Plat de Fruits de Mer

When, in 1993, Terence Conran opened his first restaurant, Quaglinos, he almost re-invented modern dining in London. He created a sensation with his show-stopping crustacea altar, which took up one whole wall of the restaurant. The piece de resistance on the menu was the plat de fruits de mer, which was based on the famous dish served in the French Riviera and served two at a minimum. But

I always found that Conran’s offering, which gave as much emphasis to profit as to style, contained too many fillers, such as winkles and mussels and not enough of the luxury items. If you want the genuine article in London, the place to go is La Poissonnerie de L’Avenue, which was founded in 1962, and has been the best fish restaurant ever since. There, the plat de fruit de mer contains a whole lobster, lots of oysters and best of all, enormous Norfolk crab claws. The price (for two) is £76, which is no more than you’d pay at a Conran restaurant but is twice the quality.