Serious fish in a super-Lyme setting - Hix Oyster and Fish House

We chose to visit Lyme Regis in August for several reasons. The Jurassic coast crammed with fossils and geology. The ancient Cobb harbour, redolent of Meryl Streep looking out to sea in the movie adaptation of John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant’s Woman. The splendid museum, where Fowles was curator for many years. The historic links with the Civil War and James Earl of Monmouth’s doomed landing and invasion which culminated in the Bloody Assizes of Judge Jefferies. But the main reason was a more modern one – the opening of Mark Hix’s new Oyster and Fish House (http://www.hixoysterandfishhouse.co.uk/) .

After many years as executive head chef at Caprice Holdings, overseeing both Le Caprice and The Ivy in London, Hix has now set out to run his own show. That should be ‘shows’ really – this is his second establishment. The first, Hix Oyster and Chop House in Smithfield, opened earlier in 2008. The Fish House has a fantastic setting above the Cobb, in what appears to be a newly constructed affair of wood and glass. The views over Lyme harbour and towards the dramatic cliffs to the east are unrivalled and certainly provide an epic setting for dinner. There is even an outside terrace for lunches – there’s a thought which should get the fish-lover walking up the rather steep Cobb Road to the restaurant.

The menu is not too long and changes regularly. We started with oysters – Portland Royals (from the sea off Portland, in sight on a clear day some 20 miles to the East) and Devon Yealms (estuary oysters from the South Devon river of the same name) were very much to our liking – not too big and served with great care to include all the delicious liquor held within the deep shells. They were presented, unusually, with the top shell replaced and shucked in the French style, without severing the tissue connecting the oyster and the shell. Shuckers in France always do it like this, to prevent any accusations that they are using tinned oysters rather than fresh ones, whereas the norm in the UK and USA is to sever the oyster completely so that it’s ready to gulp down. Nice fresh bread and butter went along very well.

We went to to Lyme Bay fish soup with Julian Temperley's (not very noticeable) cider brandy and Fowey mussels with Burrow Hill cider. The soup was rich and delicious, even though served without the (somewhat traditional) grated gruyere and croutons – fine for a starter. The mussels were excellent, the sauce creamy and plentiful. I washed the mussels down with a bottle of Harviestoun’s excellent Schiehallion lager (http://www.harviestoun.com/) which has a bit more body than your average lager and went well with the food. I am delighted to report that Hix has quite a substantial selection of bottled beers and ciders along with a well chosen wine list – even including Rick Stein’s Chalky’s Bite beer (a confident move if every I saw one).

Main course was grilled fish for two. And pretty serious fish it is – the selection of the day included gurnard and john dory alongside Torbay sole and lobster. All this arrived on a wooden board, well cooked (after a longer pause than might be expected). All the fish fell off the bone – just as well in the case of the dory and gurnard, which arrived whole. The sole (also known as witch) was delicate and generously thick, and the half a grilled lobster added a little garlic into the proceedings. We had side orders of tomato and lovage salad (featuring three different kinds of tomatoes – very nice indeed) and chips.

Usually Jenny and I miss out on the desert course – but the offerings looked so tempting we pressed on. Jenny had cheese (of course) – Dorset Blue Vinney in this case, being the only one on offer. FOH manager Jonathan Jeffrey recommended another Temperley apple drink, Somerset Pomona to go along with it (http://www.ciderbrandy.co.uk/) . Apple juice and cider brandy are aged for two years in oak, producing a nice and not-too-sweet digestif that reminded us a little of Pineau des Charentes. He also had us trying Shipwreck, a 10 year old cider brandy finished in French oak casks salvaged from the Napoli, the container ship which spectacularly went aground off the coast of Devon in January 2007. Delicious!

Hix Oyster and Fish House, Cobb Road, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3JP, Tel: 01297 446 910

Perfect seaside squid - the Hive beach cafe, Dorset

During August the Seafoodshack team took a short break in Lyme Regis in Dorset. We went partly to take a look at the Jurassic Coast (www.jurassiccoast.com), now a World Heritage site, where 185 million years of geology are visible along around 95 miles of England’s southern fringe. Weathering and the sea’s erosion keep working away at the cliffs, ensuring a ready supply of fossils along the beach. Indeed, it was here that Mary Anning (1799 – 1847) made the first discoveries of complete fossilised ichthyosaurs and a plesiosaur, and generally started the idea of fossil collecting.

We also went, of course, in search of seafood. First stop was the Hive Beach Café (www.hivebeachcafe.co.uk) just outside the village of Burton Bradstock near Bridport. The gloriously sandy beach is under the ownership of the National Trust, and the enterprising owners of the café have a wonderful position. There is a large outdoor patio area as well as seat under an awning (useful for the dubious British summer we’ve been having).

The seafood here has been praised highly by many writers, and so I was looking forward to sampling the trademark Crab Sandwich. Sadly the weather had been poor in the days before our visit, and there were no crabs to be had! The boats had been unable to get out. This also meant no seafood platters. Quel dommage! So I settled for a perfectly respectable jacket potato with prawns – generous and yummy and served with a nice home-made Marie Rose sauce and salad. This was washed down with a bottle of splendid local ale in the shape of Palmers IPA – brewed just down the road in Bridport (www.palmersbrewery.com). It’s a nicely hopped brew and at 4.2% is an ideal lunchtime imbibement.

Jenny, however, plumped for a more special dish – pan-fried squid with salad, which was absolutely superb. The squid (not called calamari here!) was wonderfully tender, absolutely melt-in-the-mouth. It was served with salad and generous doorsteps of brown bread – perfect seafood shack fare. Not the cheapest at £14.95, but well worth it. We went back later on for a local ice-cream from Lovington’s (www.lovingtons.co.uk) and saw the most wonderful looking scones appearing – enormous, with generous cream and jam. They open from 12 noon to around 7pm in summer, with the lunch menu running all afternoon. It gets pretty full around one o’clock but is quieter later on, so why not take the chance to check out a real British seafood shack! Hooray!!

Lobster Chinese style in Chepstow - The Shangri-La

I must admit that if asked to think about likely spots for some excellent food of any kind (let alone seafood), then Chepstow would not be the first place to come to mind. Situated at the unfashionable end of the old Severn bridge (now called the M48 and presumably even more of a back water than it used to be), this border town actually turns out to have some interesting narrow streets once the brave traveller leaves the main road and avoids the hideous Tesco near the centre. It also boasts a fine castle.

We were there to celebrate the birthday of my brother-in-law, and had been invited to join him and his wife (my sister, aforementioned on these pages) at a favourite restaurant. Somewhat to my surprise this turned out to be a Chinese. The Shangri-La has been at 17 St Mary Street for two years now, and seems to be very popular indeed - we visited on a Tuesday night, and just about every table was taken. There is even a nicely cordoned-off area near the door for customer awaiting takeaways (so the sit-down diners aren't troubled by them asking for 10p for a cup of tea, one half thinks).

Actually, the Shangri-La is a pleasant and invigorating find. It's run by (at least) two generations of the Ong family who come originally from Malaysia, and so the menu features plenty of Malay-style options which comes as a nice surprise. Having visited Malaysia several times, I can also confirm that it's pretty authentic! Mmmmm...chilli (in Homer Simpson voice). I had heard good reports of the crab here, and we had pre-ordered two lobsters for this particular birthday feast.

But wait... we started off with a nice range of starters. Salt-and-pepper fried squid with marvellous green chilli sauce, pork and prawn dumplings, smoked chicken with spicy salty chillies, lettuce wraps with prawns and hoisin sauce... And they have draft Sun Lik beer too, all the way from Hong Kong. All these were excellent.

But the lobsters - they were sensational. The first one arrived cooked in ginger and spring onion, cut into pieces and served on a bed of crispy noodles. It was easy to eat (you just pull away the meat from the shell), and the way the sauce dripped through onto the noodles was outstanding. The second lobster arrived 'Shangri-La style', which means served in a spicy and sour sauce rather similar to the sauce accompanying chilli crab in Singapore - brown, with egg stirred into it, and a nice step up from the more delicate ginger flavours. Wow!

Taking this in our stride, we followed on with scallops sliced and stir-fried, delicious prawns with egg (fried into tiny yet crispy strands - how DO they do it?), pak choi with oyster sauce and rice. An excellent seafood-based blow-out, and one well worth sampling. The Shangri-La is at 17 St Mary Street, Chepstow NP16 5EW, telephone 01291 622959. They do have a website at http://www.s-la.co.uk/, but at the moment it's a triumph of rotating logo over content. Just get along and try it out - it's much better than it should be, if you know what I mean.

Brixham fish in the heart of the Cotswolds - the Inn For All Seasons

We’ve been driving along the A40 between Cheltenham and Oxford for many years. It’s a winding road which can be annoyingly slow if you get behind a lorry, but it does pass through some glorious countryside and past quite a few roadside inns. Some of these are clearly struggling for custom, but this can’t be said of the Inn For All Seasons, just before Burford at Barrington. The car park often seems fullish and there’s a sign outside promising FRESH FISH (in big letters). Is this the secret of their success?

The fish is delivered from Brixham in Devon, and does indeed seem to be fresh. It’s also varied and well-prepared. There’s a cosy bar (for this is very much still a pub where one can drop in for a pint) as well as a restaurant alongside, and the atmosphere is very much English countryside – local farmers alongside Cotswold society and visiting tourists. The menu has a good choice of meat and poultry – but our attention was riveted on the fish specials board in the bar. And what an excellent choice it offers: gilt-fin black bream (with stir-fry of fennel and lime butter sauce), roast loin steak of monkfish (on Paris mushroom with chorizo sauce), or fillet of Bibury trout (and lightly curried brown shrimp butter).

We started off with half a dozen oysters from County Louth, small yet very plump and a great start. Starters of Scallops with bacon and salad and Dart salmon nicoise (a generous piece of salmon atop new potatoes, French beans, anchovies and hard boiled egg – fantastic!) set us up nicely for the main event. I must admit I was hoping to see Dover sole on the menu, but the grilled plaice, large and meaty with butter, parsley and lemon more than made up for it. Jenny had a Thai fish curry with rice, mixed fish in a chunky and very spicy sauce. We were both very well pleased.

The wine list is not long but well-chosen and offers a good range, including a nice house Champagne at £27.50 which proved excellent value. There was no room whatsoever for dessert, but a pot of coffee nicely rounded off our evening. I noticed an excellent selection of rare malt whiskies behind the bar. The Inn For All Seasons is a beacon of great fish in the Cotwold countryside – drop in next time you’re passing, or even better stay for a couple of nights and enjoy the surrounding valleys and walks. More at http://www.innforallseasons.co.uk/.