Well dear reader, this is probably going to be the last blog before Christmas and therefore the last one of 2014. In the run up to Christmas we all get a bit “Turkey‘d out “, attending various parties with the office/groups/clubs and friends, and our little flock is no different. So we thought we would get our little bottoms in gear and review somewhere that has been on our radar for a while, namely the Seafish Restaurant in Ripley.
The venue itself is in full on Christmas bling mode, but it looks absolutely fab; they have wrapped the large pictures on the walls in wrapping paper and decorated them with bows and ribbon so they become a real festive focal point around the room. There are also reindeer, Santa and his sledge and various snow-capped cottages to be admired.
Rather than go for the 2 course Christmas menu we decided to stick with the “normal“ menu so as to get a better feel for the place and its food. For starter I ordered the Chilli and Mango Prawns, His nibs had Scampi and the Chick and her friend had a sharing portion of Hot and Spicy Chicken wings. My Prawns were full of flavour and the batter was really crispy too, perfect for me. The Man bird said his Scampi was lovely and moist inside with the coating being excellently crisp, a bit like the perfect Roast Potato really. The girls Wings were very tasty they said, and they had plenty of meat on them too. So far, we were all happy campers and were looking forward to our main courses.
I plumped for the Swordfish Steak (cooked medium), the Man Bird went for the gourmet Chicken and Ham Pie, Chickadee fancied the Cheese and Onion Fry-its and her friend opted for Chicken nuggets. All our mains came with salad and fries, except mine as I swapped for rice. My Swordfish was really moist – as you know reader one of my pet peeves is dried out, over cooked fish - and it was perfectly accompanied by the rice which was lovely and fluffy. Chirrups of delight were coming from the Boy Wonders beak due to the amount of meat in his pie, it really was chock-full. The Cheese and Onion fry its smelt amazing and my Chick said they tasted just as good, so she was very happy. Our honorary flock member for the night couldn’t actually manage to finish her portion of Chicken Nuggets ; there were 9 nuggets on her plate and they were a really large size. The breast meat used in them was really juicy and tasty though, so she said that she had enjoyed every beakful.
We had a short break to let our food go down a bit before we perused the dessert menu. It will come as no surprise that we ordered desserts; I had the Bread and Butter pudding, The Boy had Sticky Toffee Pudding, Chickadee had Chocolate Lumpy Bumpy and her friend had Vanilla Ice cream. The desserts were every bit as tasty as the rest of the meal; my Bread and Butter Pudding was fabulously crisp on the top but smashingly gooey inside. The Sticky Toffee pudding was a winner too for him indoors with plenty of sticky toffee sauce in evidence. The girls soon polished their offerings off too, so it was a great meal all round.
The tables and cutlery were all spotless and the staff were very polite and smartly attired. The venue itself has a nice atmosphere to it, and I can imagine the Terrace outside to be a great place to eat al fresco in summer. There is ample parking on the premises and it isn’t too far from the town centre either if you wanted to catch a bus in and out of town. We felt the Seafish Restaurant was excellent value for money too, given the quality of the food and the portion sizes. If you haven’t been before, it’s well worth a visit in the not- too- distant future. “Hot Wings“ to Team Seafish.
