#FtLionAwards 2023 Seafood of the Year shortlist

We last reviewed Nigerian-Ghanaian fish and chips shop Every Fish Bar in London’s Harrow back in 2020. A year later they were named amongst Fry Magazine’s top 50 fish and chip shops.

This year we consider their large fish and chips, with the former striking that fine balance between the crunchy crispiness and the flaky airiness, the latter being perfectly executed, and all paired with homemade tartare sauce, Nigerian-inspired plantain, and traditional mushy peas.

This unassuming little pizza place served us pizzas that floored us. Florence Pizza in London’s Ilford served us this prawn-inspired Pizza Gamberetti.

A worthy part of their ‘Fish Lovers Pizza’ range, what we had here were pieces of succulent prawn paired with artichokes and black olives, both sourced from Italy, with plenty of high quality cheese.

Chef Brinder Narula at Kachori in London’s Elephant Castle served us a contender for ‘Best Main’. This time it’s his Sarson Sea Bream.

A terrifically executed fish dish, with an earthy-cum-mustard based marination that was applied to a bream whose skin wasn’t just delicately crisped to a perfect finish, and whose flesh beneath was moist and tasty.

Indian fine-dining venue Kinaara‘s Chef Imamuddin makes it four out of four with his Malabar Meen.

This was an exercise in subtle brilliance, with deft touches on the part of the chef accounting for a gently spiced-cum-sweet curry, which didn’t just boast a velvety texture, but allowed the tender and meaty chunk of Halibut to shine for all its worth. An absolute joy!

Indian high-end restaurant Noir in north east London’s South Woodford also make it four in a row with these Kickin’ Kerala Prawns.

With prawns astutely fried so as to offer that much needed textural contrast against the uber-creamy coconut sauce and soft vermicelli noodles, this was an exceptionally good dish which we thoroughly enjoyed. Way to go Chef Nikhil Mahale!

Birmingham’s Qavali have two drinks and a main up for consideration. This time they make it with the Saffron Sea Bass.

Here we had a pair of pan-seared fillets boasting crispy skin, and were taken to the next level by a saffron-infused coconut sauce which, when had with the fragrant saffron rice, we couldn’t get enough of. Dangerously addictive!

This delicious Fish Mappas dish helps Indian restaurant Ritu in London’s St John’s Wood join Kinaara and Noir with four nominees on the trot.

While its attractive tawny-coloured curry sauce was rich and buttery, it was ultimately driven by the combination of mustard seeds and fried curry leaves, which helped temper its spices just enough for us to enjoy the natural taste of the meaty chunks of monkfish tail. Delightful!

Tsaretta in London’s Twickenham is another Indian restaurant whose miso scallops were one of the best we’ve had this year.

These delicately pan-seared scallops were as close to melt-in-your-mouth as you’re going to get; and were presented on a medley of seasoned vegetables. Superb!