Roy Brett, chef-proprietor of the truly wonderful Ondine in Edinburgh, is doing his bit for seafood unity. There are generally two extremes in the fish eater’s world: cheap and cheerful- the chippie- and luxuriously expensive- the oyster bar. The former comes in under a tenner. Add on another zero at the end there if you get carried away with a platter of fruit de mer in the latter. Two sorts of fishy enterprise then, one with everyman/woman, every day appeal, the other more exclusive, or at least more confined to the treat category. Now Brett, in a joint venture with Welch, fishmongers of this parish, brings the two together at their new business on the harbour at Newhaven. In many ways, this opening is very overdue. Strangely, it’s all too easy to be in Edinburgh without being aware that you’re on the sea. But with its harbour walls, flotilla of boats, and its lighthouse, Newhaven is an obvious setting for such a venture. You can inhale the sea air.
Walk in and look right, you’re in a fish and chip shop; look left, you’re in a seafood restaurant, ogling bivalves at the shellfish bar as you go to your table. This set-up poses a bit of a dilemma, if you ask me, and puts you on the spot. Should you go down the fish supper path or neck down as many crustaceans as you can afford? Staff here are dressed informally in stripy Breton tee-shirts and jeans, not black suits, but are we here for a taste of the comfortingly ordinary, or something a little more refined?
We fudge it, incapable of making an either/or decision. Oh go on then, just give us the lot. Who can resist all this temptation? So we start with an oyster each, super-salty ones from Cumbrae. It never fails to surprise me just how different oysters from diverse locations taste. Next up, seven crispy crab claws, two satisfying mouthfuls of prime white meat in each, with first-rate Vietnamese dipping sauce to dunk them in: that appetite-stoking combination of fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar and chilli. And then it’s a bit of an abrupt change of mood to come back to the lobster, which has been cooked from fresh ‘a la plancha‘ (on a hotplate type grill). I used to think lobster was underrated until I tasted Brett’s. This one is up to his high standard: sweet fleshed, succulent, impregnated with wild garlic butter and lemon, alluringly smoky from the plancha, with that lingering seaside trace of iodine.
You saw this coming I bet. Seafood is so filling that when the fish suppers arrive, they’ve already been eclipsed by what went before. We’re worryingly full but we make a good stab at a huge chunk of cod fillet and a sizeable haddock fillet encased in bubbly, amber batter and test out the hand-cut chips. Maybe it’s our flagging appetites, maybe my expectations are too high- Ondine’s fish and chips are sublime- but fine though they are, these fish suppers aren’t wowing me in the same way. I miss the chips cooked in dripping, the Ondine batter, which is tempura-light. We sample a few goujons of sole and decide that the breadcrumb jacket is too thick and firm for the slight fish. Side sauces certainly beat standard chip shop add-ons: an eggy tartare sauce that’s thick with capers, and a fruity curry sauce with a tamarind tartness to it.
Our desserts- after all this savouriness we crave sweetness- are homespun and pleasing enough. Strawberries macerated in wine, topped with lightly whipped, vanilla-stippled cream, served with shortbread biscuits, strike a summery note. A stiff dark chocolate pot doesn’t gain from having a syrupy base that vies with its richness, but the accompanying madeleines that taste as if they have some lime zest in their buttery make-up are excellent.
Public perception is a funny thing. Three people will see the same place in three different ways. Is the Fishmarket at Newhaven essentially a chippie with deluxe possibilities, or a seafood restaurant with fish suppers as a sideline? At this point it could go either way- or both.
The Fishmarket, 24- 25 Pier Pl, Edinburgh 0131 552 8262
Lunch/Dinner £10-50
Food rating 8/10
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