Rock and Sole Plaice
I usually applaud places that try to make a clever play on words.
The caveat is that that doesn’t necessarily mitigate all sins.
By way of introduction (and excuse for my poor choice), this is a place that I last ate at more than a decade ago. I was a younger, less discerning and more impressionable then. In the past according to my failing memory, when I ate the fish and chips here, it was the best I had ever had. Getting my excuses all out there when I last tried it, I was a poor broke student away from home for the first time, fresh off the boat, desperate to eat something which wouldn’t cost me an arm and leg. Life was tough in those days. Life is still tough (for many other reasons).
Scampi and chips. This is what my dining companion had. Presentation wasn’t really their strong suit here but this was a fish and chips shop so I should cut them some slack. Although on the same vein, if seafood is what you specialise in, I am less forgiving on how it taste. These scampi seemed to have been breaded too uniformly which made me suspicious about them potentially being mass produced. As for the scampi inside, they were cooked but perhaps a bit too much. They were rubbery and rather sapid and weirdly seemed to be coated in a slimy membrane. Could have given these a miss.
Haddock and chips. Something a bit better. This was the large haddock and although it was not overcooked, it didn’t really taste of much. So although the texture was better than the scampi, I could have been eating anything generic really. Even liberal use of lemon, tartare sauce and salt didn’t lift it up.
Coleslaw. Tasted as boring as it looked. As a token gesture towards greens, this very non-green salad smeared in mayonnaise was rather boring. It was lifeless in taste and texture. A bit like cardboard.
My dining companion and I did have a good chat over the meal though as it was a pleasant seat by the window. Every good (and bad) thing comes to an end so as I walked away, I thought to myself, how could I have thought that these were the bee’s knees before? Why had I been so deluded? What an idiot I was in those days (not changed on that front that much though). Perhaps the restaurant might better be called rock and soul plaice. That is, where if you eat this food, you give it up.
A quiet eating 6/10.
Lunch (1 course) was GBP20 excluding service and drinks.
47 Endell Street
London WC2H 9AJ