Cape Town Fish Market

Quite pricey but very good quality.
We had a platter for two which was well stocked — but not ridiculously so, this isn’t the US :).
Very clean and smart in a nice setting with fish tanks and lobster tanks around the front part — Don’t think about it too much!
Very handy for the Palladium, which is right next door, or Liberty which is just at the end of the road.
They also do a Foursquare deal for a free glass of wine if you spend more than £10 (which isn’t hard) so don’t forget to check in there as well — hope I’m allowed to say that here :)

Very ill afterwards. I have never had food poisoning like this before. My colleague who shared my fish stew was also sick. The décor was great and our South African friends raved about its authenticity. Going to pass in future, though.

Location: convenient for West End
Décor: Pleasant, with fish tanks
Food: Reasonable selection, tasty, portions on small side
Wine: Average selection — where average is limited!
Service: Glacially slow
Prices: Par for area, so on high side

I wanted to write this review from their free wifi while I was sitting at the table but we were in a hurry to catch a show as the service, our waitress in particular was, seemingly, trying to delay us further. I’m not a fan of writing sour reviews but clearly this place has had other patrons with similar experiences. we are in London for vacation (last day here as I’m writing this from our room) and had the London pass to facilitate our tourist activities. 1 of the perks of the pass is for an additional £10 you receive various discounts at many venues throughout the city. We cose CTFM for our second night.
From the start it seemed once we mentioned the London dining pass that our business was no longer appreciated. We did not see our waitress after she took our order as someone else brought out the food. She was very cold, we had to ask 3 times just to get the check and knowing that we would not be back, she seemed to care less about giving us attention.
Understandably the coupon was for 50% off entrees which is an attractive offer and enticed us to spend our money there.
Food (surf and turfand décor were good which is why I will give 2 stars. But unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend as a tourist going there especially as a tourist with your dining card. I would like to believe that this is only a particular employee and an isolated incident but there is at least 1 other review on Unilocal (from a local) who also had a similar experience with a reduced price offering.

It’s very reasonable with the big tank displayed some very colourful fishes

A very nice seafood restaurant. The fish was very fresh and the wine from RSA was very good.

We found a great deal on toptable for 50% off sushi and cocktails, so I organised a colleague outing after work one day. The sushi was quite good, very fresh. One colleague ate the fish and chips and got a bit sick though.
Maybe I’m just snobby about my cocktails but these were very weak and too sweet/​sugary. Although, I suppose, worth the £4 we were paying for them.
The service was fine, fairly prompt at least. The waitress actually made us feel guilty about asking her for normal things, like mayo for chips. She acted like she was stressed but the place was hardly full. Not even half full. Definitely got the vibe that because we were there on a special, we weren’t quite as worthy of attention.
Slightly less than average service. above average quality of fish. Meh. I’ve had better.

Went here on 10 July 2012. We got caught in the torrential rain at Oxford Circus and had to get in somewhere fast. The service was good and attentive. My brother had the mussels which he said he wouldn’t recommend. In line with someone else’s review. They were just average and came in a bowl, presentation was lacking and a couple were a little gritty.
Not feeling particularly adventurous, we both had fish and chips. It was ok. But at £12 it was steep, the portion was small (see photograph). The fish wasn’t huge, average batter, a few chips and meek mushy peas. Though the mushy peas were salted enough that a larger portion would have been unpalatable.
The service was good and attentive, if a little spooky. But perhaps that was just our particular waitress.

Do not eat here! Small and expensive! There is Wright Brothers 5 mins away from this restaurant, which is a far better option!

Service was superb. The Ninja as i called him, due to his black attire, different from all the others was on hand all the time. Even fetching a napkin to mop up a drop of wine so i didn’t get my menu in it.
Having been seen to quickly, the friendly staff made sure i had everything i needed.
Food was very good quality. From a promotion outside i got a free bottle of wine. Steak cooked as i asked. The calamari tender.
Brownie dessert, luxurious. Prices are quite high but this is a very nice place to eat.

Up until now, I probably would have rated Cape Town with 3*s — average, over priced food, fairly central location and alright for a special occasion — all in all, not particularly offensive to me.
However, I visited recently for lunch and was really shocked at the service. We were a party of 2 and arrived early-​ish for lunch on a Saturday. The restaurant wasn’t full at this point. Perhaps I’m one of those people who just likes to be left alone during my meal, but I definitely found the attention from our waiter a little bit too «in your face» — even before I’d ordered anything, I’d been told the specials twice (for specials that weren’t even available on Saturdays at one point). My order was taken down wrong, and grudgingly changed to what I’d ordered in the first place!
When my food arrived, I was a little (but not overly) surprised at the portion size — however, to be fair, I’d ordered a «light bite» and it was the right amount of food (just surprised at the price in relation to the portion size). My sister’s food was diverted to another table, and when the other table informed the waiter that they hadn’t ordered it, the dish disappeared into the kitchen and arrived very quickly shortly afterwards (not that I’m a suspicious kind of person).
The food tasted pretty good, so that’s a plus (I had the seafood noodles, which really was quite nice). However, the thing that really upset me at this meal was that when I asked for the bill, the waiter brought it over, placed it on the table and stood next to my chair holding the credit card machine. This gave me no time to look over the bill, check the figures or even finish my Coke while I looked at the bill. I felt under a lot of pressure to pay the bill quickly. That said, I did take my time and finish the rest of my drink after paying the bill…
All in all, I was quite disappointed with the way I was treated and regardless of how the food tasted, I won’t be coming back any time soon.

It’s not too terrible if you’re catching a show in the area ‘cuz the pre-​theatre menu orders are quick however the options are very greasy. The service was a little too forced like they’d come by several times seeing if everything is okay but we’d have to ask for water about 2 or 3 times. Just get it for me! The shrimp tempura thing might’ve sat around a little bit because it wasn’t crispy and a little on the soggier side. The fish and chips were actually pretty good but nearly dripping with oil. The belgium waffle was okay.
It all felt a little on the… applebee’s/chili’s type of thing for some reason but I don’t see myself returning.

Eek, don’t do it! Worst decision ever to dine here! The waiter was so rude and pushy, made us feel so uncomfortable. Food was so expensive for what it was. Very average quality. The restaurant’s toilets were filth, plus they’re in need of replacing blown light bulbs and fixing the toilet door lock. I wonder if the owner knows he’s supposed to be in the restaurant business?

I went to CTFM shortly after they opened, hoping to find the same delicious saw food platters and calamari I ate in the south African restaurants of the same chain, but I was rather disappointed.
Quite expensive and small selection, at least when I went.

A South African restaurant. It didn’t really take much more selling in for me, as I confess in all my ignorance I didn’t really know what bobotie was. I’ve been reliably informed it’s the coutry’s staple food, most requested from an ex-​pat South African community in foreign lands. So here it is: Bobotie is a South African dish consisting of spiced minced meat baked with an egg-​based topping. The recipe probably originates from the Dutch East India Company colonies in Batavia, with the name derived from the Indonesian Bobotok. It is also made with curry powder leaving it with a slight tang. It is often served with Sambal. It was zingy, tasty and I wanted more. The service less so, a real find and less touristy than I anticipated.

I was expecting a tourist trap with fish fingers… This is not the case. Amazing service, amazing fresh fish and great mash potato
A must visit restaurant for fresh fish

sehr gutes frisches essen. haben noch eine sushibar integriert. freundliche flexible Bedienung und service kann man auf alle faelle weiterempfehlen

I wanted to like CTFM I really did. The waitress was nice, it seemed like a good place for a 12 person birthday party. The food was also pretty good. Your usual surf n turf and with some sushi thrown in.
My issues with CTFM were waiting 2 hours for our main (yes…two hours). The manager was an ar5ehole who was giving the waitress a lot of hassle though she was doing a good job.
Lastly, the price is an absolute joke. I was drinking Virgin Marys throughout the night and well the bill came they were charging me £6.50 per drink… That’s for a virgin Mary, no double vodka, just tomato juice, tabasco, worcester sauce and pepper.
When I did complain they knocked the price down to £4.50…still a bloody rip off.
I wouldn’t go back there if you paid me. The manager is an idiot, it is over priced and slow.

Small and expensive — not the way I like! I’ve been here twice, why — because the first time was bad enough. It was like that episode of Friends, I had to order a side dish so my boyfriend could get a decent sized meal. (Yup that’s the kind of selfless girlfriend I am). Then we ordered some sushi from the conveyer belt and got two pieces. Two pieces! I’m like Gozilla attacking Tokyo — easily irritated when hungry! The bill came to about 60 quid — and I was still hungry!
The second time we ordered bento boxes, yuk! I got some odd spindly leggged tempura and rubbery baby fish in mine.
Wait! See that bottle of water on the table, don’t open it — it’s not free! At least get a chilled bottle.
I pass by this place everyday but fool me once, fool me twice, not again!

I had a tasty meal here a couple of weekends ago. To be honest, I was doubtful about this place. To have such a trafficked and high profile location, I just assumed it was a cheesy, geared for tourists and not very good. I mean, it’s across from one of those dreadful Aberdeen Steak Houses.
Anyway, I went there on the recommendation of a friend, who thought it would be worth trying. It was close to where we were to go afterward and the restaurant was offering special two and three course discounts.
Long story short, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of my meal. The sushi’s more than decent and the squid dish verges on the exceptional.
I’ve gotta hand it to CTFM for their yummy cocktails too. I really liked their margeritas.
Service was incredibly friendly and much very efficient!

Cape Town Fish Market is a South African franchise that’s set to take the British market by storm. Set inside a very stylish rendition of the original in central London, CTFM offers you the absolute freshest and best in sea food. If you’ve never eaten seafood in Cape Town, CTFM is the closest you’ll get. When you go, take a moment to inspect their aquariums: one, a live oyster tank and the other featuring a poisonous lionfish.
Be sure to ask your bonafide South African waiter whether they have kingklip in stock. Kingklip is a particularly popular South African fish that CTFM go to great lengths to offer the discerning seafood lover. They do great sushi too and offer the typical revolving sushi selection while the chefs cater to your every need. Struggle to sit down for extended periods of time? CTFM has a fully-​stocked bar for you to relax at while your boring dinner friends natter.