"Nothing exciting about Fish!"

Added Tue 18 May 2010 by Leila

Positive people annoy me. People who love going to work despite having mind-numbing jobs, and who smile constantly because of some sort of deep-rooted guilt towards complaining. People who feel the need to giggle over everything. And finally, people who use exclamation marks after each and every sentence.

I am deeply suspicious of the latter practice. Firstly, it makes no sense. Why write in an email/text: “I’ll meet you at 7!” instead of “I’ll meet you at 7”. So perhaps the person writing is extremely excited at their imminent meeting, in which case this is fine, but in my experience this symbol is overused. I’m sure it is not possible to be enthusiastic about “just hoovered my room!”, or “I’m going to learn how to use punctuation properly!”

My suspicions were confirmed at Fish, or Fish! as they label themselves. As I read the menu I began to feel dizzy - there were exclamation marks all over the place, from their menu! with its starters! through to the desserts! A subsequent look at the Fish! website revealed their locations! and opening times! with great enthusiasm.

Our waiter was so chirpy I wanted to hit him with a fish. He had the kind of blonde haircut and white teeth that would make him an ideal choice for a boyband. We forgave him however as he was knowledgeable of the menu, and answered our questions and suggested a wine with confidence.

It’s a shame the food didn’t live up to all the hype. The fish and chips with mushy peas was bland, and at £15.95 for the cod (rising to £18.95 for halibut) incredibly extortionate. The classic fish pie was a reasonable enough dish made with mashed potato and salmon, however better pies can be found for less than £10.95.

Despite this being a Saturday night, we were surrounded by families with children, some prancing around, some screaming, no doubt encouraged by all the exclamation marks. From now on, I’m staying away from anything with an exclamation mark, unless it’s to have a good old rant!!!