Angler Restaurant Review: Exploring National Seafood Week in The City

The City of London really has been rather good to me lately. I keep going on about just how much this part of London has changed and how it is still becoming a foodie hub. Once a place where life only existed during working hours, the streets here are now filled with people at the weekends. And it’s all thanks to the new restaurants or the accolades they’ve managed. One of those leading the way is Angler. A one Michelin starred seafood focused restaurant looked after by head chef, Gary Foulkes. Even better still was I got to visit during National Seafood Weekend which ran between 7th – 14th October. It’s all part of a mission to make us eat more seafood, more often.

Located on the seventh floor of the South Place Hotel – the restaurant (and the hotel) is looking absolutely stunning inside. Sultry lighting, white starched linen table cloths and a shattered glass effect ceiling. It oozes luxury and sophistication. There’s even a terrace, complete with retractable roof for the summer months – they kept that little secret well hidden. Before dinner we soaked up the terrace atmosphere with a glass of Champagne, or three.

Once settled in at our table we delved into a selection of delicious amuse bouches and home-made warm bread with freshly whipped butter. Best of our snacks was the heavenly rabbit kromeski with smoked anchovy and seaweed – so much golden crunch and so much flavour. Not to mention the mouth-watering black bonito cracker – topped with seabass tartar and white miso.

Apart from the gorgeous little dainty bites, my favourite dish turned out to be my favourite from this seafood extravaganza. Beautiful fresh langoustine, rich oyster cream, crab, caviar and cucumber jelly – all washed down with a glass of zesty Vinho Verde. It’s dishes like these which make Angler so Michelin worthy. Creativity and freshness is sometimes all you need to make a dish so memorable.

Roast octopus, linzer potatoes, taramasalata and salsa verde – when descriptors make you drool. Pockets of crunchiness, perfectly cooked octopus and actual potatoes with flavour. Sadly the UK is flooded with poor potatoes right now, so it was refreshing to have something which takes me back to the quality from my trips to Jersey.

Dishes were all excellent here, but perhaps my least favourite was this Cornish turbot with line caught squid, bonito dashi and coastal herbs. Nothing particularly wrong with the dish and the fish was very well cooked, but I just couldn’t quite get excited about it enough. The wine on the other hand, a terrific Pinotage from South Africa was liquid heaven.

One thing the kitchen is very serious about here – is desserts. Visually they’re beautiful and you can tell the precision and care that has gone into creating each of them. The hyssop and English apple with yogurt and granola was a lovely fresh way to excite our sweet tooth, but the star was this banana & hazelnut tart – filled with lashings of caramel, chocolate, salt and topped with more chopped hazelnuts. Oh and not forgetting a lusciously rich and sweet sticky wine to pair with everything.

Sending us into chocolate overload were some excellent chocolates and truffles – plus a little more wine. We had such a lovely evening at Angler and as far as seafood goes it doesn’t get much better than this in the City. A sumptuous setting, fresh seafood, endless Champagne and a chocolate fix like no other. If you’re looking for that special Michelin experience then you’re in safe hands with Gary. I can’t wait to abuse that terrace in the Summer and come back for more of just about everything.

NB: I was invited to review and my meal was complimentary. All views are as always, my own. My views are not influenced by anyone other than my own palate and slightly poor eyesight.