Fishers in the City let us down the last time we had a family dinner there. Did that get us down? Well yes, momentarily, there might have been a dodgy oyster or two. But we sprang back and took our mother (she's 78 you know) to the original and vastly superior Fishers Bistro, down at The Shore in Leith, to celebrate her birthday.
We began with a cocktail or two sitting outside Malmasion (depuis 1994), enjoying the sights (upmarket hen weekenders), the sounds (ditto) and the smells (sea, champagne, perfume and a soupçon of sewerage). Then it was a short stroll to Fishers Bistro, where the smells significantly improved: garlic, fresh fish and that intangible warm tang of good food cooking that one normally only experiences in that little cafe in ............. [insert memorable holiday culinary experience here].
I didn't memorise the menu so I can't list all the choices and anyway since everything was very seasonal, it will have all changed by the time you get there. BUT the oysters were reported as exemplorary and came with a little bottle of tabasco, a side dish of chopped onion and paprika. There was a striking dish of mussels and clams and an almost delicious dish of swordfish strips with pickled ginger, beansprouts and sesame. The latter came wrapped in a bog-standard wheat tortilla, without which the plate would have been near-perfect.
Then followed whole plaice, pan-fried cod and queenie scallops - all of which were superb, if the grunting noises were anything to go by. I can personally vouch for the plaice, cooked perfectly which a small topping of goats cheese, just enough to compliment, not swamp the delicacy of the fish. A substantial side dish of mange tout, gratin dauphinoise and carrots accompanied the lot in a retro yet surprisingly appropriate manner.
Puddings! We all had one. Which either means the portions are of a reasonable size or we are greedy pigs. Stalwarts such as sticky toffee pudding, chocolate mud pie and pecan pie all came served with ice cream or cream. Yum. Could have done without the "decorative" mint leaf, but that really is being a fuss pot. We didn't have coffee and by then they needed the table back for the second sitting. A little sharp intrusion of harsh, commercial reality into our well-fed heaven.
The wine list was reasonable insofar as I only perused the white wines. We enjoyed a very decent Pouilly Fume at £22.50 (two actually), rejected the two Cloudy Bay options at £32 and could have settled for several other perfectly good New and Old World whites between £15 - £30.
All in all a jolly, special family meal with good, largely unobtrusive service. The fact that I can't tell you much about our fellow diners or the restaurant decor underlines the noteworthiness of the food (and the company, but we probably won't be with you when you go).
More details
Cleanliness
Excellent
Family Friendly
Good
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