Vegetarian: Yes, Parking: Public car parks, Wheelchairs: Restaurant access, Loos: Above average but upstairs, need to check if any disabled available downstairs

Visited February 2008

My two friends and I decided to try this predominantly fish restaurant as our favourite local seafood pub had performed very poorly during our last visit and we felt we were in need of a marine type meal!  Having seen the menu on the Internet, and gazed through the window at the appetizing fish counter our expectations were high. 

We were met at the door and shown upstairs to our table in this fairly small, but nicely decorated restaurant.  Our pre meal drinks were brought to the table and I was particularly pleased to be served a genuine French cider.

The waiter then suggested the Picoul De Pinet, a dry French wine @ £17.50, which went well with fish.  It was so nice we had two bottles!

For the main course all the items on the menu were available, plus any of the day’s catch on display in the fish counter downstairs.  On a few occasions we saw whole trays of fish being displayed to customers to show them the types of fish and for the waiters or waitresses to discuss how they would like them served.  It was pleasing to see that the chef would be able to cook your chosen fish in any way, and with any sauce or spice that was required.

Our lady diner chose Monkfish cooked in a spicy sauce while we chose the Fruits De Mer @ £19.95.  Not liking Crab I asked if they could put other items on in place of the crab and was pleasantly surprised to be offered a half lobster instead – at no extra charge. The Fruits De Mer and Monkfish were again very well presented and tasty.

For our sweet course we picked out the Crème Brulee, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and the fresh Lemon Tart. 

To round off the meal my two friends chose Tia Maria Liqueur Coffees, while I (the driver) had a plain Latte.

Our meals, and the staff were very good however we were rather dismayed when presented with the bill.  It appears they automatically add “A 12.5% discretionary service charge” which in our case was over £20!  A half pint of lager shandy was £3.75 and the Tia Maria Coffees worked out at £7.45 each, which we felt was too expensive for a “Seafood Café”.  Our final bill for three diners, including drinks, and their service charge was over £180 making it easily the most expensive we have had whilst reviewing for the Ladies Who Lunch!” 

Cost £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ !

Visited February 2002

Christchurch is a lovely place to have lunch as you can take a stroll  along the river either before or after eating.  FishWorks is ideally situated for this being in the town centre.

A very unusual fish restaurant, a varied menu, almost too much to choose from!  The best thing about this menu is being able to choose, or buy to take home, from the fresh fish counter downstairs.

The decor is very modern & service good.  We started with a selection of appetisers, Fresh Tarma, Anchovies, Brandade & Marinated Octopus.  These were served with garlic bread and there was also an interesting selection of breads.  The menu is so large it is better to view it on their website.  We had various interesting starters which were fine but with the main courses the flavour of the fish was overpowered by the strong sauces so be careful!  As you can see, from their site, you could order your fish cooked in any way you choose, I feel a second visit would be more successful.  Only one of us could manage a pud which was a delicious Sticky Toffee pudding.  The House Wine was reasonable.  Overall eating at FishWorks was expensive, you would need to eat only one course to keep the cost down.

Cost:£ £ £ £ £

Yummy Factor   6/10  because expensive in comparison to other similar restaurants!

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