Lovers of piscine cuisine need venture no further than landlocked Princess Victoria Street for the freshest fish flavours, served in an unpretentiously stylish setting

When Fishers Seafood Restaurant opened its doors three years ago, the temptation to reflect the piscine theme in the décor was clearly too much for its owners to resist. Thus what we have appears to be a little corner of Cornwall in the heart of Clifton, complete with lanterns, seaside benches, portholes, and crisp red and white cotton tablecloths. If this still leaves you in any doubt about the designer’s vision, there’s a ship’s ventilator at the bottom of the stairs, and an illustrated chart showing what the fish used to look like when they were happily swimming about.

All that’s missing is the gentle murmur of the shipping news in the background; instead, we were treated to the (blessedly) low-volume presence of the ubiquitous Jamie Cullum.

It may not be startlingly original, but it’s actually all very pleasant and stylish, the misty barely-there seascape mural being a particularly restful touch.

“We hate pretentious restaurants.” The owner told us firmly, “we want people to come and enjoy a good meal and feel relaxed while they’re eating.”

We visited on a Wednesday lunchtime, when much of Clifton takes the day off. Fishers was busy enough though, with an eclectic clientèle that included a young couple, a gaggle of elderly ladies, two business types and a large Spanish-speaking family, the latter adding enormously to the sense of being on holiday.

The name of the restaurant is a clue; if you like fish, this is the place for you. You won’t find much in the way of meat options, but if an ichtyophobe wanders in by mistake (and it’s really difficult to see how this could happen), there is the not unexciting option of pan-fried duck in pink peppercorn sauce; there’s only one choice for veggies, unless they fancy a giant size portion of mushy peas.

For fish-lovers, there’s a surprisingly wide selection crammed onto the one-page menu. The restaurant pitches itself somewhere between a good-quality fish-and-chippery and fine dining, and alongside the traditional battered haddock and chips (£10.50) there are more expensive options that include monkfish in Thai curry sauce (£16.50) and a hot shellfish platter (£21.50).

The set meals are exceptionally good value, with an early dining menu costing £20 for two, and a two-course lunch menu at just £7.50 a head. We decided to try both ends of the scale, my dining partner opting for the marinated anchovy salad followed by fillet of ling (from the set meal) while I chose the deep fried calamari and Canadian lobster.
There’s plenty of choice in the (mainly European) wine list too, which has been carefully selected to compliment the fish. A summery pitcher of Pimms is also good value, at £2.95 a head.

Our starters arrived, and from the first mouthful the philosophy of the restaurant announced itself – the freshest possible fish is shipped in (from numerous different sources, to ensure the best possible raw ingredients; Cornwall is apparently good for mussels at the moment, while my lobster had been collected from Billingsgate that morning after being flown in from Canada), and is cooked and served in an unfussy manner so that the flavours shine through. After this, just the right amount of the distraction is provided, such as Parmesan shavings for the anchovies and a citrus mayonnaise for the squid.
My partner’s portion of ling was large, meaty and surprising; the surprise being that the menu had promised a bed of fennel and dill risotto, rather than what he assures me was a red pepper compote. My well-travelled lobster was drizzled in garlicky butter sauce, and came with an alarming battery of metal instruments for cracking, prodding and poking, and a bowl of water for cleaning up after the carnage.

After portions of these sizes there was really no excuse for a dessert, especially since they were all of the comfort variety. But research is research, and we can report that the sticky toffee pudding is delicious, even if it did toll the death knell for what the Clifton Life dining correspondent laughingly refers to as her diet.

Fishers is still one of just two seafood restaurants in the area, and thus a mecca for fish fanciers. Considering that Bristol is traditionally a city of seafarers, the only surprise is that nobody did it sooner.

Unlike many publications, Clifton Life does not solicit complimentary meals or advertising in return for favourable reviews. Our team dines incognito in order to give our readers a genuinely independent assessment