Parsons is a small but charming restaurant on the north-east fringe of Covent Garden, specialising in seafood, which is a bit like saying Lionel Messi specialises in playing football, because the seafood here is absolutely terrific.
I have been to Parsons half a dozen times now and I have not yet managed to get to the main courses. The fish mains are listed on a little ticket you get with your menu - there will usually be three or four options depending on what the catch of the day is. Whenever I have seen these going out to neighbouring tables, they've looked amazingly good - perfectly cooked pieces of gorgeous fish, served with very simple garnishes and sauces. But, as I say, I can't quite get there yet, because I am greedy for their small plates and starters.
The potted shrimp croquettes are so, so good. There's a lovely devilish heat to them. Recently I tried the salt cod fritters - delicately fried crispy balls of salt cod, served with a smear of something a lot like harissa. These are also great. There's a very nice pissaladiere and even the bread, served with a delicious seaweed butter, is excellent.
Moving on from snacks to starters, we always order the tuna tartare with its little dabs of bloody mary granita, and usually the seared gem lettuce with prawns and smoked anchovies (this one comes with tempura samphire, a brilliant idea - apparently the chef is Japanese). These are also, and you'll be detecting a recurrent theme here, absolutely banging. Even the sides are fantastic - they have nailed the chips, and the simple green salad has been zhuzhed up with a roasted onion dressing. Everything we've had from this section of the menu has been a joy to eat, including the special I had once of sea bream carpaccio with apple, chilli and elderflower, which was so good I lost the power of speech for about ten minutes. (Sadly it's not shown up on the main menu since. I could eat it three times a day.)
Recently I ventured into the afters section of the menu, which, idiosyncratically, has both sweets and savouries, and by savouries I mean a steak sandwich and a Welsh rarebit. The steak sandwich is a dinky little thing - it's only a fiver - comprising a really good little bun, a generous portion of bavette steak, and some sliced gherkins. In fact, you could very happily lunch on it, were you to add some of those excellent chips, and - go on then - some of those fritters to start.
Parsons is one of my happy places and long may it prosper. read more