�Like a salmon swimming up stream to spawn, last month Simply Fish poked its head out from the waters of Camden Town.

It’s diminutive front belies its long, slightly canteen-like interior, complete with open kitchen and quirky touches like coat and bag space above the tables and a cutlery draw from which you can choose your own culinary weapons.

The menu also has a fresh approach; you choose your fish, pick the method of cooking, the sauce and the side vegetables to build your own dish.

If you aren’t that adventurous you can pick from the ready-made meals, which represent cuisines from around the world, like the Indian subcontinent, Spain, Thailand and so on.

There are even some non-aquatic offerings like steak and burger, although if fish really isn’t your thing this may not be the restaurant for you.

A complimentary nibble of fried white bait and nuts was delivered to the table while we made our choices and then we were away.

We shared the mixed shellfish platter to start – a fantastic array of grilled prawns with chilli and garlic, delightfully thin battered squid with a hint of coriander and succulent mussels in a creamy white wine sauce.

For the main, I put together a combination of pan fried sea bass, with salsa verdi, tangy pak choi with ginger and some slightly oily new potatoes.

Very good it was too, and was served very much as a cohesive meal rather than elements cobbled together.

Our other main was the delicious curried sea bream – a fibrous fish grilled whole, missing only the head, and served with fragrant jasmine rice.

Both meals were delicate and tasty – the complexity of the flavours anything but simple.

Although the wine list is brief, approximately four of each colour, both whites we tried were very good – a light and citrusy Touraine sauvignon on the one hand and fuller and more fruity Chenin blanc on the other

The service was a little slow, especially as the place wasn’t busy during our visit, but a few teething problems are to be expected in the first few weeks.

If oceanic food is just your ticket, Simply Fish is a new, exciting and above all very tasty way to satisfy your craving.