Hix Oyster & Fish House

28th July 2011-

Really disappointed. Went to Mark Hix's two years ago for lunch and were overwhelmed by the location and really enjoyed our food Fish pie and Mackeral…also a fabulous frozen berry and hot white chocolate dessert. Service was relaxing and pleasant.

We went a few weeks ago expecting something special once again. In particular as mark Hix writes and offers so many innovative recipes in so many sunday supplements. (Why not put more on your menu)

the starters were amazing but as a main we unfortunatly choose cuttlefish. and chorizo..a new experience we thought. Worst ever. Never had it but found it un edible-. It was crunchy!!!tasteless, I was sick in the early hours.

Not wanting to spoil the evening I didn't mention it until the end of the meal when the head waitor asked us if we enjoyed it. He described that the texture should be like squid…far from it. When advised the kitchen he was told that nothing is passed through unless its perfect.

In that case we won't be coming back…

The service charge was taken off the bill as compensation but we walked away hungry and disappointed

Have noticed that reviews have been fairly negative over the past year we ignored them. Shouldn't have!!!

The only redeeming quality was the the head waitor who made a huige effort to try and put things to right…an asset to the place!!!

I chose to take my dad here for Fathers Day as it has beautiful views over one of his favourite bays and he loves good food. I have been to Mark Hix's restaurants in London before and loved the food and the atmosphere so felt sure this wouldn't disappoint.

And yes the food was delicious. We started with wonderful starters, mine was a very tasty seafood cocktail. One of the best I have have ever eaten to be precise. We then both ordered fish (lemon sole and bream) which were cooked to our liking with a choice of different accompaniments. All very tasty, along with a great bottle of wine. The desserts were also up to scratch and have a very fresh fruity feel to them. I had the lemon and ginger nut cheesecake, but was also tempted by the buttermilk pudding with blood oranges.

Im sure the restaurant is busier on a sunny afternoon, it was actually fairly quiet when we were dining so the atmosphere did leave a little to be desired.

However, as previous reviewers have noted, service is indeed lacking. After paying the bill in cash they were a reluctant to collect the money leaving me in that awkward position of being left sat there and almost expected to leave the remaining £15 odd as a tip! Well after that service I wasn't prepared to be quite the generous! I also felt they were fairly slow in topping up our glasses of wine during the meal, leaving me to keep bending behind me and doing the honours myself. Slightly embarrassing especially for a special occasion and whilst I'd been raving about the Hix restaurants prior to the meal.

Overall I think this restaurant could be a fabulous little place if they keep up the delicious food but work on the service too! After all it has views to die for and an area that needs a great fish and oyster restaurant!

Good food complimented by a fantastic setting and view over the coast.

It is however a shame that the staff were uninterested in their customers (on a relatively quiet night), not asking if we needed anything else and didn't bother to ask if we enjoyed our meal, either when we finished or when we paid (and regrettably left that tip). …COME ON GUYS, it's just standard practice and good manners!!! It gives the impression that you don't give two hoots about your customers, the place you work in or the food you serve …should the customer feel privilaged to eat at Hix? There is obviously a good chef downstairs producing some really great food but one or two staff members with their straight unfriendly faces ruin the rest of the experience.

…Not the treatment that you expect from a well rated restaurant in a small local community. Wouldn't go there again due to this which is a shame because the food and location is good.

Next time we will spend our money in Lula, Chez Cuddy or the Riverside in Bridport where the service is as equally good as the food.

My boyfriend and I went for Sunday lunch at Hix and decided to arrive 20 minutes earlier than our 2.30 booking so we could have a drink on the small outdoor bar area. Big mistake. On arrival we were told to go out there and the waitress would come out to get our drink order and bring us the menus. After 15 minutes no-one had come (despite the waitress serving people beside us and the outdoor area only seating 6-8 people), so my boyfriend went inside to enquire and he was told someone would be right out. Another 10 minutes passed and nothing so I went in to order our drinks but seeing no waitress accepted my eye contact for attention, I ended up ordering at the bar, which looked like it is designed for waiting staff only. 10 more minutes went by with no sign of the drinks and when we enquired again, we were told the staff were looking for an olive for my drink. Finally the drinks arrived (with said single olive). Waiting almost 45 minutes for a drink is beyond an outrage and cast a dampener on what should have been a lovely relaxing lunch. The rest of the afternoon passed without incident and the food we had was fairly good but for a place that should really be the number one restaurant in Lyme, the service was disorganised and shockingly tardy. Go there at your peril on the weekend!

There is no parking at The Oyster and Fish House of any kind even for disabled. The parking is in a public car park , from which you have to use a steep long set of steps or walk down and back up two very steep hills. The food is over priced for what you receive .There are some bizzare mixtures of flavours we had Huss with a barbecue sauce that completely over took the fish. The position and view is fantastic but take that away and you have a very over priced place to eat at. Mark Hix as a good reputation I do hope he puts things right here before it gets to bad a press.

The restaurant is in a great elevated position, on a steep hill at the back of a small coast side public park, with lovely views along the coastline – at least when it’s sunny. It must have one of the best English seaside restaurant locations; similar to Tresanton in Cornwall.

The restaurant is small, but since it has large areas of glass with very simple brasserie / café style furniture, it is very bright, breezy and airy. Not sure how it will feel on a cold dark wet winter evening ?

Service was generally very competent and friendly, and reasonably knowledgeable. There was also no pressure to push us out after our very nice very extended lunch.

The menu was short – I guess in the interests of freshness and efficiency – but with sufficient choice . We both ordered grilled bream, which was very fresh and very good – high quality whole fish with its head, simply cooked and presented – as we like it. The starters, side orders and wine were equally as good. Not surprisingly, the cooking and food style is the fish equivalent of Hix in Clerkenwell.

You can’t change the weather or the roads, but it makes a very nice change to be able to eat at such good quality seaside restaurant, without having to catch a plane.

It will be very interesting to see how locals and tourists take to this style of cooking and service, with simple quality dishes, served in a relatively informal way in smart café style interior; since it doesn’t really fit the traditional model for a relatively more expensive quality restaurant.