Poissonerie de l'Avenue,
Sloane Avenue,
Chelsea,SW3,
01207 589 2457
De-luxe restaurant Fish,100 covers
I was one of the early customers at this restaurant when it was a single shop. The restaurant had a few tables and a long bar with most of the cooking happening behind that bar. That was way back in the late sixties, now the 'Poison House' as it has become know to many, occupies five shops and includes a real Poissonerie.
There may be more fashionable restaurants all around it but the Poissonerie is always full and many of the customers often feature in the media. It has over the years become a Chelsea institution for those who like good old fashioned service with good classic cooking. It is an elegant staid restaurant which could just as well be in Paris. Peter, who has owned the restaurant from its inception, is from Italy, but he has resisted the temptation that persuaded others to open branches all over town. He just keeps buying the next shop down!
Of course the food is all about fish, and the best fish at that. The starters are a good selection of classic dishes with usually a few more modern dishes thrown in. But here you can have genuine Moules Mariniere, not moules a la crème or moule something like mariniere. You can have potted shrimp, or a fresh lobster with rich home-made mayonnaise. And of course the main courses are in the same vein. My favourite is good slab of turbot, normally steamed, with a perfect béarnaise sauce and a few new potatoes and some leaf spinach. For me there are not many dishes which are as good as that and virtually none better. But of course there are many such offerings here including a very good bouillabaisse. In a restaurant like this you wonder why anybody ever wanted to put Thai spices with good fresh produce. This may be regarded as a French restaurant but for me it epitomizes what good English food is: good product cooked to perfection with little or no additives.
The wine list is as you would expect, and the service discreet and attentive. Booking is normally recommended.