By Sharon Wilson
Fisher’s is a classic city centre bistro specialising in fresh fish and seafood with the service and décor you would expect from a smart establishment. It was also just fresh from winning Best Seafood restaurant of the Year at the Evening Times Restaurant Awards when Bite visited last month.
There is a Fishers Favourites menu (cream chowder and fishcakes are personal faves) and there are always fresh oysters, natural, grilled and tempura. My grilled half dozen came this time around with seasonal wild garlic butter and toasted hazelnuts, the crunch mixing nicely with the creamy oysters from Loch Creran. Shell slurping is acceptable.
Liz had chosen, from the a la carte, sea bass and lime tartare with pickled fried red onions.Again freshness and texture were keynotes here. Liz is a WSET Level 4 wine student so took advantage of the Coravin system to taste Pinot Gris Reserve, Rolly Gassmann, 2008 Alsace. To my novice palate it had honey, stone fruit, some minerality and was lusciously full bodied and somewhat sweet. Liz had chosen it to riff off of the fresh piquant tartare. For main course I chose halibut with spring onion & pumpkin seed spelt risotto; a delicious hunk of fish on a nutty base. The halibut was very slightly overdone for my taste and I think the plate would have benefited from a squish of lemon juice but we are splitting hairs; the course was delicious. Liz tucked in to hand dived Orkney scallops, anchovies, parsley & mint oil and commented "the unusual use of mint on scallop dressing with parsley oil was a tasty & refreshing way of adding fresh piquancy to the rich scallops”. The bivalves came with "deliciously moist crushed garlic oil potatoes”.
Desserts were a stretch for our tummies but I admit I was game. I wanted the classic crème brulee which came in a wide shallow dish with the thick glass brittle of burnt toffee on top and a sugary disc of home made shortbread. Liz chose a scoop of vanilla ice cream and one of rhubarb sorbet from Over Langshaw farm in Galashiels, which she said were ‘spectacularly good’ with the texture of the sorbet being creamy, velvety and fruity.
Fresh seafood, fine wines and creamy desserts ticked all the boxes for us. There is a reason why Fisher’s is so popular and with all the new kids popping up I note that it remains excellent value for money.
Fishers in the City 58 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH2 1EN 0131 225 5109 12 noon - late.