Second helpings of J Sheekey

As the third string to the bows of Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, J Sheekey's, as it used to be called, was perfect. Like Le Caprice and The Ivy, it had theatrical connections and a long history including a period in the doldrums. With the help of designer David Collins, whose hand has touched so many ambitious London restaurants of late, the interior has been completely re-vamped installing a period feel where before there was just shabby nostalgia. A series of small, picture-filled rooms connected by a corridor deprives punters of some of the finer points of people-watching (or snooping) and can impose more proximity than mankind can bear if a party is loud and boorish - as can happen. It did to us. Low ceilings are no help in siphoning away raucous laughter. A good diversion is the plateau de fruits de mer where concentration on winkling out the goodness from shell and carapace can blot out all other activity. Other first courses range from jellied eels with Sarsons malt vinegar at £4.75 to caviar starting at £28.50 for 30g of Sevruga. All pockets and appetites are catered for. Whole Cornish rock crab was a feisty fellow; Morecambe Bay potted shrimps were fine; but saut?ed foie gras with scallops and buttered carrots was misconceived, so over-rich as to be smarmy. A lone meat dish appears among the daily specials, but we stuck with the restaurant's intention - fish. Haddock and chips with minted pea pur?e and smoked fillet of cod with poached egg and colcannon were fine products well turned out, although, as Jeremy King came over to point out, the chips were not as crisp as they should have been - something about the wrong sort of potato. Perhaps only Marie Antoinette and I would complain of too many black truffles, but fewer sooty slices and more, softer pasta would have brought the dish of tagliatelle with black truffles into balance. Treacle tart is still not right, too smooth and featureless. I must remember to send them my recipe. Photographs of the stars of yesteryear are a joy to study. Robert Morley looked down on us enviously.

J Sheekey
St. Martin's Court, London, WC2N 4AL