The Independent. 6th of July, 2000

Siren call of Mermaid's seafood proves a treat

With it's large glass windows, its rustic style wooden tables and its plain white walls, the Mermaid Café is a bright and airy place. The kitchen is located at the back of the room and you can, if you wish, choose a table that will allow you a view of the kitchen.

It was a bright and sunny day when we lunched there, so we chose a table overlooking busy Dame Street. From my side of the table, I had a lovely view of the City Hall park in which office workers were nibbling on their sandwiches in the summer sun.

It was a long time since I had been in the Mermaid Café, but I had fond memories of a delicious, if expensive dinner, held there to mark the departure of a former colleaque.

Most of all, I remember raving about the crab cakes and was hoping they would still feature on the menu. The dishes of the day are chalked up on a large blackboard at the back of the room. Now, this can be a nuisance for the short-sighted among us and we had to ask the waiter to bring the menu to the table. As befits a restaurant operating under the Mermaid moniker, fish loomed large.

Happily, the crab cakes were on. And they definitely lived up to the memory. Two fat, golden cakes were served on a bed of rocket with an accompanying mustard sauce. Though the sauce was described as piquant, I found it rather bland. But the fish cakes were buttery moist and positively flaky in texture due to the generous quantity of crab-meat. The fact that I encountered the odd bit of crab shell only added to my enjoyment of this flavoursome dish, though a denture wearer might disagree.

For main course my companion opted for a chicken and pine nut salad which came on a bed of bread. She declared it good, but would have dispensed with the bread. I ordered skate, or ray as we call it when we buy it in the chipper. Two large ray wings came served on a generous bed of sage and butter mash. The fish was bedecked in capers. Now, capers can be rather nasty if pickled in cheap, sharp vinegar. But whatever way these capers had been preserved, they were very tasty, almost sweet in fact. Good French beans cooked al dente were also included. It was the best fish dish this writer has eaten in a long time.

We did not have room for desserts though all of them seemed extremely tempting. We settled instead for cappuccinos. Again, these were very good. The coffee was strong, the milky froth rose like a meringue from the cup and came sprinkled with a generous serving of powdered chocolate. With two large bottles of mineral water, the bill came to £36. Given the high quality of the food, this was pretty good value.