I was ‘in’ when my friends suggested we try Faber Seafood & Wine Restaurant, which focuses on sustainable, responsible, day-caught British seafood. They failed to tell me that I’d have to trek to Hammersmith for this seafood, though. (Cue the hesitation.)
When I searched the location and saw it was directly opposite Hammersmith’s uniconic bus station, I ALMOST pretended that I had double booked for the evening to get out of the trek. I’m so glad I did not.
Once you step across the mosaic-tiled entrance of Faber Seafood & Wine Restaurant, you could be in a chic little restaurant somewhere on the Med. Think herringbone parquet flooring, sunbleached tones upholstery, arched mirrors, a terracotta tiled bar, vintage-style chandeliers and stone table tops. Design is a chef’s kiss!
Executive Chef Ollie Bass (a fitting surname for a chef championing sustainable seafood) has worked in some of London’s favourite kitchens, including Quo Vadis & Sessions Arts Club. The ever-evolving menu focuses on fish and seafood with tasty small plates, sharing plates and a daily specials board.
We ordered almost the entire menu, and every dish was faultlessly executed and perfectly presented. My stand-out dishes included the Chalk Stream trout tartare. It was lightly dressed in soy with nori and finished with keta caviar. It’s the kind of dish that I regret having to share.
Smoky cod cheek skewers served with warm, homemade herbaceous tartare that popped perfectly with astringency.
The crisp ingots of thousand-layer potatoes topped with white crab and wild mushrooms were a dream.
I marvelled at the individually dressed St Austell Bay mussels, each with a dollop of artichoke puree inside and a golden Jerusalem artichoke crips on top.
After tasting almost the entire small plate menu, it was hard to muster up enthusiasm for the sharing fish that arrived, but I could appreciate that they were perfectly cooked and dressed to let the fish have the main character energy.
A word of advice… save a little space for desserts. The honey custard tart reminded me of a quivering pastel de nata, sublime!
