Talk of the town is a fishy treat

9:06am Thursday 24th May 2007

IT'S been the talk of the town, but there was only one way to find out whether Benfleet's Fishmarket lived up to the hype.

The restaurant/seafood bar opened just a few weeks ago and its unusual blend of luxury surroundings and locally caught seafood has obviously gone down a treat - myself and two friends only just managed to get a table last Friday evening.

It's not surprising that it has been so popular - not only is the nearby competition non-existent (there's only Asian cuisine or pub grub on offer), but the restaurant has cornered a niche in the market by offering luxury lobster, monkfish, clams, scallops and bream etc, alongside traditional dishes such as fish and chips and fish pie.

There are also meat and vegetarian options for the non-fish fans and via the seafood bar, the old Clarks stall has been recreated and passers-by can pick up wet fish over the counter.

Sitting on the corner of Benfleet High Street, from the front, the venue looks rather unremarkable, but step round the back and visitors are greeted with a wide open view of Benfleet marshes on the other side of the creek.

An outside terrace area would make fabulous summer al fresco dining, especially as the interior is very cramped and pokey.

There's barely enough room to swing a cat inside and diners, like myself, might start to feel claustrophobic when the tables start to fill up.

However, the view more than makes up for it and the decor is in the up-market league.

On the whole, the food was fantastic. Prawns as big as your hand, fish soup claiming to be the best ever' and organic salmon and smoked haddock fishcakes kicked off our first Fishmarket experience.

The standard was high - the prawns were succulent and juicy, the soup was rich and flavoursome and the fishcakes were crispy and moist.

Considering the teething problems many new restaurants suffer, the service was prompt and professional and within no time at all, our main course arrived.

Between us we tucked into half a lobster thermidor, the special Fishmarket fish pie and fish and chips that were again claiming to be possibly the best in the world'.

They weren't far wrong. The unspecified fish had been cooked in the lightest of batter and were accompanied by posh fat chips and some old fashioned mushy peas. Delicious.

Just as expected the lobster was worth the effort it took to dig into and the fish pie was tasty, although nothing spectacular.

We decided to try and squeeze in a pudding or two between us, even though they were between £6 and £7 a dish.

However, the Chocolate Indulgence was like having three desserts in one, so it's rude not to. This little treat contained a heavenly mix of hot chocolate fondant, white chocolate cheesecake and a hazelnut and chocolate terrine.

In the name of research we also sampled the pear and almond pudding, a moist and tasty bowl of loveliness.

It's plain to see the Fishmarket will bring a lot of happiness to many locals frustrated with the previous lack of restaurant variety, but with such high standards I think people from further afield might start to smell something fishy and also make the journey to see what it's all about.

The Fishmarket 42 High Street Benfleet 01268 794869 www.fishmarket-restaurant.co.uk

What we ate

Giant King Prawns with garlic and herb butter £9.95

Fish Soup with aloi and gruyere croutons £6.50

Organic salmon and smoked haddock fishcakes £5.95

Fishmarket fish pie with buttered asparagus and sauteed spinach £11

Half a lobster thermidor £16.95

Fish and Chips with homemade chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce £12.95

Chocolate Indulgence £6.50

Pear and almond pudding £6.50

TOTAL FOR THREE PEOPLE: £76.30

Our verdict

SERVICE 3/5

DECOR 2/5

FOOD 4/5

ATMOSPHERE 5/5