Myca’s — Restaurant in East Devon

Really worthy place this. Fish was superb, from Plymouth fish market. Ambience lovely, which is difficult to achieve seeing we were the only diners (must have been even better later on given the number of reserved tables). Service was effortlessly excellent. Natalie was delightful and so sincerely friendly (evidenced by a number who called in and greeted her by name, and vice versa). The decor was very pleasant without trying too hard. Still very fresh as the restaurant was opened in May 2023 by a Romanian chef and his wife, relocating from Plymouth. Their family dropped in and you got the sense of a very warm togetherness between all associated. And on to the food. Having just been to Santander last month, this stood up against anything we eat in the seafood capital of Spain. The nine Cajun spiced prawns were tenderly enveloped in the lightest of tempura batter and were plump to the bite. A substantial salmon steak was enjoyed by my wife while I had a mouth watering Misto of three grilled fish; sardines, mackeral and salmon. I was a little uncertain about the sardines when ordering, that they might have been too strong for just before bedtime. I needn't have worried. They were so succulent and with a mild flavour they turned out to be my favourite of closely contested talent show. All three were grilled perfectly, retaining freshness without being charred to resemble a biscuit. The unlimited chips were an unecessary enticement, though I did request just a small portion to accompany the remnants of the salmon. The chef evidently doesn't understand portion size as the bowl was overflowing with crisp but not gum cutting beauties. I felt honour bound to finish them off! This place will very quickly develop a richly deserved reputation....

I hesitate to write this because I don't want to be negative about a new local business and Myca's has rave reviews under it's belt. We visited in the strength of these reviews. My trio of fish was very tasty and welll cooked. My husband had the chowder. It was served cold so we asked for it to be heated up slightly. The dish was bland to say the least and very watery with little evidence of fish, it looked like stringy bits of fish were in the dish but no chunky pieces like you would expect in a chowder. My husband could not finish it. We brought it to the attention of the waitress on paying, she bought out the manager/owner who argued that the dish had never received any negative comments before, which seemed a silly comment, we were dissatisfied, that should have been accepted. Then the chef came out defending his dish. Admitting it was just made so may not be the same standard as he said was usual. We had a conversation with 2 very defensive people, a simple apology would have sufficed. They wanted to charge full price for the barely touched 'chowder', we questioned this. The owner then stated that she would charge us half price as the cost of crab was high.. As we had seen little evidence of the presence of crab we found this amusing! My point is 2 fold, 1. We found the dish unpleasant, 2.the management engaged upon a very public and negative, defensive stance against myself and my husband, especially the 'chef'. As I have stated my dish was fine and we wish to support local business, but please, learn how to deal with...

Me and my wife booked a table here for our Anniversary meal and wow it did not disappoint, from emailing and booking our table to recieving an email back saying we would have a cosy corner already had us won. The front of house team were very welcoming and had got us a card and a glass of fizz this was a lovely touch, specials were explained and also what was not on the menu(unfortunately being a fresh fish restaurant it's sometimes out of their hands what the fishermen catch) anyway this did not deter us one bit, we had whitebait and calamari as starters and it was so delicious and cooked perfectly, my wife had the seafood misto which she described as the best cooked fish and tastiest she had ever had, I settled on the mixed grill after originally going to have the Monkfish tails but unfortunately they did not have them, the mixed grill was again the best I had ever had, service and drinks top up was brill, the atmosphere from the other diners and staff was amazing and we had the joy of watching Sidmouth carnival go right past. We will not hesitate to book again when next in Sidmouth. A massive well done to all involved as you made our night so special. Thank you...