The Daily Telegraph
William Sitwell reviewed the third, newly opened, branch of London Shell Co; the first land-based venue from the team behind the Regent’s Canal barges known for their seafood is a combined fishmonger and seafood bar in Swains Lane, by Hampstead Heath.
It’s “jolly, breezy, upbeat and very enticing” – he particularly enjoyed the fish counter, that “tempts like a glistening, spilling treasure chest”, and the pudding menu (“Dessert is a horrid word, up there with doily and moist.”)
“The more London Shell Co roll their concept out, on barge or land, the better it is for us all.” (****)
William Sitwell - 2023-07-24The Times
Giles Coren has become a regular at the bricks-and-mortar branch of an outfit that made its name serving fish in floating barge-restaurants on the Regent’s Canal. It’s a small and unprepossessing venue, “inside a fishmonger in a redeveloped parade of shops on the edge of a mini roundabout at a leafy junction in north London, and it is doing everything you could possibly do if your humble aim were to be, for some people, on some days, the best restaurant in the world.”
After a dozen or so visits – “it just gets better each time” – Giles has worked his way through the menu, eating “a shifting, opportunistic roster of the most living fish you’ll see outside a swim in the actual sea”, eaten either “plain as you want” or with strong flavours, such as John Dory with mushrooms and chicken butter, Dover sole with curry mussel butter, or red mullet with crab and lobster risotto.
“A decent tagline for this place, apart from, “Best restaurant in the world”, might be, “If St John did fish restaurants…”
Giles Coren - 2024-06-09
