Seabass

Popular St Christophers’ Place gets very crowded of a weekend, particularly when the sun is out and this narrow street leading down to Oxford Circus is crammed with diners enjoying alfresco lunches. The choice is a mixed bag, from the mediocre tapas of La Tasca to the interesting looking Lebanese fare next door, to the enticing seafood menu of Seabass.

We managed to grab the only table left outdoors, wanting to take full advantage of the scant British sunshine just like everybody else. As the name suggests, seafood and fish are the stars of the menu, both for the starters and the mains, though there are a few meat and vegetarian dishes too.

To begin with we ordered a bottle of Rose and shared a crab meat spring roll on a bed of rocket leaf and tomato. The crab meat was a little salty and wrapped in a very stodgy tasting thin pastry which felt suspiciously deep fried. Not a good start.

Our mains didn’t fare much better. A rogue piece of salmon had managed to find its way onto my swordfish and tuna skewers; the fish itself lacked flavour and I therefore found myself being very liberal with the salt and lemon juice. My companions’ tuna steak looked raw on one side and distinctly unappetising.

The best thing about Seabass was the chance to enjoy a bottle of wine in the sunshine, and because of this it served its purpose. However for £20 a head it needs to vastly improve the quality of its cooking.