Even in the depths of winter, The Scallop Shell has a sunny summer holiday vibe. It may be located on a quiet one-way street on the edge of the city centre but once inside, you could be eating in a restaurant on the Cornish coast with a sea view – rather than one of the bus stop with Bristol-bound buses.
The blue and white-striped Cornish crockery and blackboards chalked up with whole Weymouth Bay cock crabs (£55 whole or £28 half), oysters and St Austell mussels give this hugely popular Bath restaurant an authentic nautical feel.
The Scallop Shell is currently celebrating its tenth anniversary. There was a time when ten years wasn’t a big celebration for restaurants but times have changed.
A lot of new openings barely last long enough for their accountant to file the first year’s books. In an increasing tough industry, a tenth birthday is now something to mark with flying Champagne corks.
The award-winning restaurant was started by chef and all-round seafood expert Gary Rosser in 2015 and it’s very much a family affair. And like the Rosser family’s award-winning Bristol sibling, Noah’s, tucked under the road in the Cumberland Basin, The Scallop Shell specialises in the very freshest seafood and fish.
The menu changes frequently depending on the day’s catch from its trusted suppliers, many from the West Country.
Last week’s choices included Portland rock oysters (£3.50 each) from Weymouth Bay served with shallot and red wine vinegar; River Fowey mussels with white wine, shallots and parsley (£11.50) and, for those really pushing the boat out, grilled whole Cornish monkfish for two with coconut and mussels cream, chips and fennel salad at £60.
Half the menu features fried fish, which means proper fish and chips, whether it’s Cornish hake fillet with fresh-cut chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce (£26.50) or prime North Atlantic cod loin with the same classic accompaniments (£23).
We started with confit tuna belly on toast (£11) – meaty strips of juicy tuna and finely chopped tomatoes, capers and fresh herbs on slices of thick toast that soaked up all the oily, herby juices – and a trio of hand-dived Orkney Islands scallops (£16). The firm scallops were the size of a baby’s fist and served in their shells with a moat of mossy green garlic and herb butter.
To follow, a perfectly timed, crisp-skinned fillet of wild, line-caught sea bass from Brixham market (£27) was served with a cluster of huge St Austell Bay mussels in a cream sauce. From Newlyn market, a spankingly fresh skate wing (£27) – the delicately flavoured flesh falling away from the bones – was paired with a punchy herb and caper dressing. Both mains were accompanied by generous bowls of faultless chips – crisp and golden but fluffy within.
A cold and crunchy salad of sliced fennel, chilli and radish was all we needed on the side although the buttered cabbage and bacon was a tempting alternative bookmarked for next time.
Unusually for a seafood restaurant, desserts are no afterthought. The English apple crumble with vanilla custard (£5.50) was as good as any we could recall – as a twist, the custard was at the bottom and had started to soak into the soft and tart apple. Delicious.
It was great to be back at The Scallop Shell, a restaurant that has been a family favourite since the day it opened ten years ago. Our annual seaside holiday may be several cold months away but for a couple of hours on an icy January evening, we were transported by a meal that was as Cornish as it gets without climbing aboard the train to St Ives.
The Scallop Shell, 22 Monmouth Place, Bath, BA1 2AY.