Covent Garden , Fish & Seafood Restaurant Guide

“Constantly updated on blackboards, you find a selection of fresh oysters, crab, lobster, other seafood, and fish to choose from” at this “brilliant little place” in Covent Garden, which “despite its location in the central touristic area, doesn’t feel expensive”. “Tables and chairs are a bit basic” though – it’s “pleasant and convivial” enough, but “you do pretty much have to accept being part of the next table’s conversation”.

The “super-fresh fish” – “simply prepared” and “never overcooked” – “never disappoints” at this “good value” trio of West End seafood brasseries, in Covent Garden, Marylebone and Swallow Street, off Piccadilly.

Gordon Ramsay’s two-year-old tenure has yet to dazzle at this Thames-side dining room (which, two years ago – when Gordon took it over – returned to the name under which it was launched in 1890 and has traded under for much of the last century). From its days as Kaspar’s (RIP), it continues a fish and seafood theme – now with a fashionable raw bar – and there are also a few meat grills on the menu. But few dishes catch the eye from the somewhat “unremarkable” selection and it can be “difficult to find something you fancy”. And, when they arrive, too often results are “only moderately good” or plain “disappointing”.

“By no means a flashy restaurant and fairly cramped, but some of the very best fish that you will find in London” – this immensely popular Covent Garden fixture is a “premier choice” despite its humble looks thanks to a “daily changing menu dependent on the morning’s catch” that’s “accurately and sometimes interestingly, sometimes classically cooked” and delivered at a “really good-value” price. “The inside space is tiny, but they have managed to expand into an outside area which they heat on the pavement”.

“Pre or post-theatre, very much a favourite over many years” – this elegant seafood bar was added adjacent to the main restaurant fifteen years ago, and its more laid-back style means it’s tailor-made for a luxurious bite and glass of fizz. That said, it’s become “quite pricey” over time, and doesn’t have quite the dazzling golden glow of yesteryear.

Black & white pictures of actors past and present line the “iconic panelled dining rooms” of this “absolute classic” in Theatreland (est. 1896) – “still the benchmark for fish and seafood” in London; and still the capital’s No.1 most-mentioned entry in our annual diners’ poll; and still “always packed”. Located in an unpromising back alley off St Martin’s Lane, you navigate past the uniformed doorman and opaque windows to the “very classy” and “old school” interior, which is “divided into smaller rooms, lending a degree of privacy and keeping the noise down” (not always successfully). A superb variety of fresh dishes is “impeccably” (if “unadventurously”) realised, with Dover Sole (“cooked on the bone then prepared by the waiter”) and Fish Pie most often featuring in reports. This year, there’s a feeling that “though very good, it’s now relatively expensive for quality versus its peers”: a particular gripe is the “rather overpriced” wine.

Despite a fine NYC pedigree; a selection of top-quality imported USDA steaks; and a ‘prestige’ location, at the foot of the Adelphi (just off the Strand), this US steakhouse has never made waves in the capital. When it does, it’s often for the wrong reasons, with too many complaints either that it’s “overpriced” or “very disappointing”.