As I have said many times in the past on this blog I often find going to a chain restaurant rather dispiriting. They are not all bad and many start quite organically, but if the hedge fund/bean counters boys get involved all to often what may once have been a labour of love becomes a doubling down on debt debacle (with the constant need for it to be serviced usually at the expense of the need to provide an acceptable service to the customer). It then becomes a tricky question as to what costs can we cut to the bone and all to often the soulless bean counters require that quality goes out the window to maintain the margin. Footfall then falls and round and round the plug hole we go.

Another thing I tend to moan about (do like a good moan) is the paucity in Cardiff of dedicated fish restaurants (with that seemingly replicated across the UK other than perhaps in London) and our odd indifference to the seafood in the seas surrounding us.

It is very odd for an island to import the vast majority of the fish it eats (80%) despite being surrounded by the stuff (apparently what we have in our waters is all to often the wrong stuff for UK tastes).

Talk about carrying coals to Newcastle, when the UK has a whopping 7,723 miles of coastline (compared that to seafood mad Spain’s 3,084 miles and  France’s 3400 miles). Wales alone has 1680 miles.

With, in theory, easy access to so much fish (nowhere in the UK is more than 70 miles from the sea apparently) the lack of dedicated fish restaurants (discounting chippies) has always seemed odd to me.

As a result, whilst on a trip to south Devon I noted with interest the presence (in many of the coastal towns down there) of Rockfish restaurants (12 of them at last count and thus clearly in chain territory).

A seeming anomalous position based on the UK’s fish phobic consumers.

We are known around the world for eating fish and chips, but other than when battered we do tend to be remarkably indifferent to the allure of fish.

I have always been curious as to where our seeming aversion to unbattered  seafood (fish, in particular) comes from, as in days of yore Brits. use to eat copious amounts of herring, pilchards, pike, carp, eel and even lamprey, as well as the more well known cod and haddock.

Seems it is (at least in part) the fault of religion (colour me shocked), with Henry V and the Reformation making one denomination rather unpopular (and with it the “fish on Friday” that was associated with it). This, however, surely can’t be the “sole” reason for us ” floundering” when it comes to favouring fish? Many people argue that the fact you see the face of a fish puts off the squimish. That, however, is only the case with talking about a whole fish (and not a fillet, ditto re our seeming fear of fish bones).

Also crustaceans tend to be bug eyed, many legged, horrors that if seen scurrying about on land would likely have us running in abject terror but we don’t seem to have an aversion to them. An ex girlfriend’s sister explained to me once that her (surprising to me) refusal to eat (despite being Spanish, who tend to hoover up anything that moves in la mar) lobster, crab, prawns etc  was based on her viewing them as no different to giant spiders.

In fairness, she might have had a point, as the above wouldn’t look out of place in the film Alien!

Back to Rockfish  the stated mission of the “plaice” (sorry can’t help myself sometimes) and its founder Mitch Tonks is as follows:

This is an admirable misson statement (which I assumed would mean championing unbattered fish, but more on that later) bearing in mind the widespread indifference in the UK to any fish that isn’t breaded or battered.

On top of the multiple restaurants they have an online fishmonger

which again seems a good idea when you have access to catches from day boats out of England’s biggest fishing port by value.

This is all, in theory, music to my ears with the idea being local and sustainable food. Their restaurants are also (for the most part) dog friendly (which is another tick in the box for me), which is good as we had Dick the dog and Bindi the Blue Bullet in tow.

We popped in for a early supper in Rockfish’s Exmouth branch (good beach to tire the terriers our on pre dinner) to see if the reality lived up to their (encouraging) marketing blurb.

The menu looks interesting with simplicity clearly the theme. I tend to associate with this theme, being a man of simple taste (or as Mr. SF say ” being a man who is surprisingly simple”), and as a result I find fish is best when very little is done to it cooking wise.

Pan fry it in a bit of butter and some garlic, maybe add a few capers and herbs, and (Sponge)Bob’s your uncle.

A seasonal selection

supplements the main menu

with those daily fish specials on offer being highlighted pictorially on the table by our server.

They also have a set menu offering two courses for £26.95 (available everyday until 5pm)

which (on the face of it) looks fair value (particularly as again the seasonal selection prices). They also had a very good value £12 battered fish (haddock on the day in question) and (unlimited) chips  (from 16.00 on Wednesday in Exmouth) of our visit (day of offer seems to differ day wise depending on the branch) which was very, very popular (think we may have been only people in the pretty full dining room not having it, which to be honest doesn’t really smack of changing Brits. attitude to fish).

We passed on starters and I decided on the silver mullet (£27) from the Seasonal Selection fish highlighted by our server.

Always think mullet (in its various guises) is a seriously underrated fish (I know the one here as grey mullet, but silver is a much better name PR wise – Grey Mullet always makes me think of a fish with John Major’s face surrounded by monochromatic grey peas).

Decent size fillet of fish which came with a well dress side salad and a portion of their chips

The fish was nicely cooked (not over), with the flavour surprisingly meaty, as well as having a touch of nuttiness. Cooked in butter, with a touch of herbal anis on top of the flavour of the fish.  This fish was quite different to your standard white fleshed fish and none the worse for it in my opinion. My only criticism was the skin could have been crispier. A crisp fish skin is a wondrous thing , whilst a flabby one is pretty inedible and thus a wasted opportunity. If it isn’t going to be crispy just take it off.

The chips were very good, pipping hot and nicely crisp.

We got through 3 portions and it is nice that the waiting staff ask you unprompted if you want more, rather than than you having to ask. I wondered as to the record number of orders that have been made in one sitting of these unlimited chips. I could have happily eaten a fourth portion to be honest (Mrs. SF was firmly of the view I shouldn’t) and I certainly know people who would probably dispatch 5 + portions very, very easily.

Mrs. SF went for the seabream (chargrilled) off the main menu  which came with a Greek salad (£24.95).

Again nice, decent sized, bit of fish, which was probably more to UK taste than the silver mullet, with white flakes and a delicate, clean, flavour. 

Mrs. SF enjoyed the fish, but said the Greek salad felt a bit tired (pre – made rather than freshly put together was her guess) and (as with my dish) there was a lack of a crispy skin.

We passed on desserts

and went for coffees and the homemade chocolates instead.

Good coffee and the chocolates were nice, with the sharp raspberry number the pick of the three

Booze wise, they have a a selection of beers

and wines.

Mrs. SF quite likes Picpoul de Pinet and, whilst I find it a bit generic, it is not a bad option with fish. Here it oddly only came in glass (£8.25) or 460ml carafe formats (£21.50) with no full bottle option.

As expected this was pleasant enough stuff Bone dry with high acidity and citrus notes, without really wowing the taste buds. It retails at about £11, so scaling up the carafe price would take you to about £34 a bottle and is ( regrettably) a pretty standard level of mark up for the UK (I have seen better and worse). I am a little surprised that Picpoul is not more popular in the UK as is crisp and dry and what I call an easy pleaser for current UK tastes.

I had a beer to wet the whistle, in the form of their own brand IPA (£4.25)

which sort of reinforces the point re wine I made the other week.

Verdict

Exmouth is perhaps one of the less picturesque of the port/harbour towns where Rockfish restaurants are located (we visited Budleigh Salterton and Sidemouth, which have Rockfish branches and are places that are a little easier on the eye in my opinion), with it reminding me a bit of Aberystwyth in terms of a rather wasted seafront and a somewhat unloved town centre. It does however have a lovely, expansive, sandy beach,

which the dogs loved.

In summary, Rockfish is a nice restaurant for a place to have and I rather wish Cardiff had something of its ilk to be honest

The Rockfish concept is, in my opinion, a good one. A decently priced set menu, a varied al a carte supplemented by what is available fish wise on the day and a bargain fish and chip offer (not sure the latter quite fits in with their “changing the way the UK eats fish” mission statement mind) .

The problem for me is the price outside of the deals. If you dare to venture outside of the set menu and battered fish and chip offer it becomes quite pricey.

We had one course each, plus 1 side, coffees and petits four and then 1 beer and 2/3 of a bottle of wine and the bill (with service) was nigh on £100. I think there in lies the problem regards Brits and fish.

I could have gone for battered haddock and unlimited chips on the day deal for £12 (absolute bargain eat in) or spend over 2 x that on a bit of unbattered fish (most people are unfamiliar with in the form of silver mullet) like I did.  Now I am willing to bet (quite a lot) that 99% of people will go for the battered haddock deal (as was exactly the case on our visit) if given the choice and price benefits it offers.

The problem with fish in the UK is that unbattered or breaded it is pretty bloody pricey and my question is why?

We seem to have bucket loads of it and we tend to export it to countries ( e.g. France  the US and Spain) that then sell it for a fair bit less than we do. On that basis, I struggle to understand why is it so expensive here.

Perhaps it is my ignorance as to how the fish markets work, but riddle me this. If the reason fish costs a lot in the UK is because other countries are mad for UK seafood and thus push up the price, then how can they sell it for seemingly a lot less in shops and restaurants than we do here?

Is it because people in the UK don’t eat enough of it because it is expensive and it is expensive because people don’t eat enough of it (so no economies of scale)?! Quite the conundrum if so.

Personally I think it is a crying shame that seafood and fish in particular are so shunned in the UK (more fool us, but the price has to be a major factor), but at least Mitch Tonks and Rockfish are trying.

I really wish Cardiff had more to offer seafood wise, with Asador 44 and maybe La Monde the only places really flying the fish flag. Someone doing a take on Rockfish’s fish offering (along with the unlimited chips deal) would be a welcome addition. It is one of the rare chains I would welcome in Cardiff.

Details 

Address: We ate at the Exmouth branch at
Pier Head, Exmouth, EX8 1DU.

Website:  https://therockfish.co.uk