fishers

this is quite possibly one of the best seafood restaurants in scotland - all produce is as local as possible, and the creativity in the kitchen is quite simply unmatched. if you are a seafood lover you simply must go to fishers in leith. the following dishes are from my most recent visit. 

as a starter, i went for the interesting octopus nachos, and my girlfriend went for their mainstaydish- queenie scallops. the octopus was divine, cooked to absolute perfection. the flavours were excellent too, subtle, spicy mexican inspired ingredients paired perfectly with the softest octopus you will ever try. as usual - the scallops were excellent. soft and sweet, the pesto butter ladened on top adds a great savouriness to the dish. wonderfully light too - the starters act as taster that simply make you more excited for the main course to follow. 

for mains we ordered the seafood paella and the mussels. my paella was packed full of monkfish, coley, langoustine, squid and chorizo - fish and meat paradise delivered through one of my favourite rice dishes. every piece of fish, as usual, was cooked to perfection, and the flavours in the rice (saffron, paprika) really lifted the whole dish. the comparatively light flavours of the coley and squid paired well with the deeply intense chorizo and monkfish. an excellently well thought outdishwhich you would think was on the menu for years due to its execution - however, at most, it will be a week old. the mussels, however, are a mainstay - the garlic, wine and cream sauce is packed full of flavour, making every mussel mouthful an utter delight. make sure to ask for an extra basket of bread or a side of chips to lap up the last of that spectacular sauce - it's that good. 

onto dessert - now, for me, fishers is home to the best sticky toffee pudding in the world. fluffy, flavoursome and huge - it'll leave you sweetly satisfied. nonetheless, their offerings of cheese and ice cream are often excellent. with clava brie, a great soft cheese from inverness-shire on the cheese board and salted peanut ice cream on offer, you can't possibly resist a dessert here. 

the food is unbeatable, and the staff are always professional yet personable. this has got to be in the top three restaurants in edinburgh for me.

i mentioned in a previous post that i've become quite addicted to mussels. a great sauce and some plump mussels is hard to beat. if you have a plate of chips too you're in the money!

on a recent sunny afternoon s.o. and i were wandering around leith, which has been quite a find for us. the atmosphere on a sunny day is hard to beat, as people cluster around the open doors of pubs and eateries. we had been meaning to go to the plumed horse, where the team from field originated from, but they were sadly (not for them) on holiday.

so we meandered along the sea banks. fishers caught my eye, i seemed to remember hearing something about it, and this usually means that it's a good choice. their lunch menu seemed a wonderful deal at two courses for £13, or three for £16.

s.o. and i settled down in the lovely dining room. it was quiet, we had come late in the service, but very peaceful. this was actually one of the most relaxing and lovely environments i have eaten in. i ordered a fish soup to start and s.o. went for the brown shrimp rarebit.

my chowder was divine, and very reminiscent of the best ones i ate in new england. i could have eaten a big bowl of that and been quite happy. s.o. liked his rarebit but preferred my soup. it really was delicious! full of meaty fish sitting in a thick creamy broth. yum!

for our mains, i went for mussels (how could i not) in white wine, garlic and cream with chips, and s.o. went for the rather fancier 'fillet of coley, peas, broad beans, and pancetta'.

i'll begin with the coley. it was cooked to perfection. served with really perfect new potatoes that had a little crust around the outside, the flavors were clean and worked well together. it reminded me of mydishat wedgwood, and i think that the cooking was comparable. good stuff.

onto my mussels. a huge bowl was set down before me. i mean enormous! there must have been about fifty mussels in there. the sauce was expertly done, and showed great finesse. this is the finest bowl of mussels i have had yet in edinburgh. i tried my best but just couldn't manage the whole thing after a starter and large amounts of bread. but i was devastated to leave some behind. wow!

in sum, fishers does fish and does fish well. more than well in fact. the dining room is homely and has a great energy, and the food shows real care and love. at that price, it would be rude not to.

everydishis extremely well presented and up there with anything else i’ve seen in terms of presentation. more importantly the quality was fantastic and the contrasting tastes of the haddock, black pudding and gingerbread went so well together.