Simply Seafood Review!

October 28, 2015 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Simply Seafood

Nowadays everyone’s a food critic. Social media just makes it so easy for anyone to comment about their restaurant experience. I reckon most of us fancy ourselves as the next AA Gill or Jay Rayner. Long gone are the days of just reading reviews in the Sunday supplements, its everywhere now. Not forgetting everyone’s all time favourite, Trip Advisor. To be honest, I don’t pay too much attention to Trip Advisor; I really believe a dining experience comes down to personal taste. I’m sure, not everyone would agree with some of the reviews I have posted here in the past. What some people may find acceptable, others wouldn’t. Do I get upset if I am not offered a drink with the menu? Yes! But I’m sure that wouldn’t bother other people. For me, it’s all about 3 things, service, service and service, oh and of course food (that’s actually 4!) I would give a restaurant a big ‘Foodie Rich Thumbs Up’ for magnificent service, even if the food was just mediocre, but again, I am sure a lot of you would think differently. So although I do pay attention to other reviews, I try not to let them influence me too much. This week is a prime example. I am not going to skate around the issue, Simply Seafood have had a bit of hard time on Tripadvisor in past months. Which is a shame, as I am sure this has put a large number of people off. But not me, I thought it high time to head on down there to make up my own mind.

So, as with most Sundays (gosh I’m so predictable!), Lou and I headed to the Mayflower. A quick pint of something local in there, then off to Simply Seafood for lunch. Anyone who hasn’t been to Simply Seafood, you will find it right on Leigh Creek, underneath the curved bridge leading towards Osborne’s and The Crooked Billet. It would be a great venue for the summer months as they have ample seating outside. But today was fairly chilly, so inside it had to be. We received a warm greeting and were shown to our table by the window. The menus arrived promptly, and shortly after our drinks order taken. So far so good, I couldn’t fault the service, albeit maybe a little too attentive! The menu, as you’d expect, is mainly seafood. How do Scallops, Langoustines or local Oysters take your fancy for starters? The mains sounded equally good, wild Sea bass, lemon sole or Fruit De Mer; all right up my alley! To start I thought I’d give the smoked salmon a go. Served simply with tangy capers and a little side salad it wasn’t too bad at all. My only criticism, no bread! Just a slice or two of brown bread and butter would have been lovely, oh well; I need to cut down on my carbs anyway! Lou went for the dressed crab, this was pretty good. Just simple, lovely, sweet white and brown crabmeat. The crab was dressed perfectly; not a rogue piece of shell in sight. Believe me, if you chomp in to an unwelcome piece of shell you’re guaranteed an expensive trip to the dentist. My only criticism here, the same as the salmon, no bread again! A piece of bread with that rich brown crabmeat would have been lovely.

Before I move on to the mains I feel an apology is due! Earlier, I mentioned we could have chosen from an array of wonderful sounding seafood main courses. But what did Lou and I order? Fish and Chips! We just fancied it! Fish and chips just taste better when you are by the sea, so that’s what we had to have? In the interests of food journalism I will return another time and try something a little more adventurous. But today I went for an old skool classic, Rock and Chips. Lou opted for skate. She actually asked for the skate to be grilled, instead of battered, as this is an option on the menu. However, when the skate arrived at the table it was battered! It wasn’t much of an issue though, the batter was really light, and not greasy at all, so Lou just got stuck in. The skate was piping hot and cooked well. We’ll forgive the mix up! My Rock was cooked equally well, and clearly straight out of the fryer, it too was piping hot.

Now, the chips. Maybe it's just me, but don’t you just hate it when you’re in a fairly smart establishment, such as Simply Seafood, you see fish and chips on the menu and the chips are described as hand cut, double or even thrice cooked. Very nice they sound too. But when it arrives at the table, uniform ‘oblong cubes’ confront you and the chef insists on stacking these like a Jenga tower. I just despair, these are not chips. Maybe nice with a steak, but when I want fish and chips I just want, well, chips; it’s not too much to ask is it? Full marks here though, I was served a generous pile of good old chip shop chips, just what I wanted. A sprinkling of salt and a splash of vinegar, perfect.

What did we drink? Just a couple of Peronis. The wine list wasn’t too bad, but, it was lunchtime and we just fancied a beer. Anyone who regularly reads my reviews should know of my beer passion! Good beer goes remarkably well with food. Beer culture is now so diverse you would be hard pushed not to find an interesting beer to accompany any dish. Be it a hearty steak and kidney pie on a cold winters evening, or a poached salmon salad in the middle of summer. To be honest, a better beer selection would have been nice here, but I guess that’s my beer head talking. Maybe we should have just ordered a crisp bottle of white or even better still, a glass of fizz! Champers is just wonderful with fish and chips.

As what seems to be the normal with us, no room for pudding! But they did have some good sounding homemade creations to satisfy any sweet tooth.

How much? £64 for two courses and a couple of beers. This may sound a little on the pricey side for what is essentially a fish and chip lunch, but they tick all the boxes on my checklist. The location is great, the restaurant is smart, the service was good, and I couldn’t fault the food. You get what you pay for so not bad value in my eyes.

I opened this week’s instalment nattering on about how we are all food critics, and it's true. Other people’s comments and reviews are valuable. But, you can really only count on your own tastes and experiences. So, take my advise, before you make up your mind, try it for yourself, you may be pleasantly surprised…I was!

To compliment this review, please see our Recipe of the week; Seared Seabass with green pea sauce http://www.leigh-on-sea.com/blog/seared-seabass-with-green-pea-sauce.html