Rick Stein Barnes

Dover sole a la meuniere. To me, this is an example of simple elegance. It is a dish that, through perfection of technique and marriage of a very few ingredients, enhances the main component, that being dover sole. Anyone can, and should, cook Dover sole (or any white fish) a la meuniere. Here's how:

A la meuniere is in 'the miller's style', which translates in terms of technique into 'dredging through flour'. This is basically all there is to it (I say now, before I lie to you in the next sentence); dredge the fish in flour, fry on both sides, done. 

Well, not quite. You have a choice to make, and this one is crucial: do you fry in oil (vegetable/sunflower) or butter? Things to consider are how long you're going to fry your fish for, and on what heat. Oil has a higher smoke point than butter, so typically there's a risk with frying using butter. That's a great shame, as using butter in this instance would be delightful.

Fortunately, the way to get around this conundrum is to use clarified butter. You clarify butter by melting butter in a saucepan, until it begins to foam. The butter separates into three parts: the foam, a clear yellowy liquid, and milky deposits at the bottom. By scooping out the foam and retaining only the yellow liquid, you have butterfat without the milk - clarified butter. Not only does this taste great with fish, but it has a higher smoke point than normal butter. 

With that in mind, once you've dredged the fish and clarified the butter, you can get frying. If you've managed to retain any clarified butter after frying, you can always melt this further to make beurre noisette, which you can then scoop over the sole. I feel that an advantage of using clarified butter is that it really brings out the flavour and velvety smoothness of the sole. 

So that's Dover Sole a la meuniere. Why the heck am I talking about it? 

Because it's a great dish, and where better to have a great dish than the dedicated seafood empire that is Rick Stein's? 

Thanks to my wonderful friends in Edinburgh, who gifted me with a voucher for the restaurant when I left for London, my brother and I were able to, in technical parlance, pig out. 

I started with sourdough bread (imported from producers in Padstow), with olives and a salt cod brandade. The brandade was quite lovely, with every element noticeable, although the sourdough bread was lacklustre. My brother had Halloumi Saganaki, which he cites as a highlight of his meal. Crunch provided by the fried flour coating, sweetness by the honey. 

To follow, I had grilled cornish sardines, and my brother had smoked salmon with cream cheese. The grilled sardines were cooked simply and pleasantly, but the plating presented without care. While the Halloumi saganaki was a highlight for my brother, the smoked salmon with cream cheese was THE highlight. 

For mains, I had the Dover Sole a la Meuniere, he the Troncon of Turbot. The Sole came with beurre noisette, and while the fish was cooked splendidly, the flesh delicate and smooth, only the topside of the fish had any real flavour. The pan-side had retained very little flavour, and so I wonder if it wasn't cooked in butter. 

We finished with a Sticky Toffee Pudding for myself, a true classic (and boy, was it good), and a Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake for my brother. 

The food was very simple, yet not always executed as well as we would have hoped. More consideration to marriage of elements and fully bringing out the natural flavours at hand would have been appreciated. 

Value for Money? £155 for two for 3 courses and appetisers, as well as a glass of white wine and soft drink. For this price tag, no. 

Would I return? While I am glad (and very thankful) for the opportunity to try out the plethora of seafood at hand (and with this company, who really cares), going purely on the quality of the food, I would not return for a second sitting.