I love fish so, when I was invited to try a new fish restaurant in Clifton, I was counting down days to the meal. Fish Tales, along the Mall, opened in July on the site that was previously the New Moon Tapas restaurant.
We had a warm welcome by the restaurant general manager, Andy, and I was immediately struck by the restaurant’s gorgeous deco. Fish Tales felt very modern and at the same time atmospheric.
When we first arrived, just before 7pm, there was only us and another table but, by the time we left at 9pm, the restaurant was full. We started the meal with a focaccia with anchovy butter; very fishy and salty, the light but rich butter on the warm bread was a great start.
We also ordered some olives, which went well with the cocktails we got. A fan of a strong cocktail, tequila-based ‘Mamacita’ was my favourite by far.
We shared three starters, which all arrived together. The charred octopus, served on sauteed sweet potatoes and a smoky mojo dressing (£12.5) was something I was particularly looking forward to.
Octopus is a fairly common fish in Barcelona, but in my experience rarely found in the UK. While this was slightly overcooked to my taste, this dish still made me very happy.
My friends, on the other hand, loved the monkfish tempura (£12.5), served with a phenomenal mango and chilli salsa. “I could eat a bowl of that” were my friend’s words.
The sauteed king prawns in garlic, white wine and pesto rosso cream, service with olive oil crostini (£12.5) were also delicious, and the creamy sauce was particularly yummy.
Moving over to the mains, I went for the south coast monkfish in a curried broth with mussels, Vermouth, root vegetables and pack choi (£28). This was a dish with bold, strong flavours and I have to admit it took me a bit to get into it – mainly because I am used to having monkfish grilled rather than in a soup.
The broth was packed with flavour and I ended up thoroughly enjoyed this dish. Trying what my friends ordered, we all agreed the cedar plank baked salmon with a maple, mustard and ginger glaze (£22) was the best main.
Regularly having salmon at home, this is not a fish I would choose to order when eating out – but on this occasion I was certainly proven wrong. This gorgeous salmon was so soft it melted in your mouth.
We also had the pan-fried black bream fillet, served with peas, sun-dried tomatoes and pancetta (£26). Perfectly done, this was the fish cooked in a way that I am most familiar with and I was not disappointed.
The peas with sun-dried tomatoes and pancetta were also delicious and it reminded me of the lovely ‘Faves a la Catalana‘ my mum makes. A little ray of the Mediterranean in a very Asian inspired meal.
We accompanied our meal with a bottle of red wine, thin cut chips and buttered seasonal vegetables – which were cooked to perfection. We also enjoyed dipping the chips in the different tasty sauces.
We finished off our meal with a double chocolate no-bake cheesecake (£7) and a crepe suzette (£7). Flambeed with Cointreau and served with vanilla ice cream, the crepes were a delicious dessert that you wanted to keep going back for more.
At Fish Tales, I enjoyed fish being prepared in ways I had not had before. A big fan of the Spiny Lobster on Whiteladies Road (a meal there always also feels like a treat), it is lovely to have another restaurant in Bristol where fish is the star of the menu; I now have another restaurant I can take fish-lovers to when visiting me.
We finished off our evening stopping for a drink at the lovely Bristol Fringe, just around the corner on Princess Victoria Street. From the Lido restaurant to Milk Bun, I have only eaten out a few times in Clifton – but I have to admit that, in my limited experience, it is starting to feel you often can’t go wrong when going out for food in Clifton.