On a cold and rainy February evening, Andrew and I headed to one of our favourite neighbourhoods in London, Marylebone, to celebrate my birthday. We were both keen to try a place we had noticed a while back, and using the excuse of me getting older we entered what looks like a regular fishmonger shop.
Andrew and I discovered Fishworks months before, when on one evening we wondered why people were entering a seafood shop. If you pay attention (and see the sign if it is nighttime), you may notice through the window that it is a bit more than a simple fishmonger.
But it is only when walking through the store that you really realise what is on the other side. A cosy and rather spacious seafood restaurant!
We ordered a pitcher of the white wine of the week, trusting that a spcialist place like Fishworks would know much better than us what to pick. We were glad we followed their advice, the pinot grigio was crisp, fresh and paired very nicely with what was to come.
To start Andrew ordered the taramasalata, aioli and salsa verde served with bread. Since honeymooning in the Cyclades he just cannot resist a good tarama.
A good rule of thumb is for the taramasalata to be the palest shade of pink possible. Once you had a taste of the real deal, it is so hard to find something half as good in the UK. Luckily, this one didn’t disappoint!
I picked one of their daily special, the crab bisque.
Unfortunately it tasted like someone had dropped too much salt in the soup and, although it eventually got more flavoursome as I dug deeper into the bowl, I was a bit disappointed. After a week in Iceland, my bisque expectations are extremely high (not a sentence I ever thought I would write yet here we are).
We couldn’t make our mind for our mains so we both picked the grilled seafood platter. It was the perfect option for two indecisive people like us. With it we shared a side of Jersey Royal potatoes. The best side with fish if you ask me!
The platter included a sautéed scallop cooked with white wine and garlic butter, a sea bass fillet, sea bream and chilli ginger prawns. At first, we were slightly disappointed to see only one scallop on the plate but by the end of the meal we were completely full.
We decided to skip dessert as we had run out of appetite and we slowly sipped on wine while chatting the night away.
We left with the feeling of having spent an evening at the seaside, and happy to finally know why people were heading to a fishmonger at 8pm months ago. It is definitely worth adding Fishworks to your list in case you ever fancy a seafood platter in the heart of London!
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Claire Imaginarium 