FishWorks Restaurant Marylebone London

A week ago Bikerboy and I had an opportunity of riding his new bike into town.  The story behind the ‘new’ bike will be another post!  The idea was to have brunch or early lunch at Providores restaurant but as it happens it wasn’t meant to be because even though we arrive early enough I wasn’t counting on having to book a table first…lesson learnt…no such thing as easy casual just turn-up Sunday brunch in London…one must organise and book first the concept of casual.  We headed for a light lunch at La Fromagerie in Moxon Street off Marylebone High Street before having to rescue Granddad from 3 year old and after a short wait we were seated at their communal table facing one another.

Started Out at La Fromagerie
I have a problem with communal tables but for very busy popular places tight with space this is the only option of a quick return on the space.  The communal table at La Fromagerie is so far the worst for tightness and lack of personal space, you’re elbowing the person next to you on either side and we were all of normal build.  It’s odd that I’m doing a review for FishWorks and Bikerboy and I are now sitting down for a light lunch at Le Fromagerie, isn’t it?  Well…you see having to ask 3 times to order and after half an hour of waiting, we lost our appetite.  There were plenty of staff for the tiny space of  30 people but they had that ability of walking around looking busy but you never quite got the impression they were serving anyone, do you know what I mean? I have more patience than this normally…well…most of the time…what was irritating me was the half hour wait didn’t seem justified when they were serving up a cold platter of cheeses and another of charcuterie with bread.

Ended Up in FishWorks
That’s how we ended up in FishWorks unexpectedly.  Having been squeezed like sausage meat in the casings we smile as we entered the restaurant looking very spacious with individual tables laid out with ample room for private conversations.  Yes, I’m not comparing like with like here, unfair to a deli to compare it with a restaurant set up…I know…but I still grumble at the lack of efficient service in La Fromagerie…best for take-aways.

Good Overall
I’m not a taker of photos in restaurants, that’s why here you have the badly shot photo of my squid on the i-phone.  Restaurant photos can not tell you how something tasted, such as this squid which just happens to be one of the best coated fried squid I’ve tasted.  I will try and keep this short  in order to get to the point of this post; my squid.  The quality of the fish was good throughout our meal and it was cooked well.  I had the squid for starters and Bikerboy had the smoked salmon, I almost convinced him to have the potted shrimps but that was just wishful thinking on my part.  For main I had scallops and Bikerboy had fish and chips, good batter.

Menu Lacks Enough Info
My biggest complaint about the restaurant was the lack of detail on the menu when describing how some of the fish was prepared.  For example my scallops was a case in point.  In the menu it didn’t say how they were cooked only that they were cooked with garlic and parsley and there was no name for the dish that might imply a method of cooking.  My issue with this was on arrival the scallops were laying in their shells and were covered in so much melted butter with the garlic and parsley,  I was expecting seared scallops with a dressing of garlic and parsley.  Had I known they would be swimming in melted butter I would have never ordered them since it doesn’t appeal to me; grilled scallops with lots of garlic and parsley butter.

Don’t get the wrong impression that I loathe butter, just have a look at my pastry and cake recipes and you’ll see I’m a big fan of the stuff.  Most of my days I’ll avoid it as much as I can because it upsets my stomach so when I eat butter it really has to be for the very best reason and that is;  without it the dish would taste less.

It’s personal taste that I think lovely sweet fresh scallops should not be served up in their shells drowning in melted butter.  Searing them in butter…yes I get that, even dressing them with a little beurre noisette would suite but having them sitting in a large pool of melted butter  takes away from their sweetness too much.  All I’m tasting is butter with a hint of scallop.  It seems just a bit too old fashion to be smothering good quality seafood in lashing of butter when the taste of the produce is enhanced better with a lick of it.

My other criticism would be the tiny  little ramekin of rich hot chocolate pudding is better served with cold ice-cream rather than the room temperature cream it arrived with, or at least it would be good to have a choice.  I would then have forgiven for Bikerboy’s pudding being over-baked and solid all the way through and mine too under-done and mostly liquid.  Perhaps too it shouldn’t come on top of  such a huge empty plate making it look even more of a mean serving than it was.

Fish restaurants are not a cheap meal since the main ingredients is so expensive at wholesale prices but I thought the portion sizes were slightly on the mean size, ok for me but not Bikerboy.

Now Let Me Tell You About the Squid!
You see that photo of my squid just looks like any fried squid in batter doesn’t it?  But it was the darnest nicest batter on a squid I have tasted for a very long time, better than the squid I had in the tapas bar in San Sabestian, and better than the Maze Grill two years ago which was over fried.  I order fried squid most of the time if on a menu because it’s one of those dishes that’s simple but hard to get right.  Can’t over fry it where you loose the taste of the squid and just tastes of fried food, the oil.  It’s also hard to get a good crisp batter, one which will maintain still crunchy crisp by the time you’re eating it,  and lets not forget the overcooking of squid, a problem in any kitchen domestic or commercial.

I asked what was in the batter and the waitress came back with milk and flour, interesting.  I’m on a mission you see to fry at home a perfect piece of squid in batter and I have been listening out for tips, like covering it in cornflour and placing it in the fridge for half an hour, and do the Japanese breadcrumbs give you the best crust?  Or is the tempura batter the ultimate for fried squid?  What about the traditional Fish & Chips batter?  Let’s not forget the popular batters containing beer.  You see how I have a long post on squid building up here?

To Summarise FishWorks Restaurant:
Good quality fish but make sure you ask the waiter exactly how it’s cooked, as menu lacks vital information.
The portion sizes are not generous but adequate and if like me you’re a dessert lover this is not a place that appears to have a pastry chef in the house, the dessert menu looks like a chain restaurant – an after thought.
I would return for the fish any day but ask for it without half a pound of butter.