Sea Fire Grill (Steak & Seafood) – Camden
Permanently Closed
To mark Seafood Week (7-14 Oct #seafoodweek), here’s an exclusive review of Sea Fire Grill – a steak & seafood restaurant that had only opened a fortnight ago when we visited.
Their eyecatching red and black logo is one of the more cleverer ones we’ve come across, perfectly representing the restaurant’s theme and vision, while their name appears to be a clever play on the words ‘see-fire-grill’.
In spite of the modest seating capacity – around 35 providing y’all squeeze up – it’s smartly decorated with a large chandelier taking centre stage, and is HMC-approved.
More impressive perhaps are the calibre of chefs at the helm with senior sous chef, William Barker, having worked with well known Michelin Star maestro, Peter Gordon.
DRINKS
Would you not be intrigued by a smoothie with cactus in it? Twas ever thus with the Green Liv. Mixed reviews were, however, the consequence of our adventurous side. The overall flavour was of an earthy nature, and whether that was down to the addition of cactus or not we weren’t quite sure.
The Berry Cheesy was another scalp-scratching combo with berry being oddly mixed with cream cheese. Unfortunately, the consistency of this smoothie was more thick yoghurt than anything else. It’s true that the taste of berry came through followed by the cheese, which lingered subtly in the background, but the best we can say of this is that it’s different.
The shake was good though. Thick and luscious, it provided a lovely “chocolate rush”, and had a pleasant bitter aftertaste that hit the bullseye.
STARTERS
This is worth every penny! A superb assortment of all the starters brought together on a single platter which comprised of these beautifully cooked Fire Wings that were soft, perfectly chargrilled, and fiery with a hint of salt.
The Tiger Prawn Delight were incredibly spiced with a hint of lemon running through them. They were again cooked really well and considered the second best thing on the plate.
The Garlic King Prawn had that familiar hint of lemon, and were soft and delicious with a hint of spice to them.
Chop of Love was soft and succulent, and again subtly spiced.
The Fish Bites, however, stole the show. The superbly soft and deliciously spiced interior was covered by a lovely, crumbly and delicate exterior. Amazing!
And although the Squid Rings were nice enough, the batter should have delivered more of a crunch.
The bed of salad with olives was well conceived with a tasty vinegary dressing that had a sweet undertone to it.
MAINS
As the distinct smell of fresh sea bass and fennel hit us, we all knew, even before the pleasure of tucking in, that this was going to be good one. And so it turned out.
Resting on a bed of wilted onions and accompanied with baby carrots and roast potatos tossed in a fennel, rosemary and cress herb dressing, this was simply outstanding!
Start by squeezing that lemon over the top.
Then, prepare for the familiar sound of crispy, well charred fish skin as your knife cuts through to the moist and steamy flesh underneath.
Sadly, we were mere moments from putting in an order to savour the other big draw on their seafood menu – the mighty lobster.
We did manage, however, to take some snaps and videos for your consideration.
DRINKS
After the glory of the glorious sea bass, we were left sorely disappointed with the all important steaks.
Despite asking for medium well, this 8oz rump was received over cooked and, thus, positively dry with no distinct taste to speak of. Uninspiring!
And what should have been the best part of the cow made available on the steak section of the menu turned out moderately better!
Although it was considered by one Lion to be succulent and fairly tasty, the other two concluded it to be “chewy”, with one encountering a small morsal that was beyond even that.
It is true that Sea Fire Grill makes use of an electric grill as opposed to a charcoal-based one, but that wouldn’t explain why these were so poorly cooked. While we might excuse them for having only recently opened, and also give them benefit of the doubt on account of a busy evening, no restaurant can afford to get such an important part of their menu so badly wrong.
BURGERS
On a more positive note, the burgers do deliver a hefty 8oz meat patty as standard served in Brioche buns.
And this Jumbo Classic Cheese Burger was pretty good.
The meat was well cooked – moist and succulent – and quite tasty.
The bun was soft and flavoursome, and while the burger was simple, it tasted good with a hint of sweetness to it.
Despite the burger again being moist and well cooked, there was definitely a difference of opinion this time with the Spicy Mexican.
While one Lion believed this to be tasty on account of the sweet chilli delivered by both the salsa sauce and the spicy mexican cheese, the other two found the flavour combination to be confused, with the taste of the meat lost in translation.
The simple yet addictively crunchy Fire Fries were good though.
DESSERTS
And to round off an evening of highs and lows, we tried their Cherry Sponge with Custard, with the former well infused with the cherry syrup, though a little dense, and the latter more foam in texture than custard. Nonetheless, it tasted good, and that’s all that mattered to us.
- NO
- CHILD SEATING
- DISABLED
But, with some talented chefs in the kitchen, we wouldn't be surprised if the shortcomings highlighted above are rectified in a hurry.
There also seemed to be a problem with the kitchen's extractor fans, which failed to deal with all the unpleasant smoke generated therein, particularly as the orders piled up, resulting in the dining area having to deal with the consequences. Not very pleasant!
But again, given that they've barely been open a month, these are things that can easily be remedied in the weeks to come.
However, there's certainly more than enough here that's way above average to warrant an immediate visit. And if we were to recommend a menu set, it'd be: one of the shakes, the Fish Bites and Tiger Prawn Delight for Starters, followed by that incredible whole sea bass.
Sea Fire Grill offer 10% discount to local businesses, and are planning to have their good food delivered shortly when the time's right.
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Sea Fire Grill
59 Chalk Farm Road
London
NW1 8AN
Opening Hours: Mon-Sun 12:00-00:00
T: +44 (0)20 7018 7575 | E:Â [email protected] | W: www.seafiregrill.co.uk
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Imtiaz
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This looks impressive. Would you pre book on weekday as you mention it’s a small place?
10 Oct '16FtL / Author
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There is never any harm in pre-booking but I would request they keep a lobster for you, if that is what you’r going for, especially if your going in the evening.
10 Oct '16CuriousEater
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Taking in mind that society nowadays offer small but expensive shops to rent/buy, I believe Sea Fire Grill is doing great! The menu is very diverse and milkshakes on point, but I agree that the steaks (even though very tasty), it could be improved. The right push and sharing can really make this restaurant amazing!
19 Oct '16