Bistro FORTY6 - Shoe Box Superiority

These days the country is littered with generic contemporary Italian or contemporary English restaurants, with little character and uninspiring menus. Often there's nothing wrong with their food (aside from being borderline extortionist), but fine dining must be visually exciting and gastronomically arousing. The Fat Spoon demands it. Gladly, Bistro FORTY6 knows exactly what it's doing. Despite being the size of student's living room, the tantalizing aromas from the kitchen, attractive decor and decent clientele helps create a very pleasant atmosphere in this dwarf restaurant. Don't expect to have your food in a hurry, as the lone waitress covering the whole restaurant herself can only go so fast and why rush something that is going to be brilliant. Despite seemingly running the whole show single-handedly, this particular waitress had more banter than a drunk comedian, a big plus for the Fat Spoon. The menu is strong. It showcases a range of sound but interesting seafood and meat dishes. And they certainly have a knack for scallops, the tempura scallops starter suggests a dish resembling deep fried shoe sole. But this dish was executed with razor sharp perfection. The main dishes also have masses of finesse, a particular favourite being the belly pork dish. Sex on a plate. Although it isn't at the cutting edge of fine dining, it's pretty damn close. Bistro FORTY6 isn't the cheapest of restaurants, but at least that keeps the scabbier diners out. They do offer a substantial discount with the Gourmet Society card however, making a visit here an absolute bargain. 85%