The second part of our round up of fabulous places to eat seafood, especially shellfish, in London.
Serving well-healed Londoners and visiting cognoscenti since 1851, Scott’s has its own brand of self-proclaimed “urbane sophistication” and very nice seafood to back it up. There’s a small and leafy terrace outside which is a rather splendid place from which to view the Mayfair comings and goings. This is the sort of place in which to collapse in a cloud of Oscar de la Renta perfume (whose shop is just down the road) with a cluster of Lanvin bags (again, a stone’s throw) and an impeccably behaved Afghan hound at your feet. Even the most proletarian of us can’t help feeling a little Jerry Hall here, especially as your waiter reaches into one of their fab fish-tail-shaped wine coolers to help you to another restorative glass of fizz (from their enormous sparkling menu).
The restaurant is located on Mount Street which is home to rather a number of swanky comestible options: Italian Pasticceria Marchesi, the new minimalism of The Connaught Patisserie and Hideaway (good coffee and caking, under executive chef Ollie Dabbous). And Hideaway’s mothership, Hedonism Wines, is just around the corner for a bit white-Burgundy bothering. But Scott’s is the place to head for a taste of excellent seafood when your Louboutins are a feeling the strain from all that shopping (Maison Christian Louboutin is virtually next door – you get the picture now).
Wearing its own very smart black and gold livery street-side, Scott’s interior is unabashed lux. There are tables for fine dining a deux, trois etc or you can sit at the sumptuous bar for a (somewhat) more relaxed affair. Either way, you’ll be treated to premium oysters from the likes of Maison Gillardeau (the ones with the “G” embossed on the shell) and Louët-Feisser’s Irish Carlingfords in addition to Fine de Claire and Jersey rocks. They even do that rather wonderful thing of serving them with (wild boar) sausages, odd as that may sound. The French are inordinately keen on their festive oysters and in Bordeaux (close to some of the country’s major oyster-producing areas) they are often served with crépinettes or small, spicy sausages. Elsewhere, merguez or even chorizo are popular. The marriage of saline purity and porcine generosity is lovely.
You can follow all this shellfish guzzling with a pan-fried flat fish: perhaps a slip sole (lovely things that ought to appear on menus more often) a ray wing or a little halibut. There’s Dover sole, of course, for when you’ve thrown all caution to the wind. The wine list is heavy, almost inevitably, on Burgundy, Bordeaux and the more rarefied Italians. There is, however, a nicely wide-ranging yet pleasingly focused by-the-glass offering for more restrained moments.
Wright Brothers featured in part 1 of our seafood survey, but I make no apologies for including another Borough Market stalwart in the list – one with a winningly informal, market-stand chic. The Haward family have been cultivating Mersea oysters for generations on the River Blackwater in Essex, shipping Pacific rocks and Natives (when it’s that time of year) to restaurants in London and further afield still. Their great shellfish is available for home delivery, but if you wander down to their Borough Market outlet you’ll discover a lovely, friendly place to perch and slurp straight from the source.
There’s something about the market’s ambience that seasons the oysters (and the Cherrystone clams they also sell) with just the right amount of nostalgia and rosy-cheeked charm. Walking into its slightly shaded byways always feels like turning back the clock just a twist and the briny funk of seafood only adds to the Artful Dodger-dom of it all. What Richard Haward’s lacks in fine table linen, it makes up for in cheer and the quality of the shellfish. And fear not, they are licensed so you can get a glass of fizz or even a bottle of their local Mersea Oyster Stout to drink alongside. Tankards and rounds of Oom-pah-pah are not obligatory but come highly recommended.
Bentley’s is another unashamedly smart affair: the “Grand Dame of Swallow Street” it calls itself. Barely younger than Scott’s, this place has been serving its particular brand of seafood gourmandising for yonks now. With superstar Irish chef Richard Corrigan taking the reins in more recent years, however, the menu is fresh and briny as a rockpool. It’s a proudly British sort of place but, usurpingly perhaps, the oyster selection leans towards Ireland: top-notch shellfish from the likes of Gallagher’s in County Donegal as well as other quality producers around the island’s coast. The Bentley’s folk are real shellfish fans and run oyster masterclasses on site which mix a sound bit of education, practical shucking skills and a good bit of Champagne and bivalve swallowing.
The downstairs oyster bar has a slightly nautical feel, not in a plastic-crab-and-sea-shanty way but definitely something of the captain’s cabin. Upstairs, things are inevitably a little more formal: proper grub for proper grownups. You come here for supper rather than dinner – with all that’s implied by the subtle lexical shift. The main courses take you into the upper echelons of the fish fraternity: monkfish, turbot, Dover sole etc. but there’s a comforting (to stomach and pocket) offering of more homely fish pie, French-inspired fish stew and classic British fish ‘n chips as well. No sign of Cromer crab though (really, this is becoming an obsession!) but Cornish crab and native lobster are there to carry the crustacean flag in their deliciously sweet claws.
Summer is time to bag a spot outside on their delightful terrace (it’s covered and heated as well, for the shoulder months). They have recently been promoting a Summer of Rosé, kicking off with the Rosa Sicilia from Donnafugata’s collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana. It doesn’t come more glam than that, but if it doesn’t pique your interest then call for the natty champagne trolley courtesy of Piper-Heidsieck (who really do seem to love their fish). Nice to see the relative modesty of a Ca’ del Bosco Franciacorta and Rathfinny’s lovely Blanc de Noir sparkling away on the extensive and pretty formidable wine list too.
Iris Murdoch’s novel of the same name turns on the sight of an ominous tentacle emerging from the waves. Mercifully, you’ll find no such monsters of the deep at this exceptional London fishmonger and restaurant. Small but perfectly formed, it’s located on Chelsea’s pedestrian Pavilion Rd. That’s pedestrian as in “best come on foot” – there’s nothing commonplace about this pucka little mews a hop, skip and a jump from Sloane Square. Again, local foodie options abound: Bread Ahead (great bread, excellent bread-making courses), Natoora's beautifully curated fruit ‘n veg, butcher extraordinaire Provenance and Mother Vine’s vinous inspiration, to name but a few.
By day, the Sea2 (as I like to think of it) doubles as a fishmonger and restaurant, converting into a more trad eating house in the evening. Most recently I visited at lunchtime, threading my way through the buzzy, sun-drenched terrace and stopping to admire the fine fresh fins in the window: on one side fluted scallop shells, lithe sea bass and a whole, very grumpy-looking John Dory peered out from their bed of ice; in the other window hung fish slowly dry-ageing (a process that removes residual moisture for exceptional texture and flavour). The signs were certainly good.
The oyster bar at the back also functions as the kitchen’s pass which makes for genuinely interesting dining. I watched as chefs and waiting staff alike discussed ingredients and tasted sauces with knowledge and enthusiasm. The menu changes regularly with the ebb and flow of the tides, but this time I opted for a few Cooley Gold oysters to start. They were plump and briny fresh, expertly shucked and served simply. It called for some bread and butter, particularly noteworthy sourdough and excellent chilled butter as it turned out. Smoked eel with cucumber followed, the smoking expertly judged to enhance the texture and sweetness of the fish. Then a new dish: dry-aged trout served medium-rare, its soft and yielding texture contrasting nicely with a nubbly crust, and its sweet fermented-grape sauce acting as a foil for slightly bitter turnip shavings.
A glass of Pét nat rosé from the Douro lent a good, chewy texture and enlivening fizz to all this silky fishiness. Low intervention and natural wines are something of a feature of the wine list which has a particular eye to Portugal’s wine scene. Leandro Carreira, the Executive chef, is Portuguese and you can feel his culture’s deep knowledge of sea and vine pervading the menu, subtly but to great effect. He lets his full creative juices flow at their chef’s table out in Hackney, a place talked of in hushed, reverential tones in Cheslea. I haven’t made it there yet but, given that they also offer seafood masterclasses and feature some serious guest chef slots from the likes of TĀ TĀ Eatery’s Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng, it won’t be long.
