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Turning monkfish into ossobuco, leaving it on the bone, and matching with saffron risotto is a more tried and tested formula that worked a treat.Ice creams, like the bread offered in neat decks of thin slices, are all home-made and intriguing. And yes, it did give him the Indian effect he’s always after, as well as an introduction to something he does less often when he’s hungry – attack a shark. Gooseberries are generally matched with oilier fish like mackerel, and here, with the elderflower, it was a fragrant, pretty and rather sweet plateful.Our friend next door had succumbed to tandoori Thresher shark (with pilau rice, kachumba, raita, chutney and poppadom) because it sounded like his habitual Saturday night curry and something from the offie combination. Crayfish, as outrageously pink as a gin-sodden sailor’s nose, blushing sea trout and crunchy salty samphire, were precision-cooked.

Ingenious and luxurious, but with enough local purpose not to be pointlessly so, its piquancy was enhanced by a pinch of chillied salt on the side.Sea trout, crayfish, samphire, gooseberries and an elderflower vinegar was a very well-mannered, meet-the-locals get-together of seasonal produce. Still, a terrine layering Norfolk smoked eel, foie gras and piquillo was terrific. Occasionally ingredients were ravished by foreign influences. Even so, it was probably going too far to describe the scallops as “shagged senseless” by the preserved lemon and chorizo, despite the sweet little nuggets of flesh not quite holding their own. As if the chefs are determined to show they’re up to speed with fashionable tastes, the menu gives the local talent a global makeover. If the novelty of fresh dressed crab has worn off I guess you might want your oysters to come with a bloody Mary dressing or your lobster to get a Thai buttering. Instead we spent it happily talking to the people at the next-door table.

Because, ahem, I can’t point the finger at others for being noisy and clubbable; we’d found ourselves sitting beside a party of friends from London and exchanged the what-are-you-doing-here shrieks that make outsiders cringe.Don’t have the grilled queen scallops with preserved lemon and chorizo, they’d advised So my consort ignored them. Double-fronted, and with wooden Venetian blinds on the windows, it’s bright and welcoming, with cascades of dried red peppers and garlic bulbs by the bar – signs of an exuberant approach to the fantastic seafood that’s close to hand.If the wait between starters and mains had been any longer we could have picked a Mary Wesley off an adjacent bookshelf of paperbacks and passed the time with a beach read. And being in Burnham Market – make that Boden Market – all very jolly in a Fulham-on-holiday way. As purely a restaurant, the focus at Fishes is all on the food and wine.