Chiswick is not a place, more a collection of roads held together by Victorian terraced houses. It seems to encompass about 90% of the land mass between the Chiswick and Hammersmith flyovers, with multiple competing eponymous stations (Chiswick and Chiswick Park), and roads (Chiswick High Road, Chiswick Lane and Chiswick Staithe to name a few) so it is ironic that the bit most people would think of as Chiswick is actually in Turnham Green.

Mrs Nigel and I found ourselves here one damp Friday night having just been to the potentially incorrectly named Chiswick Cinema, having lost 2 1/2 hours of our lives to an overrated Korean film, whose themes of hopelessness and existential crisis I was feeling in waves.

Some months earlier in one of our many walks along the Thames we had passed a fishmongers which promised food in the evening, and so we noted it for future reference. We were perhaps more attracted to La Trompette across the road (run by the people behind the world’s greatest cheeseboard at the (now defunct) Glasshouse in Kew), but that is a super special occasion event, and a wet Friday is certainly not anything special in January, so The Whistling Oyster it was.

Downstairs in the fishmongers there are stools for evening use, but Mrs Nigel always complains that hers is too far from the floor, so we had chosen the more comfortable upstairs option. The staff were all absolutely charming.

All wine is English, which was a welcome surprise. We started with a couple of different glasses of fizz (to lift the gloom): both were good, but the Black Chalk just pipped the Chapel Down.

As far as the food was concerned, we could have eaten everything.

We absolutely loved the Taramasalata and the Mackerel Pate. The Anchovies were also pretty amazing. The Prawns (which I only managed to photograph once demolished) could have done with more seasoning than the Marie Rose (salt and lemon even), and there was a split in the ranks on the Sea Bass, the moanier of the pair of us not enjoying it as much as Mrs Nigel. The chef had just freshly filleted a sea bass, however, so it was churlish to complain.

We were far too full for pudding, but did manage a few more glasses of wine, mostly very good, if a little toppy price-wise. I was a little sceptical about wine from Abergavenny before trying it: and remained so afterwards, but that is a very small criticism of an excellent meal.

Definitely try this place: it punches far above it weight, and while I am not a great fan of the name, it was not the biggest mouthful of the evening, and for that I was very grateful

Conclusion

Overall Rating: 5/5

• Food: 5/5
• Drinks: 4.5/5
• Ambience: 4.5/5
• Service: 5/5
• Value for money: 4.5/5

The Whistling Oyster: https://www.thewhistlingoyster.co.uk/upstairs