Torquay harbour is a beautiful setting for sunny walks, capturing some pictures of the moored in boats and even better for sitting down and grabbing a bite to eat whilst looking out at the amazing views.
There are some lovely restaurants along the harbour walk and Rockfish has always been one that has caught my eye, with the outdoor seating facing the harbour and the fact that their entire menu can be adapted to be gluten free. It’s music to my ears so we decided we would give it a try one evening.
We arrived at around 5:30pm and although the restaurant was busy we were seated promptly by a very friendly and welcoming member of staff. The drinks menu has a gluten free beer, a local Sea Cider and a Rockfish Gin. As always when dining out I mentioned my gluten intolerance and the waiter explained how they have gluten free batter and separate fryers and with these guys being Coeliac Accredited also, it’s always another reason to feel safer within a restaurant when ordering food.
The tables are dressed with a paper menu that lists all the potential fresh fish that has been caught that day, if it’s available the waiter comes over and circles it along with how it comes (filleted or whole) and whether it can be battered or grilled in olive oil and lemon. I absolutely love this addition, you never know what will be available and they have some fish on offer that you just wouldn’t get anywhere else.
We ordered a gluten free battered calamari to share – this was amazing! I find it hard to get battered calamari in a restaurant as generally the batter contains milk, but this is both gluten and dairy free which gets a massive thumbs up from me, it’s light and super tasty, safe to say it didn’t last long on the plate!
I chose the ray wings for my main, grilled with oil and lemon, probably the best fish dish I’ve ever tasted and if I thought this place couldn’t get any better, I was told the chips are unlimited! Both meals arrived with a ‘gluten free’ flag to denote which was mine.
We enjoyed our visit to the Torquay branch so much that we decided to visit their Brixham restaurant later on in the week. The restaurant is situated overlooking the Brixham harbour just a few steps from the location you catch the ferry to get too and from both areas. I thoroughly recommend doing this 30 minute boat trip, it’s not a necessity, you can reach it easily by car in the same journey time but on a nice sunny day it really is the cherry on top of the cake to a nice day out.
Seating for this restaurant is upstairs which gives an even better view over the harbour, sitting watching all the boats and trawlers coming in and out is an experience in itself and we even spotted a seal in the water!
After having the gluten free calamari at the Torquay restaurant my son decided to have this for his meal instead of ordering off the kids menu, which by the way they cater excellently for. The activity pack is second to none what with a Rockfish branded deck of cards, a beach clean bag, activity booklet based around the ocean, pencils crayons, stickers and a wooden dolphin puzzle all in an ‘Ocean Protectors’ drawstring bag. I’ve been told they change these from time to time for something new, what an amazing idea to keep the younger ones occupied and very much appreciated.
This time round I ordered the Sandsole from the fresh fish paper table menu, again this came with unlimited chips (also gluten free) and I had it cooked with oil and lemon. P.S order the anchovy mayo, it’s a taste sensation, goes with everything on the menu, a good all rounder and makes a change from the usual tommy k! So incredibly fresh and tasty it’s hard not to come back here everyday for every meal! But stick a fork in me, I’m done! For now anyway, thanks for having us Rockfish.
The Rockfish in Exmouth Devon,is also really good and everything can be made gf .I have been there a few times and the quality is excellent.