Frills there aren’t, but this white- and blue-fronted spot often produces gasps of delight at the sheer freshness and just-so cooking of its fish. The second thing you need to know is that batter’s off the menu: it’s matzo, or matzo and egg, if you want the fish fried. Portions are generous and fillets of cod or haddock typically stretch off each side of the plate. Lemon sole – in other hands a pretty ordinary species – was a sweet, minerally feast, sensitively grilled on the bone. Anything other than chips and simple salad on the side would have got in the way.
Matzo-crusted halibut, a golden orange cutlet of meaty white flesh, was similarly fresh and accurately cooked. Groundnut (peanut) is the oil of choice and its clean flavour is tastily apparent in Nautilus’s wonderful chips. Keo beer, taramasalata and houmous add to the Greek-island feel of the decor, which features pine panelling, boat pictures and raffia chairs. Early opening for dinner makes this a smart choice to take kids, and the little fried nuggets served to them have all the quality of adult portions.