Harden's survey result
Summary
“Why, just why?” – Richard Caring’s famously showy Mayfair dining destination on a corner of Berkeley Square is definitely one to skip unless you enjoy spraying money at a meal, with 2/3 of our reporters considering the place dramatically “overpriced”. And it’s not just that its mix of sushi, sashimi and robata-grilled fish, meat and seafood doesn’t live up, but a staff attitude that can appear “very rude”, “the nightclubby style which can detract from the meal” and a sense that unless you have more money than sense it’s just not for you. Fun Fact – the Coral Room here for private dining boasts two of the largest live coral reef tanks in the world.
Summary
“A horror-fest of crassness” bringing “Essex-on-Berkeley” to Mayfair – Richard Caring’s famous and glitzy seafood scene is “just not my type of restaurant” for most of the good number who comment on it in our annual diners’ poll. “With the accent on glossy surroundings, flamboyant menus of sushi, fish and seafood all backed up by that wretched waterfall”, “it’s basically a night-club with food” and “absurdly expensive for what it is”: an impressive 2/3 of those who rated it did so as their most overpriced meal of the year.
Summary
“Full of Eurotrashy tourists taking selfies” – if that’s not you, a visit to Richard Caring’s glitzy and “superficial” Mayfair seafood scene may be “an unhappy experience”. True, fans do claim it can be a “very buzzy and atmospheric” place to try “for the people-watching and sushi” (plus other luxurious fishy treats). But 70% of reporters feel it’s “overpriced”; and its “loud, echo-chamber” styling, “offhand service” and “food that – particularly given the cost – is terrible” can all grate. (“I’m surprised there isn’t a tanning booth in the loos so the clientele can top up in between courses…”; “I get forced to go there on business: why anyone would go of their own free will is a mystery”).
Summary
“So loud” in every aspect – Richard Caring’s prominently sited seafood scene is an orgy of ostentatious styling, luxe seafood and sushi, and a crowd that’s Mayfair’s answer to ‘Love Island’. The kind view is that it’s “fun and full of life” (“they made our daughter feel very special for her 15th birthday”). The majority view is that “service is sloppy and prices absolutely outrageous”.
For 34 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Sexy Fish?
1-4 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BR
Restaurant details
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Always | £32.00 |  |
|
|
| Starter | Main | Veggies | Pudding |
|---|---|---|---|
| £7.00 | £35.50 | £11.00 | £10.00 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £75.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £5.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 14.50% |
1-4 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6BR
Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑1 am |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑1 am |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑1 am |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑1 am |
| Friday | 12 pm‑1 am |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑1 am |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑12 am |
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