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Fish Hook

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Cuisine: Seafood
Average price for a meal for two: £90

6-8 Elliott Road, Chiswick, W4 1PE

Nearest Tube: Turnham Green

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Description: Fish Hoek is a hugely popular South African seafood restaurant with a great atmosphere. There is a short South African wine list and a menu listing many fish you will never have heard of but all of which are delicious. The staff are friendly and efficient, making this restaurant well worth a visit.

Phone: 020 8742 0766

 

 

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All fins bright and beautiful

Fish Hook's chef/proprietor Michael Nadra has a degree in engineering.

There used to be a South African fish restaurant called Fish Hoek but I never made the Great Trek to Chiswick to try it out. Something about the Afrikaans sound of hoek caught in my throat.

Fish Hoek closed last summer and in its place is Fish Hook where chef/proprietor is Michael Nadra, who graduated from Glasgow University with an honours degree in engineering.

A summer job at Marco Pierre White's Canteen in Chelsea Harbour during his studies led to Nadra working part-time for Nick Nairn at his eponymous Glasgow restaurant.

Since then, all the engineering has been of a culinary kind as Nadra worked for Gordon Ramsay and Bruce Poole, also at The Oak, The Hempel, The Waterway and The Ebury. Now, with his own place, he is on the opposite side of Chiswick High Road to La Trompette, where once he was sous-chef.

A lick of cream paint on the walls and tongue-and-groove panelling, some black-and-white pictures which resemble Rorschach (inkblots) tests but turn out to be close-ups of bits of fishes, are some of the changes.

The concept of serving most of the dishes at two sizes and two prices is something Fish Hook shares with what was Fish Hoek. It's likeable presentation, enabling customers to try a spread of dishes or alternatively eat frugally and quite cheaply.

We ate conventionally, small dish followed by main course amount. My dinner got off to a rousing start thanks to red mullet with foie gras, endive salad and a sherry-and-raisin jus (their description).

The modest (tiny) size of the piece of foie gras was perhaps an evocation of the liver of red mullet which is considered a delicacy in its own right - and the reason why red mullet is sometimes sold ungutted.

The agreeable fattiness of the fish and richness of the liver was well offset by slightly bitter thinly sliced endive and a dribble and spatter of sauce that had a nice jammy quality.

Fish soup with a wide variety of species sailing in the broth was darkly intense with a splash of Pernod or other anis-based drink to rev up the impact.

My main course was ragu of handdived scallops, baby squid and octopus with tomatoes, basil and roasted Jerusalem artichokes. By ragu - technically a sauce based on minced meat - I think was meant ragout, which is derived from the verb ragouter meaning, more or less, to perk up. A well-reduced tomato sauce was added to the fish to carry out that function.

The slices of Jerusalem artichokes were cleverly cooked to just that critical point between softness and completely falling apart.

Glenarm organic salmon with steamed Shetland mussels, ginger and Chinese broccoli turned out to be salmon in a creamy mussel sauce. This was more successful than it might read.

It was the salted caramel that drew us (again) to chocolate fondant served with a vanilla ice cream nicely speckled with seeds from the vanilla pod. Salted caramel is just a wonderful flavour.

There was a warm dessert - someone complained to me the other day that most restaurants only serve cold puddings - of apple tarte Tatin with cinnamon ice-cream.

Front-of-house is in the capable hands of a female manager who was previously working at The River Café. When I asked her for something towards the end of the meal - I can't remember what it was, probably another glass of wine - she said briskly, "One thing at a time". Very Rose and Ruthie.

Note the good-value deal at lunchtime and early evening. Fish Hook is a piscine asset in the area. And I say that well aware that a branch of the Fishworks chain is in the next street.

Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.

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