| Fancy a fish dish at posh restaurant? Don't come | | | | Last time we went we joined six other people at the |
| here! | | | | same table, all speaking a different language, but we |
| Fancy a fish dish with everything landed that day? | | | | all had one thing in common, the love of great food! |
| About as fresh as you can get right? | | | | The language barrier disappeared somewhere under |
| Come on down to The Company Shed on West | | | | the table. |
| Mersea Island, Essex, England. | | | | You could just see it in their faces, the smiles and |
| Although the main function of the shop is actually a | | | | nods when the lady of the shed arrived with their |
| fishmonger, it has established itself as one of the | | | | own personal choice of lunch, and they munched their |
| finest fish eateries in England. We had to queue for | | | | way through gastro heaven. |
| half an hour outside in the freezing cold to get a | | | | I managed to find a couple of thick old tumbler |
| table for lunch; I'm thinking this had better be worth | | | | glasses from what looked like a bookshelf, in the |
| it! There are no bookings, and they refuse to call it a | | | | corner. Sat down, broke the bread and opened the |
| restaurant. It's literally a huge shed! Wish I had one in | | | | wine. There in front of us was the most inviting |
| our garden! | | | | platter of shell fish, I've ever seen. |
| You'll find yourself sitting at a basic table, might even | | | | Stacked with crab, giant succulent prawns, some |
| have a bright yellow plastic tablecloth, no wine, it's | | | | shelled some not but that all lent itself to an amazing |
| BYO, still interested? Read on, there's a little shop up | | | | display! Not to mention the local cockles and Norfolk |
| the road where you can get a decent bottle of ice | | | | green lipped mussels, all delightfully laid out with a |
| cold white and some fresh crusty bread, and if you | | | | quartered lemon poised on top with a pair of |
| don't bring your own cutlery, well, you've guessed it. | | | | nutcrackers and crab hooks to help you delve in. |
| There is a large bottle of Tabasco sauce doing the | | | | We shared our platter, but I couldn't eat all my half, |
| table rounds though. | | | | but then at only £8 a head I wasn't |
| There's no menu, but there's a blackboard outside | | | | complaining. I did buy a dozen oysters to take home |
| saying what fresh fish they've got in, then you just | | | | though. |
| queue up at the counter and choose your meal, | | | | If it's good enough for Rick Stein, it's okay with us! |
| lobster, oyster, smoked salmon, roll mop herrings, | | | | There's a single causeway that connects the island to |
| smoked mackerel, or mixed platter. It's all beautifully | | | | the mainland called The Strood so make sure you |
| laid out in front of you, talk about spoilt for choice; | | | | check the tide timetable or you could be stuck on |
| this is where your eyes become bigger than your | | | | the wrong side. |
| belly! | | | | |