Arresting arosto – The Seahorse, Dartmouth

Our quick summer trip in search of good UK seafood led this year to Dartmouth in Devon. With the dramatically picturesque Dart valley carrying the season’s rainfall from Dartmouth through the steep-sided landscape, this has been a seaport since time immemorial – Walter Raleigh was a visitor, and the Royal Navy still trains its officers at Britannia Naval College which overlooks the bustling town centre.

Commodore of the clams is seafood entrepreneur Mitch Tonks, formerly to be found at the helm of fish shop/restaurant chain Fish Works. Tonks has taken a back-to-basics approach with his new Seahorse restaurant, with char-grilled fish as the house speciality. We arrived to find the restaurant completely fully booked on a Wednesday, so he’s clearly doing something right. Fortunately we had a table reserved, and enjoyed a glass of champagne with smoked cod roe and butter – slightly taramasalata-ish with some nice bread while we perused the menu.

Bright young maitre-d Ed showed us the days selection of fish, including some nice-looking queen scallops which would be grilled on the shell with breadcrumbs. Six of those to share then, with shrimps on toast for me and linguini with lobster, chilli and parsley for Jen. The scallops were excellent, very hot from the grill and just perfectly done. My shrimps on toast were also lovely, the delicate flavour complemented by plenty of butter. The linguini was perhaps a touch short on chilli according to my companion, but as she like chilli sauce with everything this may or may not be am observation of general relevance. We washed it all down with a bottle of slightly upmarket Nocolas Choblet Signature Muscadet, which was very dry (of course) and also had enough flavour to go well with everything (a nice surprise).

Mains – well, it has to be fish. I picked the arosto misto selection of char-grilled fish, the signature dish, while Jen had fritto misto (fried fish). My arosto was top-notch, the selection of fish including monkfish, squid and sea bass, cooked beautifully with herbs and olive oil. The fish was a great combination of different textures, and was very tasty indeed. The fritto misto featured gurnard alongside the other fish, and was similarly good. Sides of chips and salad went down well. Keeping on, we shared a cheese plate (including some wonderfully well-chosen tasty Gruyere, a very pleasant surprise) and a couple of glasses of port.

The Seahorse is clearly competing with John Burton Race’s New Angel which is just a couple of doors down. Tonks has priced his establishment very well indeed – quite a bargain, not much more that one might pay in an average restaurant for what is really top-quality fare. No wonder it was full. Book early – and, if you’ve any sense, book often. The Seahorse Restaurant, 5 South Embankment, Dartmouth TQ6 9BH, Tel: 01803 835147, http://www.seahorserestaurant.co.uk/.

Icelandic lobster - Rauða Húsið, Eyrarbakki

Continuing our Icelandic trip along the South Coast, Jenny and I came across the twin sea-side town of Eyrarbakki. This place was once the main trading post along the south coast of Iceland, and has a long heritage of fishing. The trading element has long since passed onwards to more modern ports, but the town itself is still clinging to the edge of the island. We were in search of local lobster and, having failed to get in at the better-known Við fjöruborðið in Stokkseyri we wound up at the Rauða Húsið.

Even though it was a busy holiday weekend we were quickly seated by one of the efficient team of young waitresses. Starters - what's it to be? I avoided an invidious choice by having the starter selection - a taste of lobster soup (very rich), tempura langoustine tails and chicken liver pate. A bottle of cold Thule beer from the northern town of Akureyri washed it down very nicely.

The lobster here seem to grow rather smaller than the ones we see from Maine - perhaps better described as large langoustine. One never sees the front part of the creature at all - it's just the tails that appear. The local Icelandic style is to split the tail shell and draw the meat over the shell - which is then grilled. It looks a little odd at first sight, but is very effective! We both opted for a large plate, served with garlic butter on chopped lettuce - this worked very well indeed, with the hot butter wilting the lettuce and making a nice yet rich background to the lobster tails. And as we had 9 or 10 each, that's plenty of meat!

Rauða Húsið, Búðarstíg 4, 820 Eyrarbakka, Iceland Tel +354 483 3330 www.raudahusid.is.

A rising star in Reykjavik - Hrefna Rósa Sætran and Fish Market

Quite a backlog of interesting seafood places to report on during the past couple of months, and I am very exciting to start with a remarkably excellent restaurant in Rejkjavik, Iceland. The Icelandic Kronor having collapsed in recent months, the country is even more accessible to tourists and we've been up there sampling the marvellous landscapes and eating the wildlife - in this case fish.

Fish Market is run by head chef Hrefna Rósa Sætran - she is just 27 years old and is definitely one to watch. The place has a very nice sophisticated atmosphere, very groovy and offering fusion cooking based around local fish and other ingredients. Normally I run a mile from 'fusion', but here it's carried off very well indeed, lots of Japanese influences. The place won an award from Condé Nast Traveler, Hot List Tables 2008, who say it's the chicest hangout in Rejkjavik.

We went for the 9-course tasting menu at Kr 8900 each (around £40) - a pretty reasonable price in this still-expensive-but-now just-about-affordable part of the world. Three starters - firstly (and deliciously) clams with caviar, soy and seaweed served with chilli. Then Chinese-style pork rib with star anise, and bread with black rice vinegar sauce. Finally wasabi salad - crisp lettuce with parmesan crunch, soy jelly (wonderfully intense) and sesame.

Then a sushi plate arrived - excellent quality, featuring scallop, eel, salmon and squid. The basement sushi bar is very upmarket Tokyo, not a conveyor belt in sight. Delicious.
Mains started with lightly salted cod (rather like bacalao) with jerusalem artichoke (a flavour you don't get very often, and very nice), celery, raisins and black cherry sauce. Next up Atlantic catfish with brown rice, pineapple and chilli/satay sauce. Finally lamb chops (another icelandic favourite, they have lots of sheep) with blueberry sauce, pickled onions and potato foam (works better than it sounds!).

A selection of deserts concluded our meal - creme brulee, Snickers tart (excellent and peanutty, obviously), white chocolate mousse, mango sorbet, vanilla icecream, meringue and fruit including watermelon, kiwi, strawberries, melon and blueberries. All washed down with a couple of bottles of pinot grigio, very nice and clean.

This was by some way the most imaginative food we have had during our visits to Iceland, and would be a must-try for any seafood enthusiast in the area. And as for Hrefna Rósa Sætran, keep an eye open...

Fish Market (Fiskmaradurinn), Adalstraeti 12, Rejkjavik, Iceland, Tel +354 578 8877, www.fiskmarkadurinn.is.