Friday, 19th September 2008 – Halibut, Buckingham

Friday evening we wandered into Buckingham intending to eat at the Buckingham Fort (a very nice Indian restaurant) but as I’d noticed a couple of new restaurants had sprung up since last I drove through Buckingham on a regular basis, we figured we’d have a bit of a wander round first.

Two of the new establishments are Italian/Mediterranean – Prezzo which is part of a big chain and therefore probably best avoided, and Prego which is part of a very small chain (three restaurants) and could be good. Additionally, there’s a very minimalist-looking Indian, Red Chilli. However, the place that really got our interest was Halibut, a fishmonger/traiteur/fish restaurant, very small – just nine tables – very friendly and with excellent fish. Of course we didn’t have a reservation but after some discussion they decided they could fit us in, and we were very glad they did. We started with a glass of manzanilla and then Lynne went on to the dressed crab – enormous, tasty, beautifully presented.

I had a portion of Arbroath smokies, smothered in a cheesy sauce and finished under a grill so the top was crusty and brown and wonderful. It was a great way to start a meal…

After that Lynne had the monkfish and mango Thai curry.

Being adventurous I had the Seafood Jollof which was exactly as I expected it to be, full of prawns, mussels and squid, tomatoey and spicy and tasty – as well as very substantial.

We couldn’t manage a whole pudding each so we went for a shared ice cream, honey and lavender. It was like biting a chunk out of Provence, as the honey and cream slid down your throat the scent of lavender hit the roof of your mouth and thence to your nose. Heavenly – and so very simple.

I must try and make some myself. After that it was time to go home and try and catch up on sleep. It was a good meal, made better by being unexpected. We’ll be going back soon I suspect.