Platters — Restaurant in Plymouth

I had high hopes for my return visit to Platters after a 20 year absence. Although the décor of this small restaurant in Plymouth's Barbican area is basic, I remember the days when the place was hard to get in. They used to have an informal arrangement with The Dolphin pub just a few doors down where people waited for their table to become free. For this visit, there was no such wait.

My first impression was that not much had changed. Same basic décor (which I like) and from my conversations with the waiter, same staff (at least some of them). I found the menu to offer quite a narrow selection but on the other hand, this is a restaurant that specialises in fish, particularly those produced by the local fishermen. In addition to the fixed menu, there was a choice from the the 'catch of the day'.

I chose a starter of scallops followed by Paella, which had caught my eye from the menu displayed outside the restaurant. The scallops were delicious, cooked in garlic butter. The plate was dressed with a fairly unimaginative salad, which let it down slightly. I was surprised when the paella was served to see that it had been prepared with long grain rice. The flavour was pleasant with fresh well cooked ingredients but the dish lacked the texture that paella rice would have given. It was not what I was expecting, so I was overall slightly disappointed. Didn't stop me finishing the pate though!

I got into a conversation with one of the service staff who told me that he found the dishes with rice and pasta to be disappointing. He admitted that he would not recommend the pasta dishes to an Italian or the rice dishes to a Spaniard. A strange thing to say; I later thought that I should have been offered the same advice. Next time I go, I will follow his other advice to choose from the selection of freshly caught fish.

I notice that each table had a bottle of vinegar, suggesting that the restaurant is a speciality fish and chips diner. There are plenty of fish and chips outlets in the Barbican so I personally wold not choose that from this restaurant. The Dolphin pub even lets you take your fish and chips inside to eat with a pint.

I'm still giving a four star review for Platters. Despite the paella not really being a paella, I enjoyed it for what it was and I found the staff to be pleasant and helpful. It also brought back some memories of earlier visits. I look forward to returning for some fresh...

Platters restaurant has always, in my mind, been a really great sea food destination. Very small restaurant, a little pricer than other barbican restaurants, but happy to pay for the quality, service, and the water front barbican location.

I went a couple of weeks ago for lunch. Cod and chips were great, fish obviously fresh, batter crispy and tasty, perfectly cooked chips. Another had the crab sandwich, said it tasted more of vinegar than crab. I understand some people put a little acidity in with their crab, but it was apparently very overpowering. Not really what you'd expect for a £14 sandwich, but the chips it came with were great. Nothing else to say about the food.

I do have a few other things to mention.... The orange juice, don't order it, waste of money, I asked if this was fresh orange juice, given the price tag, I was assured it was. When it came it tasted funky with an odd tang, when i sent it back I was informed by another member of staff that it was from concentrate, and they didn't like it either....

A couple of tables behind us,near where the chefs were cooking, was a young guy, he either worked there, knew someone that did or was maybe related to the owner. He sat there, in this fresh seafood restaurant, with his takeaway that he'd brought in and sat eating. It was an odd sight to see the staff talking and laughing with a guy sat in one of the restaurant booths of a sea food restaurant eating what looked like Greek Souvlaki from the kiosk right outside. It doesn't give a great impression of the food if someone that appeared to be staff or closely related to staff, to be not eating the food from the restaurant they were sat in.

All in all it was OK, I wouldn't go out my way to book here, it wouldn't come to mind if I was looking for somewhere to go to eat, but I wouldn't mind...

My lovely lady treated me to a birthday meal here, and, it truly was a lovely meal.

Waiting staff were lovely, polite and professional, we were immediately seated and made to feel very welcome. We decided to order the seafood platter, and having spoken to the waitress before we ordered, we decided that this would probably be enough to feed us 2 hungry humans. We were in for a shock, the muscles on their own would have been enough to feed me, the portion size was, well, huge is the best word for it. But as only a part of the seafood platter, the rest that followed was incredible. Scallops, 3 lovely pieces of fish, calamari, breaded whitebait chips and HUGE prawns. The menu says, enough to feed 2, personally, I'd say there is probably enough for 3 or more. From the start, I asked where the produce came from as let's face it, if you have a seafood restaurant so close to the sea, you want it to be fresh and fresh it is. Each morning it's fresh to be exact. So it's no suprise to learn that everything was utterly delicious. The scallops were sweet, and the roe was kept on, this is an absolute must as it enhances the flavour so much. The muscles, delicious, perfectly cooked, and the sauce didn't detract you from the flavour. The 3 pieces of fish, just fall apart lovely, moist and utterly flavoursome. And honestly, everything was just cooked to utter perfection. Any fool can cook a steak or chicken, but to cook fresh seafood and do it perfectly, that's an art. And the chef there is an artist and a bloody good one at that.

Thank you to all the staff there for making my birthday meal a very...