Clifton’s seafood symphony
Linda Neill enjoys a deliciously superior fish supper in Clifton, Bristol
On a warm evening Lucy and I decided to go for supper in the city. We chose Fishers Restaurant in Bristol as their fish and seafood menu offered the sort of light food most suitable for the time of year. So we drove to Princess Victoria Street in Clifton and, for once, managed to park without too much trouble quite nearby.
Fishers opened three years ago and is a smart black and white place with nautical touches. The outside menu, for instance, is ringed by a porthole and inside the walls are painted with a delicate seascape of boats, piers, light houses and so on.
We had a corner table upstairs which meant I was able to lounge against a big rope ‘bumper’ – the sort of object used for fending boats off quays. Pieces of sailcloth and fishermen’s lamps (I’ve seen ones like them in Ikea) hung over the tables and I was interested to see that some of the customers seemed to have dressed in theme – one woman was wearing a navy and white sailor suit and another couple were clad in identical fisherman’s jerseys, jeans and boots!
The menu looked delicious. Lucy suggested we share a starter of deep fried calamari so we did. I had been considering the grilled fresh sardines but decided against them when I found they amounted to quite a huge serving - three large ones in all. After all, I wanted enough room for the hot shellfish platter to follow!
Even on a weekday evening the place was bustling which is not surprising given the freshness of the food and the very substantial servings. However we were served quickly with both drinks (orange juice and red wine) and food so that is a definite point in its favour.
There was easily enough calamari for the two of us especially as we were served with bread and butter as well. The calamari rings were thicker than normal so didn’t have that overfried and greasy taste that the thinner rings often have and it came with a little salad too which was nice.
Lucy decided to have traditional fish and chips and a very large haddock (in beer batter!) arrived with a mound of chips, a pot of mushy peas and mayonnaise. She managed to eat nearly al of it except for a few chips and the mushy peas – a taste which she had not yet acquired.
My hot shellfish platter was another mountainous dish accompanied by a finger bowl and various implements. Right at the top was a single scallop , below were two or three langoustines, then a large array of Atlantic prawns and crevettes and right at the bottom a bed of mussels in a white wine, garlic and cream sauce. This cost £21.50 and if I had ordered a half lobster as well would have cost another £15.50 (or £25.50 for a whole lobster).
However there was quite enough for me as it was, in fact this must be the first time I have actually left a few mussels and prawns on the plate. Everything tasted as fresh as if it had come straight from Cornwall that day (which it indeed may well have done) and even Lucy, rather conservative in taste, tried a mussel or two and like them. There was a very pleasant atmosphere in Fishers – the staff darted about with steaming trays, there was a constant buzz of conversation, more noticeable because there was no piped music for once (another plus!), and the lighting was suitably dim, adding to it all. The décor could be described as rather plain and understated in a trendy sort of way (big sheets of plain white ‘fish-and-chip’ paper were laid over the red striped tablecloths) and we both thought the place was fantastic.
In the interests of research we shared a dessert (nothing to do with greed!) so chose a vanilla pod ice cream with chocolate sauce, accompanied by two filter coffees. This was a very good choice indeed as it was not too big, was served in a little toffee basket and being cold, slid down easily.
The bill came to £47.15 which we thought was reasonable for such large helpings of delicious food. With the bill came a form inviting comments. “Warm bread would be much appreciated”, we wrote. (We infinitely prefer it to cold). And – “the large servings WERE appreciated”.
Would we go there again? Yes, we can’t wait! We just wish we’d remembered to take the scallop shell home!