Stein's Fish & Chips

You have to hand it to Rick - business-wise he really has it organised. It would be foolish to suppose that his benign dominance in his native Padstow could possibly ignore the nation's favourite dish, and here it is; an upmarket version to be sure, but none the worse for it.

A recent "report" given much air time by the media, offered yet further advice on what we should be eating, demonstrated by a table with various temptations set out, and removed one by one as the presenter blackballed them, to leave an empty table, eventually filled by a bowl of fruit which I am sure is very good for you, but does not have quite the same frisson of pleasure that comes from a nice bit of well battered haddock.

Up to a point one can see what they mean, but c'mon, leave us some pleasures please, and one of them simply has to be good old-fashioned fish and chips. Of course the menu at Rick's is never going to be that simple, so choose from nine different sorts of grilled fish after you have worked your way through a few battered local oysters, or you can have your fish battered as well, cooked in beef dripping. Never mind those gorgeous chips as well.

Side orders include traditional naughties like chip butties, curry sauce (with fish, m'dear?), bread rolls and mushy peas, though the latter I have not yet seen on the list of Not Being Good For You. Perhaps they actually aren't? Wow! Put them on that TV table quick.

Wine starts at under £10