Situated on top of Boxpark Shoreditch’s amassed containers, it has a light spacious interior but is more about the extensive outdoor seating, where you can dine while watching the East End – City folk, shoppers, creative types and impossibly cool hipsters – walk by.
The grub The menu features an array of small plates (the marinated prawns in garlic and chilli are chunky and deliciously spiced; the chilli salt squid with spring onion an equally appetising starter).
The mains require you to make four decisions, firstly which fish you want (eight jostle for your affection), then how you want it cooked (baked, steamed, pan-fried or in a tempura batter), then your sauce (everything from citrus anchovy butter to a Thai coconut accompaniment) and, lastly, your side (sweet potato wedges, seasonal vegetables, braised lentils and more).
I opt for a pan-fried sea bream, which is cooked to perfection and impressively fresh on the palette (all fish is sourced from day-boats off the coast of Cornwall) along with a soy, ginger and oyster sauce pak choy.
My partner opts for one of the non-multiple choice mains, and after sailing down the menu, taking momentary gazes at the jerk butterfly sea bass and seared Japanese marinated salmon, opts for the Mediterranean fish stew, which is a frothy tomato-based concoction primed with tuna, mussels and prawns.
Our sturdily healthy meal is then somewhat undone by a vanilla cheesecake with berry compote, which is stodgy and fabulously indulgent in all the right ways.
Behind the bar A trio of cocktails (Mojito, Bloody Mary and Cosmopolitan) are all equally fresh and enjoyable, with beers (San Miguel, Meantime Wheat Beer, Corona and more) and a fairly diverse wine list also on offer.
Bill please Small plates from £4; specials from £10; mains £12.50; desserts from £5.verdict Fresh fish that is tasty and healthy, in a super trendy East End location.
Unit 42-34 Boxpark,
2-4 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6GY
Tube | Liverpool Street
simplyfish.com
