Despite the UK being an island with some of the most bountiful waters (at least they were before over fishing) on earth, we  have a rather perplexing aversion to seafood. My Spanish friends think we are quite mad in the way the vast majority of Brits. shun pretty much any fish, bar from cod. 

I suspect most UK kids probably think fish in the sea swim around fully breaded and we export 90% of our glorious bounty of seafood (the French alone buy over £750 millions worth, the Yanks another £232 mill and the Spaniards £100 mill +). In days of yore we Brits feasted on lamprey, herring, pilchards, mackerel  Dover sole et al  and viewed oysters and lobster as food for the masses, whereas today a fishfinger is probably the extent of exposure to fish of  50%+ of the populous.

Our aversion to the fruits of our seas in probably best exemplified by the word “fishy“, which has all sorts of negative connotations (meaning “arousing feelings of doubts or suspicion” born from the smell of not exactly fresh fish, which as an island with over 11,000 miles of coastline we should not have as everything out of the sea that surrounds us – nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles from the coast –  should be spankingly fresh)

In reality, seafood is one of our great food strengths and a trip to London for a Cardiff Wine Buyers Club jolly encompassing the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter bought four of us (we always seem to be missing one) to London and in need of sustenance on a Friday afternoon.

With one of us (not me) not being a great meat eater, it meant fish was on the menu and we all agreed on the highly regarded Parsons in Covent Garden (who do corkage for £20 a bottle – website say £25, but we got charged £20) for Friday’s repast.

We arrived a bit early so sojourned across the road ( in same ownership as Parsons) at 10 Cases  for a pre lunch stiffener.

I had a nicely refreshing Mosel riesling, with an “Under the flor” South African number one of us had being just the right side of unusual. Other wines drunk were a Piedmont white and a white Rioja. Nice place for a snifter and more this, with all wine available by the glass. Not too pricey either.

Back to the main event of the day and into Parsons we all rolled.

The menu is compelling piscine piece,

I mean who isn’t up for 3 oysters for a fiver!!

When corkage is a very fair £20 a bottle BYO is always a good option and we bought (collectively from our various stashes) and a rather nice selection for a fishy meal.

As we perused the menu, we got stuck into the St. Anne

which was a rather different (in a good way) sauvignon blanc from Austria (first Austrian sauv. blanc I have had).  Some lovely herbal notes and a touch of white pepper without the all too often overly abrasive grassiness/cat pee you can get from sauv. blanc. Very nice wine to get the whistle wetted I thought.

Food wise, Jersey oysters were up first, with a round dozen (a steal at £20!) ordered

Good oyster these, with that nice briney hit and a touch of meaty minerality. Lovely with a squeeze of lemon and some shallot vinegar.

We paired these with another oddity in the form of a collaboration between cava specialists, Colet, and generoso wunderkinds, Equipo Navazos (as it was Sherry week I thought it apt).

Very interesting wine with palo cortado added as the liquer d’expedition to the base xarel-lo.  Ripe orchard fruits nose (slightly bruised apple and pear) and touch of brioche, with the rich nuttiness of the palo making its presence known without dominating. 

Work very well with the oyster and other snacks/starters we had in the form of pickled anchovies with chilli, potted shrimp croquettes and whipped cod roe.

The anchovies (a bargain at £4.5) had a nice level of vinegar tang and heat (from the chillies), with that delightfully light fishiness you get from these little shimmering gems of the sea.

I, as we persued the menu, bet a small amount that the croquettes would come in a portion of three (yes I know it is asethetically pleasing, but not that many people eat out as a party of 1,3,6,9 etc and although I am one of them – 1s and 3s generally –  I am a real rarity/weirdo on that front) and on asking we were told that yes usually they did come in threes but our waitress said it was no problem upping the portion size to four (good service that, with 4 coming in at £12)

These chunky numbers were very good, with a silky bechamel, studded with sweet, buttery, shrimps and just a dab of heat from cayenne pepper all encased in a crisp (non oily) crumb. Exemplary croquettes I thought.

The smoked cod roe (£6.5) was a million miles from the dayglo pink abomination you get in supermarkets, with a lovely subtly to the smoke and saltiness as well as a gratifying richness. The seaweed crackers were just the job for transporting the roe to the gob.

On to the mains, I liked the relative simplicity on display here and it is a rare day that I will pass on the chance to eat turbot (here shared between two of us at £78).

We delegated filleting responsibility to our server and she did a fine job (I have no doubt if left to us we would have absolutely butchered it).

Turbot is called the king of the sea for good reason, with touch of sweetness to the meaty flakes which were cooked on point.

Samphire added seasoning and a nice textual contrast to the soft flesh and a bone marrow and onion gravy amped up the meatiness of this fish nicely.

My only real criticisms with this dish were the skin could have been a bit crisper and a lack of spuds or any veggies to go with it at the £78 price tag wouldn’t have gone amiss. Other dishes came with potatoes and I thought at £78 it was a bit mean not to have at least a few buttered newies each as part and parcel.  We ordered fries and some cheddar creamed spinach, both of which were very nice (spinach a bit lacking on the cheese front), but added a further £11.50 to the £78.

Other dishes ordered were a well executed crab tagliolini, redolent with a rather decadent scallop and lemon butter (£25)

and a very good piece of hake with a leek and cockles sauce (£27)

The presence of a generous amount of creamy mash here rather amplified the lack of potatoes/veg. with the turbot dish.

By the tail end of the snacks/start of the mains we had cracked open the Brundlmayer, a riesling again from Austria (here with some age as a 2014).

Lovely intense nose to this, with stone fruit, orchard fruits, white flowers and just a hint of petroleum. On the palate, it had a lipsmacking limey acidity that made it very refreshing. Excellent with both the snacks and the fish and very moreish.

We moved on to a weighter number in the form of a 2020 Leeu Passant chardonnay from South African.

Chardonnay can get a bad rap (artificial oaked numbers deserve all the shxt they get), but the well made ones can be glorious and boy was this one of them.

White peach and lemon peel on the nose, with creamy well integrated oaky notes of vanilla on the palate. Huge length to this wine, as it lingered for an age developing all the time. Top quality stuff this, which showed just how good Saffer wines are these days. It was my wine of the meal.

We finished off with cheese (£12 x 2),

with the Leeu working well with a fruity goats cheese (St Marie) and a punchy nutty cheddar (Montgomery). The bill did say someone had the bread and butter pudding but I am buggered if I can remember who had it (other than it not being me)  and certainly have no picture of it🤷.

The verdict

Really good meal this, with the bill just over £88.50 each (including £80 for corkage and a tip)

For that price I think we ate and drunk very well indeed.

Service was very good (wines chilled down nicely, nothing too much trouble), although we perhaps should have checked our bill a bit more thoroughly as I am pretty certain none of us had a glass of Peter Sishel Rouge.

The food here is very good, with fish very well cooked in a relatively simple manner such that the fish does all the talking. The icing on the cake was the corkage offer which at £20 a bottle is very competitive and there are plenty of places in London to pick up bottles to take here.

In the rather tourist trap dominated Covent Garden this is a shining example of fish cookery done well and it was pretty good value to boot.

It was the start of a rather fine wine filled weekend with the next stop Hedonism for some wine porn

and then we somehow ended up in the Wigmore (very good cheese toastie) slightly worse for wear for a break from wine.

The next day (feeling surprisingly chipper) was spent at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter (highly recommend this if you are even remotely interested in wine)

with some outstanding wines (I was very much in kid in sweet shop mode).

On the further fish front, eat in fish and chips at Seashell of Lissom Grove was very good for soaking up the wine post the Fine Wine Encounter decadences (I think I tasted 80 + wines).

The details

Address:  39 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9BA.

Website: https://www.parsonslondon.co.uk/