FishWorks

My flatmate and I went to Fishworks last night, for a quick supper. The service was sweet and prompt, and the menu looked promising - lots of simple grilled fish and seafood, staples such as oysters and smoked salmon. I opted for the fish soup (with rouille, gruyere and croutons), followed by skate with black butter, and spinach. My pal went for the spaghetti with clams and then sea bass, and a greek salad.

To be blunt, the soup tasted as though it had come from a tin, although the chef had attempted to gussy it up by liberally dousing it with olive oil and flat leaf parsley. The skate was over cooked to the point of fluffiness, and the black butter needed a squeeze of lemon to take it from sickly oiliness to palatable. It was under salted too. The spinach was far too oily, although it tasted good. All in all, my meal was something of a disappointment.

My friend enjoyed her spaghetti, which came with a generous portion of clams (and with a generous portion of olive oil from the look of it), and said that her sea bass was great. It looked good - simply cooked with garlic and rosemary. We shared a portion of chips, which were delicious and, surprisingly, not too oily.

We had a good time at Fishworks, but there's room for improvement.
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Hannah - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 6
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Went to Fishworks in Primrose Hill with my parents and my boyfriend for a nice relaxed meal. We all love seafood and my parents had been to Fishworks in Marylebone before and had said the food was great.

Our starters were all fine. Prawn Cocktail was very nice as were the Whitebait. I ordered half a lobster and chips as my main course. As the waitress brought over our mains, i looked down at my lobster and instantly thought it didnt look right!

There was one mouthful worth of meat in the tail and the whole lobster just looked rather pathetic. There was also a substantial amount of brown gunk in the middle and when I asked the waitress what this was, she informed me it was the brain! Obviously being told I had lobster brain on my plate completely turned me off my dinner. Anyway, they scooped out the "brain" for me and I ate the one mouthful of lobster meat (tasteless). My boyfriend then cracked open the claw only to discover the inside was not full of tasty white lobster meat, but was filled with a jellified substance and water! Horrendous! Having eaten lobster on a number of occassions i was mortified at what I had been presented with.

I sent it back and whilst the manager agreed there was a problem, the chef gave some story that the shell around the claw was very thick and hadn't been cooked for long enough!

Mean while my Father had finished his sea bass (which was good) when the waitress brought over his greek salad! Because of the comotion of the lobster, my dad had forgotten he had oredered a salad. Fancy bringing a salad over 20minutes late when all our meals were finished. Despite our entire evening being ruined, the restaurant only took off the lobster and salad from the bill. They could have offered a complimentary desert or something!

The rest of the food was nice but thanks to a skinny lobster, we were all put off our food. I dont think I ll be rushing back to a Fishworks again.
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

just discovered fishworks on regents park road; why have they kept this hidden! lovely venue, amazing fish. my girlfriend is not a great fish eater but the staff were very helpful in suggesting a grilled sea bass - think i might have a convert. i went straight for the squid (if you've always thought rubbery, try this as it really is perfect) and then crab. if you like your food fresh and simple and not overpowered with fussy sauces, this is a real treat. service could do with be being a little quicker but a great find.
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Ken
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, April 26, 2007

We've tried and loved the Chiswick Fishworks but was disappointed by a recent visit to the Primrose Hill branch. £11.50 for a starter-sized portion of prawns was expensive; as was £22 for a medium-sized (albeit delicious) crab. A Greek salad arrived overdressed, a tuna steak arrived overcooked with soggy lambs lettuce and the waitress, whose command of English was limited,brought us the wrong bottle of Muscadet. They also had jugs of tap water lined up, uncovered, on the side - clearly filled earlier in the evening and warm. £85 for two felt a little excessive for what was great quality fish but disappointing-quality everything else.
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Jemima Harrison
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Never tried the chain before-what a great surprise! Service was relaxed but effecient and the food was superb. As an oyster lover I was really impressed by the selection of oysters which I had to start followed by a fillet of bream with North African spices. I would love to eat there every week but I have to win the lottery first as it is not cheap!
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ivy
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, June 06, 2006