50.

The impressively packaged box duly arrived, and was unpacked with some ceremony. A couple of the sauces weren't labelled, so we had to work out which they were. It then dawned that this was more a load of ingredients and cooking instructions, rather than fully formed dishes just needing to be warmed up. The array of pans required was considerable too.

Anyway, B knuckled down and set to work. The first course was mussels with black beans, garlic and ginger.  We had the inevitable debate about what to do about open or closed mussel shells. On the mussel bag it said to "tap" the mussels to close them before cooking, but not to eat ones that didn't open afterwards - Rick's instructions said that didn't matter, and you could just prise them open. The sauce had to be fried briefly first, then the mussels and stock added and cooked for 3 minutes. Finally coriander and spring onion was added.  Luckily all the mussels opened so we didn't have to worry.  There was a whole kilo of mussels, so this made a substantial first course. The mussels were very sweet and tasty, and the sauce was interesting too. There wasn't as much stock as I might have expected, but mopping it with bread was very nice.

We took a little break before the main course. Again this was a good size portion - four large fillets of sea bass between us; two huge bok choy. That needed to be cooked first, while rice was cooked in the microwave.  It needed a very large frying pan to cook the fish, which was supposed to have a crispy skin - that proved difficult to achieve.  To accompany the fish there was a pre-prepared hot, sour and sweet sauce which just needed warming and pouring over, and a sprinkling of crisp shallots and cashew nuts. 

It was all very good indeed. The fish firm and full of flavour, with interesting toppings. Bok choy I can take or leave, but made the dish looked interesting. It was also very filling, so we decided to leave the dessert for another day. 

The dessert was pots of white chocolate topped with mango puree, and accompanied by cardamon shortbread. No cooking involved here. This was good, not as sickly sweet as it might sound. 

B told me to emphasise the amount of washing up that had to be done aftewards!  Overall it was a very good meal, though most of it you could do just by buying the ingredients and following a recipe. The pre-prepared sauces were something that would be harder to replicate, and you'd probably not bother with the fiddly shallots and nuts, which would be a shame as they did add texture. 

Long weekend in Hove

We’re staying with M&G in Hove for the Bank Holiday weekend. After an excellent meal cooked by M on the Friday, we go to Pike and Pine in St James St on the Saturday. This used to just be a coffee place, but it has gone upmarket into a modern English restaurant. It’s still fairly relaxed and casual with a big counter for several diners – though we have a table.

Our table isn’t ready when we arrive, so we sit outside for a bit with a bottle of “Duke of Marlborough” NZ Sauvignon Blanc at £34. At the table G also tries a glass of Toh! from Italy, which we follow up with a bottle (£36), then a bottle of Soli, a Bulgarian Pinot Noir (£34). There were cheaper options, SA False Bay chenin for example, but it was good to branch out for a change.

 From the “small plates for sharing” section we chose the duck leg with peanut butter, citrus cured halibut fishcake, and two crab mayonnaise.  An interesting combination of flavours.
 The menu is rather limited, with just five “larger plates” options. However, we did manage to select four different dishes: lamb shank with an intriguing walnut pesto; chicken breast with truffled leeks; poached trout, unusually paired with ox tongue; pork belly with roasted peppers. Supported by confit potato with caramel onions and gruyere, and buttered peas with spring onions. Top marks all round.
 
 G decided he’d have the rice pudding with tonka bean (nope, me neither), so to keep him company I went for the popcorn cheesecake – remarkable.


 With some coffee and water, this came to a very reasonable £240 for the four of us, despite the pricier wines. Then they added only 10% service, a pleasing change from the norm. Service had been helpful and friendly, and the place had a lively buzz – a good choice.
 Sunday lunchtime is lovely and sunny, so M&G direct us to a backstreet seafood restaurant where we can sit outside. In fact, The Urchin is a “shellfish and craft beer” pub, so G was in his element with a huge range to choose from – this time he had the Beavertown Neck Oil, while the rest of us went with the French Viognier at £20.


 The regular menu here is very short indeed: cockles and oysters, 4 starters and 3 mains.  But the highlight is a very innovative sounding range of specials on the blackboard.  My first choice starter from the specials was already “off” even though we were eating early, so I had a spicy beetroot spring roll instead, which was surprisingly good. Other choices were scallops with chive, ceviche and potted crab (off the regular menu).


 Although these were all fine, the highlight was the mains – and how they were presented. All came in big round metal pots with lids that opened up to be used to put discarded shells.  B and I had similar dishes – Malaysian prawns from the regular menu, and Goan prawns from the specials.  Both dishes were 6 large prawns in a rich spicy sauce over pulses – green or red lentils – and very messy!  M’s feijoada, also included 6 prawns with the beans and rice, while G had Thai mussels.  It was intriguing to note the different attitudes to peeling the prawns: M peeled all six at once, while I peeled and ate. Something about being prepared to accept deferred gratification for a cleaner result against my urge to be greedy!


 The dishes were all very filling, so we almost didn’t need the chips, and certainly didn’t need the two dishes of leaves. No room to test out desserts.


 It’s only a small place, so the outside area filled up quite quickly, and it’s informal so you order at the bar. The staff were efficient and friendly though, and teased us about completing the meal without getting messy splashes on our clothes!


 With three bottles of wine and some water, the bill came to £170 without service – excellent value.  Well worth seeking out, away from the main drag.