Review of 'Outlaws Fish Kitchen'

You may be forgiven to miss this small restaurant but given the fact that Port Isaac is so small itself that is hardly an excuse. The bland white understated exterior continues on the interior with the tiny space arranged cozily around yet it never really feels cramped. Even the toilet is unobtrusively located behind a door beside the main entrance yet when using it with it's ingenious sliding panel to reveal the sink you do not really feel completely cramped. The food consists of small fish-based dishes that can be shared. The menu is on the single side of a folded piece of A4 and even that is half drinks so small indeed! Needless to say with a chef of the caliber of Nathan Outlaw the small dishes do not have small prices - Starters are the best deal at between £2 (bread) and £6.5 (smoked cod's roe dip with flatbread). The mains are about £10 each and you will want to have 2-3 of these per diner.

We started with the “Molasses, Cheese and Rosemary Bread, Butter” which consisted of four half slices but were wonderful with the highlight being the strongly flavoured cheese bread. Ordering from the standard menu we had the “Curry Cured Grey Mullet, Pickled Peppers, Coconut Yoghurt” (£10) - Light and delicious with interesting textures - cream of the coconut, the crunch of the peppers and the tinder mullet - and the light curry flavour throughout - “Chili Squid, Aubergine, Mange Tout and Peanut Salad” (£11) - Delicious and understated with the squid finely sliced throughout - the peanuts were present but very much in the background. We also ordered the “Smoked Haddock Scotch Egg” (£8) from the daily specials board which was wonderfully liquid in the middle in a crunchy coating with only a light layer of smoked haddock (thankfully) keeping the heavy fish flavour largely in the background. For a side we were amazed at the “Shoestring Potatoes” (£3) - A large mound of the most thinly sliced delicious fries you could imagine with the perfect amount of seasoning (salt) applied. These were incredible.

No strong flavours on any of the food but each had such a delicate touch applied by the chef we were in heaven. Yes, it was not cheap at a total of £46 for the two of us including a couple of non-alcoholic drinks is a bit expensive for what was really a “light lunch” but it was amazing. The service was incredible with the ever-attentive staff available at the simplest motion for assistance. We were lucky to have the whole place to ourselves for most of our meal and had a direct view into the (yes, tiny) kitchen where the chef was at work (who we repeatedly gave the “thumbs up” to).

Great food in a wonderful, cozy environment in a cute village in Cornwall. Does it get any better? Ok, perhaps it could be cheaper but I am not sure you could keep up the amazing quality.

Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”

Review Date: 2015-07-13

Cuisine: American/British

Address: 1 Middle Street, Port Isaac PL29 3RH ENGLAND

Location: Cornwall (England) - Port Isaac

Map:

Telephone: +44 (0) 1208 881183

URL: http://www.outlaws.co.uk/fishkitchen