Galley Fish Restaurant, The

Andrew (11 August 2007)

'Style over substance' would be to give too much credit, rather 'frou frou over substance': half-hearted camp poorly obscured by mahogany-style, 'olde-worlde' fittings. It is all poorly done at top-end prices. That said, food was approaching good, but let down by too much competing stuff on the plate (e.g. why sprigs of rosemary on every thing?); a car crash of items on the plate, each shouting for attention. The atmosphere was of a tacky tea shop, where everything on show was (literally) for sale - from postcards on the table to the soap in the WC. A two percent surcharge for credit cards (even though we spent over 250 pounds on this meal for four), and a 50p charge for tap water (apparently this is given to charity) hints at either an underlying unpleasant meanness (who are the owners trying to dissuade from eating here?), or poor financial management. The lack of complementary bread/olives (standard these days), the absence of table cloths, and use of paper napkins contribute to this impression. The waiter interrupted our conversation between courses with a selection of glossy food magazines that bruited the restaurant, and p**sed us off heartily. In short, too much peripheral/tacky style noise (none of it stylish) clouded the enjoyment of what was no doubt fresh wholesome food given a modern twist.

Babs Fiddle Player (17 July 2007)

One of my favourite restaurants. I always come here when visiting the West Country. The food is not cheap but here you get what you pay for. Paul's cooking is innovative and fun and Mark is a great host. My favourite dish is the halibut with caviar butter and chilli ice cream. Yum! The crab cake starter is also lovely and the lobster and mango salad. Do save space for the desserts. I really like the Christmas Pudding done West Indian style and the crème brûlée. Decor is ever so slightly extrovert, but then so is this restaurant.

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