England, Restaurants

The Lobster Smack – Dickens loved this pub so much he included it in ‘Great Expectations’

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We visited the Lobster Smack on Canvey Island, Essex, a few days ago during our seal-spotting expedition (and paintballing session) and enjoyed the experience. Charles Dickens loved this old inn so much that he included it in ‘Great Expectations’. We were immediately greeted by the friendly waitress upon arrival and led to our table. The menu is surprisingly long for a traditional country inn. We decided to go for the obligatory lobster and seafood cocktail in prosecco Marie Rose sauce, also known as cocktail sauce (£4.99), and their prawn and calamari duo with lemon mayonnaise (£4.49) for starters. As main, Ms B opted for the seafood pie (salmon, smoked haddock, king prawns and lobster in creamy leek sauce, topped with a cheesy puff pastry lid and served with buttery mashed potato and garden peas for £9.99) while I chose beef pie with redcurrant and red wine gravy served with mashed […]

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England, Restaurants

Serious Seafood in Southampton: Soleto

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During our recent visit to the New Forest we took the train to Southampton and hired a car from there to get to our final destination near Brockenhurst. On our way back we stopped for dinner at Soleto, Southampton’s top location for seafood, an Italian restaurant ranking #14 out of 639 on Tripadvisor, and proud holder of a Certificate of Excellence. The owner, who also happens to be the chef, greeted us upon arrival, gave us some recommendations and cheered us up with some anecdotes from his life. We decided to go for the mussels (£9.50), a mixed salad (£3.50), and the “Fish Medley” (£24.95).   Both dishes arrived fairly quickly and we tucked in. The mussels were among the nicest ones we’ve had in a while, really lovely sauce too. The seafood platter was equally delightful. I particularly liked the squid and the cod, both of which had near-perfect […]

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London, London restaurants

Kensington Place – Tasty Seafood in a Relaxed Atmosphere

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UPDATE 31.03.2019 – Kensington Place closed on 24.03.2019 after 32 years. Many food critics found very kind words for this restaurant that pioneered the new London restaurant scene when it was opened in 1987 by Nick Smallwood and Simon Slater in the same year as Bibendum and the River Café. We enjoyed our recent visit to Kensington Place. The friendly staff led us to our table next to the tall window front. We immediately liked the bright, unpretentious, modern, relaxed atmosphere.   After short deliberation, we decided to go for the 2-course set menu for £15 with oysters and whitebait for starters and the fish of the day (cod fillet) for the two of us. As optional sides we chose French fries (£2) and creamed spinach (£3.50). The oysters, which came highly recommended to us, did not disappoint. The whitebait were phenomenally delicious, just the right texture and not too […]

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London restaurants

Serious Seafood at Bonnie Gull’s

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[UPDATE 31 January 2020: This restaurant has permanently closed] My wife and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary yesterday at Bonnie Gull in central London’s Fitzrovia. This British seaside town inspired seafood restaurant is ranking roughly #100 out of 20,000 London restaurants on Tripadvisor. It has been receiving glowing reviews all over the culinary community without exception and we did not regret our choice.     The interior and exterior design already instil a warm, understated, pleasant atmosphere when you enter the tiny dining room from its Foley Street entrance, and despite the lack of space, narrow paths between the tables, and direct proximity to your neighbours and their conversations, we felt thoroughly comfortable. The waiters and waitresses are very friendly and immediately made us feel welcome and at ease, even though, in our experience on that day, they might not have been extremely well trained, but that’s ok (remember, […]

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