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Down in Brighton, this seafood and steak specialist is a big fish. Here, hidden within the One Tower Bridge development, it’s a smaller specimen, but one that’s built a strong rep among locals. On my Sunday lunchtime visit, the place was packed. Everyone else was having the sharing roast: a bone-in sirloin where ‘all the trimmings’ includes cauliflower cheese. For research, I ordered a selection of dinnery things instead, but wasn’t disappointed. Everything was great.
In fact, there were so many memorable small plates, I’ll have to rattle them off like a shopping list: dense, meaty short-rib croquettes with a punchy gochujang mayo; perfect juicy scampi over a tangy tartare-spiked hollandaise; slivers of raw ceviche-esque grey mullet with a citrus zing. There was even a plate of mackerel so artfully composed – fruity blobs and cubes, glistening ash-topped spheres of cucumber, waxy smoked potatoes – it could have been served at a fancy-pants fine diner for double the price.
Larger dishes, like pink-middled medallions of lamb with a micro-caponata and burnt baby gem; or the juicy, well-cooked ribeye, were also good, though the £2 béarnaise was thick and dull, like a bad custard.
But service was brilliant. Every single person I encountered had bags of warmth and personality, much like the room itself. Despite the corporate greyness of the buildings outside, once you’re in, it’s a different story: a handsome place of smoky mirrors, antique metals, dark woods, warm lighting and a jazzy, laid-back soundtrack. Stay away from the windows and you’ll have a grand time.