We went to the Brighton visitor centre near the Pavilion and I found Fishy Fishy marked on one of their maps. The restaurant was billed as providing fish from sustainable sources. I am all in favour of sustainable local fish and the restaurant was just across the road in East street in a listed building.
Fishy Fishy was not very full on a cold December afternoon. Maybe it was the winter's day and we were late arrivals. However, we were given a warm welcome and the waiter, Steven, helped us upstairs with the push chair.
The menu is extensive and it has a good range of wines on the list. After some debate, we concluded that our guests could not go back to France without trying some fish and chips and mushy peas. We ordered a dozen oysters from Jersey and some salt and pepper squid, sourced from the English Channel, as starters to share.
We selected a bottle of Lafage Picpoul de Pinet. This white wine is made exclusively from the Picpoul grape and hails from the Languedoc just inland from the Mediterranean near Pézenas. It is an area well worth visiting for its wine, scenery and cuisine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picpoul_de_Pinet#Picpoul_de_Pinet
http://www.pezenas-tourisme.fr/index.php?lang=en
Picpoul de Pinet is a lively and bone dry wine which is fresh and full of citrus fruit and apple flavours. It must be drunk as young and as fresh as possible and cooled. In my mind, it goes better with fish than Muscadet. The wine was the perfect accompaniment to both the starters and the main course.
I thought that the squid was perfectly prepared and seasoned and it certainly went down well with the oysters. The wine cleared the palate between mouthfuls.
The fish and chips were perfect. There was one portion of Ling and one of Whiting both sourced from Newhaven. The fish was perfectly seasoned, full of flavour and fresh. I am often disappointed with Cod which I always find very bland. Ling and Whiting are, however, both members of the Cod family but do not suffer from the same tastelessness.
The batter was crispy but not greasy. Most of the time I cannot eat all of the batter with my fish and chips but this time I ate everything. The batter had also made a perfect seal around the fish so the meat was steamed rather than fried by oils leaking in to cook the flesh. The fish and batter combination was therefore delicious.
I was delighted to see Ling on the menu as it is a seriously underrated fish. I grew up near Milford Haven in West Wales: it had a huge trawler fleet. Ling was not regarded by the local people as being fit for human consumption and it all went to the fish meal factory. We never bought fish as our fishermen friends gave us plenty; but none of them would ever have dreamt to insult us by giving us Ling.
The first time I ate Ling was in France. I have never seen it on a British menu before. You must try it. I was pleasantly surprised that they had it on the menu here.
Everyone enjoyed the meal so much that we ordered another bottle of the Picpoul. I was driving so I had only taken a small glass. The other three adults could not finish the second bottle but I am sure that the remainder was not wasted. We were even sober enough to get the baby downstairs.
The baby really enjoyed some chips and mushy peas and couldn't care less whether there was a Michelin star or not. It was a great introduction to English cuisine and tasted just as good as many a fish meal we have had in France.
As the restaurant was not full we were able to have friendly conversation with the staff about food, travel wine and sport. It was a very enjoyable time. We could have no criticism.
Fishy Fishy is owned by Dermot O' Leary and some of his friends. I have never watched the X factor so I had never heard of Dermot until I read some of the reviews of his restaurant in the main press. I see no reason to "take a pop" at Mr O' Leary or his restaurant because he introduces a popular TV show. And, indeed, I see no reason to draw comparisons between the food in his restaurant and the music on his show.
Fishy Fishy is not Fine Dining and does not set out to be. The food we had was well cooked and tasted delicious and impressed our guests. There is no doubt that all restaurants sometimes get it wrong even starred ones. And, there is no doubt that if something went wrong here the staff would do their best to make good.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/24/fishy-fishy-brighton-restaurant-review-dermot-oleary
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/reviews/fishy-fishy-25-east-street-brighton-1739841.html
Mr O'Leary and his partners provide good food from sustainable sources which is prepared well and tastes delicious. They have even got good well chosen wines to go with it. They do this in a friendly and unpretentious atmosphere. I have to be in the mood for Fine Dining, and feel rich, but I could eat and drink here at anytime. For this reason, Fishy Fishy gets my vote. The next time I am in Brighton I am going back.
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