For Christmas my company held a pretty awesome raffle and everybody got to win something. The gifts ranged from a "ring for sex" bell to a bottle of Dom 1999 Vintage. Lucky me, I won a sweet voucher to a Caprice Holdings restaurant and I chose to take Hub to J. Sheekey's Oyster Bar.
I love the vibe there and it's basically a London landmark for great seafood. They've recently renovated the Oyster Bar and had some Champagne there before heading into the main dining room.
We started off with the crab bisque with cream & cognac and a mixed seafood cocktail. The soup was rich & velvety and lumps of sweet lobster and other seafood mixed with J. Sheekey's amazing house made Marie Rose sauce. We're not talking just ketchup & mayo; there's brandy, Worcester and a few other surprising ingredients.
For mains we shared the scallop and shrimp burger and the mixed seafood grill. The burger was succulent and you just can't beat fresh grilled seafood with butter. Most people prefer to drink white wine with seafood, but Hub and I went for red. So we decided to go with the recommended Moulin de
Gassac 2011 Vin de Pays de L'Herault. It was perfect with our meal. Easy
drinking, but with character and it didn't overpower our meal.
For dessert we order a lovely Sauternes (which I shamefully forgot to note) and shared the Cru Virunga chocolate bomb with honeycomb bits. Um yeah!
I would consider J. Sheekey's a place for special occasions, but their Oyster Bar offers more affordable dishes and a great looking tapas menu. I'd love to go back and try the Snails Bordelaise and Shrimp & Bacon Croquettes. And if you're in the mood for indulging definitely, definitely get the Plateau de Fruits de Mer with Lobster. It's just divine with that Marie Rose sauce....
