Good and lively atmosphere. Competent and friendly staff, even if others denied this. The fish was very good and fresh. We, in our 50ies liked it a lot.

avoid, avoid, avoid is all I can say. Far too snooty. Needs some customer service skills. As previously stated;- the staff don't have to work for a tip as the bill includes a hefty service charge. This is a poor advert for dining out in a lovely area of London!

My wife and I dined at Fishworks, Marylebone High St in December 2009. No complaints about the food, but the attitude of the manager and some of the staff left much to be desired, i.e. offhand and somewhat snooty.
We're in our 60s - perhaps the manager would like customers who are more trendy - or perhaps the 12.5% service fee means that staff don't feel the need to be friendly.

VERY POOR. I have just returned. I ordered and paid for some fresh fish (to be prepared while my daughter ate her tea) to take out before sitting down with my very 3 yr old patient daughter for a kids meal in the restaurant.

We ordered. Fish Order delivered was wrong. Chips were incinerated. When we finished and left to collect our prepaid fish order 40 mins later (for a meal for my wife and I this evening) we were told this had not been prepared (crab not dressed, fish not trimmed, deheaded etc.).

Worse, while I waited with my daughter for the fish I had paid for and ordered 3/4 hour before to be prepared the staff deliberately ignored us and served 6 other customers (took over 20 minutes) who had neither ordered nor paid.

My 3 year old daughter was forced to wait (post 7pm) while we were deliberately ignored by all staff, the manager, chef, fishmongers and waiters.

So much for bothering to order and pay for the fish in advance and clearly, they couldn't be bothered to have it ready even 40 mins later.

I was then told that the restaurant would not supply brown prawns (those little shrimps, necessary for a recipe in a book which I had bought the week before from Fishworks because these were only available in the restaurant - despite being in their own recipe book. A

t this point, having said nothing, I complained to the manager about all of the above. (in the hope that maybe they would sell, or perhaps even give me the 3 Oz. of shrimps I needed for the recipe from the book written by the founder of fishworks they sell). Nope.

I was told that while they were sorry for the above they could not sell me the prawns as they did not sell them in the shop they were only sold in the restaurant.

They could not sell them to me in the shop as they did not have a retail price for them. I suggested that in light of the burnt food, wrong order and being ignored and for 30 minu

Something Smells Fishy

I dropped in to the Marylebone High street branch of Fishworks on the evening of the 7th July.

I used to regularly enjoy the food at the Bath branch a few years back and was pleased to see that, this branch at least, was still open.

I ordered a double starter of Squid and crab cakes (about £13-14 for this) followed by Skate with mash and salad (all sides are extra, in this case £2.95 and £2.5 – with the £14.50 skate a £20 main)The starters were ok if unremarkable.

The squid was a bit soggy and the crab-meat had been heavily mashed and lacked texture.The main course was very poor.

The skate arrived very late (I saw a waiter selecting the wing from the counter 10 minutes after my starter was finished) and tiny.

Clearly a small piece had been hacked off the main wing. I complained and the waiter admitted that they mad a mistake and eventually halved the price of the dish.

Even then the execution of the food was poor. The mash was tepid, the skate more than slightly overdone and the salad was drowned in an oil slick of dressing.

Overall I got the feeling that they had given up caring.When challenged the waiter was defensive rather than conciliatory, he accused me of being angry and suggested, rather perversely, that as I had just walked in without a booking I should be thankful.

When I pointed out that Fishworks should probably do better or more outlets would close he answered smugly that they were doing well –

We if they are selling half portions made by out of work builders on minimum wage (as it seems they are) I am not surprised but it is not a sustainable strategy!

A conversation with another customer as we queued up to pay (seriously – they couldn’t get the machine working) suggested that this is a strategy not a one off.

He waited ages for mackerel the size of a sprat. Overall too many issues to be a

Excellent and memorable dinner. I went to celebrate my 30th birthday with a friend from out of town. Living around the corner for the past year I regret that I have only just enjoyed Fishworks on marylebone high street! The staff were friendly without being over bearing. The meal was a delight from fresh oysters, a lobster course and an excellent wine that was recommended by our waiter. One of those meals you know it the ingredients were all fresh and high quality.

I visit the Marylebone and Islington branches of Fishworks Seafood Cafe regularly and have never ever had a bad meal or service. The staff have always been wonderful, attentive but not intrusive.



Maybe Fishworks were short staffed. These things happen but I would urge you to give them another chance. The langoustines are the best I've ever had.

I was really excited about going to the Fishworks Seafood Cafe. I had heard great things about it & it has recently won the ITV's Best Fish Restaurant 2005 award. However, I and my friend were very underwhelmed.

The service was truly appalling. I think I can safely say that it is the worst I have had in London in the last couple of years and that goes across all price brackets. The staff at Fishworks Seafood Cafe got my booking wrong and were generally very unhelpful, right from the moment of meet and greet on the door.

Our waiter wasn't any better. He didn't know the food and couldn't answer any questions. I had black tiger prawns to start. They were very over-cooked, my skate as the main course was a very small portion as was the spinach vegtable side dish. I felt it was poor value.

Fishworks Seafood Cafe needs to get to grips with front of house in the Marylebone branch.