The four dishes had were shared by the four diners as all were not hugely hungry and this was one of the good points of the restaurant in that sharing was fine and there was a convivial understanding of this by the staff much to their credit.   Tempura prawns were pleasant enough but with batter that was thick enough to be worthy of a fish and chip shop – this was not the kind of wafer-thin tempura that is served in Japan. These were also quite expensive at £19.

The sashimi was probably the star dish with good flavour, good sourcing and with a fine kumquat and wasabi dressing.  A side of welsh rarebit was disappointingly akin to melted cheese on toast without the bechamel and Worcester sauce being the main treat.  Fried haddock was pleasing enough but for where I was and for the price of £20, you would hope for excellence and it was a shame that I think you could actually get slightly better at Poppie’s or even The Mayfair Chippy for just the fish and chips. Saving grace was found within the roasted cod however, which was succulent and packed with flavour along with the cauliflower puree and chorizo.

Overall this was a pleasing enough experience inside a restaurant and the staff were genuinely welcoming, but the price seems to reflect the institution rather than the products on the plate.  I am still looking for the champion of fish and chips in London to try and rival Padstow, Whitby or 2 Michelin starred The Hand and Flowers – does such a place exist?

Swan Oyster Depot has been around since the 80s and was prized long before I clapped eyes on it from seeing one of Bourdain’s Parts Unknown episodes.  The staff were too busy to have any in-depth conversation with about the food, but I was pleased with my choices and found the following:

The crab-back with crab fat and butter broth was indeed an original and soothingly good crab dish.  Still not one of my absolute favourite flavours funnily enough (think of the difference between brown and white crab meat if this applies) but I loved the presentation and use of the sourdough to soak it up.  If there was an upgrade I could think of to this dish, it would be to have more upscale sourdough (noticeably plain and average in comparison to sourdough with better crunch to the crust and more ‘Swiss-cheese’ effect in the dough.

The staff told me that the salmon and rainbow trout are farmed in Idaho and smoked prior to arrival at Swan Oyster Depot.  To my surprise, there wasn’t any wild-caught salmon or fish, but the smokiness was very good indeed.  Clam chowder (a thickened soup using chopped clams and cream) is not my favourite flavour I have to be honest, but I wanted to try and see how this version was and it was a better quality to most other versions tried – the dairy not too dominant, subtle clam flavour and evidently a good stock as well.

The prawns were on another level I am pleased to say.  Such huge prawns had inherent sweetness and although I am a sauce fiend, the cocktail sauce here was the very best I have ever tasted.  A fresh mayonnaise had the ingenious additives of sweet relish, finely chopped egg, a small quantity of chopped olive (and ketchup naturally) and combined to make an absolute symphony of a cocktail sauce.  The masterstroke within it all, I think, was the finely chopped egg for the additional richness of the egg-based mayonnaise in the first place, but also gave an even more luxurious velvety feel to the texture.  Heston Blumenthal also reportedly does what I do which is to eat spoonfuls of prawn cocktail from the fridge when no one is looking, day or night, so I am a huge prawn cocktail fan and appreciate it where it is done very well and I enjoy making my own from scratch whenever I can.  The current UK supermarket lead on this, by the way, is actually Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference prawn cocktail in my view – they add a drop of Madeira in the sauce as the winning stroke, closely followed behind, by the sweetness of Marks and Spencer’s prawns in cocktail sauce (sorry Waitrose, you need to work on yours).

Back to the Swan Oyster Depot and sea urchins were a must and again the presentation was great, served in their spikey, spherical shell and on ice.  A creamy-smooth urchin was enjoyed here and was happily washed down with the sauvignon blanc that I toasted with the fabulous Kevin, one of the Sancimino Brothers who now own the restaurant, taking over from the Lausten Family.  I would love to come back, and next time, with Mr Bainbridge in person.

This is charming and lovely little place to visit, in its chocolate box setting of narrow pathways and alleys in between buildings and is perhaps even more charming than Padstow in its unspoilt way.  Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen is an absolutely lovely little 1 Michelin starred ‘glow’ in this port area serving tapas style fish dishes in its brightly lit cave interior. One chef in the kitchen with two people serving all the covers (roughly 8 tables only) which I thought added to the charm.  The food itself was clearly skilfully done and balanced in flavour (delicate batter for the cuttlefish croquettes with an interesting squid ink mayonnaise and pickled pepper to bring all to order) and I especially enjoyed the mackerel dip with the toast.  The bread is worthy of a mention as this was also done extremely well and probably the biggest indicator of the accolade that this restaurant deserves.

This was another lovely gem to come across and is also etched in the mind as a little pot of gold – you just have to simply go there to see why.

There is obviously only so many ways fish and chips can be done but as a national treasure dish it is nice to see this place using beef dripping as opposed to normal cooking oil and is reportedly changed every day / other day (so I was told by the staff) and it did produce a lovely flavour. The batter was nice and crispy thin.  In terms of restaurants it would be a little strange for me to grade it in comparison, but in terms of fish and chips, this was certainly in the top quadrant – not quite as biblical as Tom Kerridge’s at The hand & Flowers, but certainly very well done.

What was interesting here was that I learned where the brand issue comes in to play.  My nearest was gutted to see the Camel Valley English sparkling wine that she had bought from Rick Stein’s shop at £37, in a family run wine shop and exactly the same bottle but for £33.  My advice to get a refund and buy from the lovely little shop instead or ask to price match was ‘poopooed’, but this alerted me to the importance of exploring options before going to the brand, particularly when it has absolutely no affect on the product!   Naughty, but shrewd Mr Stein! 😉

Firstly, it is first come first served, so no bookings if that was a concern and with the thousands of people walking in and around Padstow on my half term visit I was amazed that we managed to get a table – not only that it was a lovely sofa bench table right by the bar. The look and feel of this little café was actually what most struck me – it just has the look of a really cosy, casual and pleasant interior without being over the top at the same time.

The offerings were visually on the simple side and the prices did not appear to be as eye-watering as the horror stories I was led to believe before my visit. The flavours were fresh and appealing without question but in all due fairness, I think it would be difficult to say this was advanced cooking. It clearly doesn’t want to be which is obviously great in a way – I was just a little surprised the fish burger for example was as basic as it was noting the brand which is where I think some may take issue.

So all in all, not incredibly special for the food, but certainly not damaging and was pleasing enough. It is a delightful little place regardless and I can see why it is absolutely perfect for those looking for a comforting experience with children without breaking the bank and I wouldn’t say no to going in the evening but thought it was at its forte in the afternoon hours.

As we walked up from the car park I saw one round table right by the window and thought to myself, “Some lucky *ods will be having a nice view as they dine with that table…” – as we were taken through I was wonderfully surprised as it was actually us that it was being held for – very lucky indeed.

On to the show then and the cured monkfish, ginger and fennel was utterly sublime; so light and fresh as was the mackerel and cucumber starter as well.  The latter had a beautifully creamy texture and was presented in the form of a delightful paste, covered with a lime gel.  The lobster was beautifully fresh and the lovely touch being that we could see the spot where the lobster was actually caught from our table – the background is out of focus on this photo (as the table needs the focus), but you might just be able to see an orange buoy in the near distance of the sea and that is where the lobster for this dish is actually sourced – marvellous stuff.

The gurnard and porthilly sauce (tomato and oil-based) was frankly outstanding – this was one of the nicest sauces I have ever tasted with such a smooth and perfectly balanced flavour on perfectly grilled fish and this was the knock out dish for me without question.  The turbot with cabbage and seaweed hollandaise was also superbly done – such immaculate fish with a delicate glaze of butter, we all thought it really didn’t need anything else when the quality of the fish is that good – that did not stop me however from utterly drowning the potato in the seaweed hollandaise regardless and the remainder that my friend did not eat as well to give the welcome moisture.

The supporting wines that were had by the glass sat very well with the dishes and the sommelier did a cracking job at advising and looking after us without being obtrusive or over-enthusiastic which I always find offputting – the sommelier and our head waitress were both superb and my thanks to them for looking after us so well yesterday.

I’m horrified to see that I failed to take a photo of the goat’s cheese course which came with crackling crisp layers and beetroot gel and this was a delightful course.  And then finally the trio of desserts at the end.  I loved the yogurt ice cream and strawberry but was only lukewarm about the supporting ‘snow’ as I felt this cut through a little too much, but the beautiful mini crème brulée was utterly gorgeous as was the pistachio tart which was light, perfectly eggy and freshly made to as near as perfect as you can get for a tart.  The supporting strawberry dessert wine that was bubbly and the closest option to an Italian Muscato D’Asti (which I was in the mood for) was a superb new drink and recommendation from the sommelier.

All in all, this was a wonderful meal but I have some an overriding observation: the tasting menu appears to be eight courses but as they are served, you are actually receiving six courses and although beautiful, I was surprised that for a 2 Michelin starred venue on the plainness of the bread options and that there was no additional effort or provision for either canapés, amuse-bouche or additional pre-dessert to boost the content –  £99 for essentially 6 courses (and working out at £144 all in pp) I simply thought was too steep for the package, dare I say made us leave feeling a little short-changed.

However, the above factor does not affect the food grade as always, and I thought the food itself was delectable and a lovely experience in a very pleasant venue with charming and unpretentious service.  I’m definitely glad to have done it, as is undeniably elegant cooking and has made me feel complete to have now covered the whole two-star family in the UK, where I put Restaurant Nathan Outlaw somewhere comfortably in the middle of the group on pure food grounds.

Thankfully, this we had and on strolling to the restaurant through the underground tunnel, you cannot, not be considerably impressed or bowled over by the originality and special feel of dining next to the largest restaurant aquarium in the world giving a vivid sense of being somehow in the sea.  The amazing display of fish and creatures smoothly floating by is a lovely treat for the eyes to watch as one dines it has to be said.

But, more importantly what was the food like? Well, although the drinks list is pretty limited, they did produce some superbly done cocktails and although their forté is fish as primarily a seafood restaurant two meat dishes were enjoyed and all dishes were actually very well done.  The beef carpaccio was light and had a very good balance of garlic senses with its velevty texture, both fish courses displayed very tender meat cooked perfectly with subtle and very agreeable sauces and the beef main, although in last place was also very carefully done with a healthy selection of well judged vegetables.  The chocolate meringue was comfort food done superbly and with another chocolate martini was a superb way to finish.  I throw in a bonus picture in the gallery to this visit of what one can have here on the liqueurs side if you feel like blowing a month’s wage on a round of the Louix III, which works out as roughly £70 per sip.

The whole meal however, was actually quite reasonable considering where we were as we stuck to the set lunch menu costing approximately £110 each including drinks, however there are options on this menu available which will happily take care of emptying all of your disposable if you wished for the extensive tasting menu.

Without drinks at lunch, this is actually not a bad option for a reasonable meal in Dubai indeed and I would say the quality of the food sat quite comfortably in the lower-echelon 1 Michelin starred bracket, but certainly in the 1 star family, which is all to its credit.  Highly enjoyable and well prepared dishes here, whose price tag is not as scary as one thinks with a bit of self-discipline.