the seacow

Hi all. Poozer is right. We have mack baps on the menu as well as grilled mackerel fillets with red onion salsa. We have a campaign running called 'Back the Mack' and are pleased people are taking an interest. We carried out an exercise in conjunction with the advice of the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) about 4 years ago. This had us looking at our menu closely to understand what we were selling and how and where it was caught. Straight away we removed several species considered endangered or over fished. These included the likes of swordfish, bluefin tuna and monkfish. We have had mackerel on before (with a patchy response) and reduced our cod purchases by selling coley alongside it at a cheaper price. We would love to use many of the species considered either unfashionable but sadly many people stick to what they know, ie cod and chips. The best we can do is to try and stay aware of what we are selling, its impact on that species and encourage our customers to experiment with different varieties. We do respond to requests from customers and because we are small, we can run these little campaigns to promote certain fish.

Lovely. Ask for Dan and a glass of rose on me.

Louisa, can I buy you a drink sometime? I know you think the restaurant is poncey and that we should stick to the fundamentals of a chippie and sell all the usual crap most of them do. It goes against my principles as I know how much that rubbish costs wholesale and roughly what goes into it. I worked alongside an organic pig farmer at many music festivals last summer and whilst I don't bang the organic drum to jump on the bandwagon, I think a simple taste test of his product against a 6p sausage speaks volumes. Saveloys, battered sausages, deep fried chicken wings occupy a market we will never venture into because ultimately they exploit almost everyone involved in them, including the punter. It is no conincidence that the growth of cheap, highly fatty foods has seen us the fattest nation in Europe and only second to the US globally. We want to provide something better than that and I've put my hand up and said that my staff should be shot out back for ballsing it up the last 6 months. I embrace competition but I am a firm believer in working alongside other traders and not stepping on toes. When I lived in Clapham, Sainsbury's came along and looked at the high street and decided to sell everything the small operators close by did. Shops naturally shut and the diversity of the street was diluted. I'll let others sell those things and try and concentrate on doing my bit well (again). All the best Paul PS Reckon you drink Landlord.

Dear all I'm a little taken aback by some of the comments about my restaurant but I do believe feedback is the only way to improve when things go wrong. I started this back in September 2003 with the only intention to sell good fresh fish in a simple environment. Nothing flash, just consistently good food with friendly staff. Along the way the usual thing happened. We got busy, we thought we were brilliant and everyone started saying open up near us. We did a few, lost the plot, got too big too quick and suddenly the original ethos was a distant memory. Since then we have tried to focus back on ED, the original and with a bit of focus, the best. I cannot deny that over the summer, the festivals took over our lives and the restaurant took a back seat. Keef, I will have to pull you up on the selling of awful half cold food to stoners. The food is always piping hot and I think we do a good job. Perhaps you could come and do a shift with us at Bestival later this year and we can show you. Dan, my brother is back in the restaurant from Thursday to Sundays. His number is 07515 398118 and mine is 07703 728907. If for whatever reason you get short changed on the quality of the food or the service falls way of the mark, let us know. In the old days this is how we sorted things out. We will spend the next couple of months pouring over these comments and tweak and adjust accordingly. Cheers Paul

Thanks to everyone for the huge support shown last week when we had our fire. It was all very shocking for us and it seems the cause was a thermostat failure on one of the fryers. It happens on rare occasion but would have been spotted had somebody been cooking in them since the temp rising would have been a giveaway. Particular thanks to the folks at Green & Blue who kept us topped up with late night coffees whilst we worked away. The damage was mainly due to the foam spray used to put out the fire so a new paint job saw that right. It now looks fantastic, brand new again. The new fryers are working hard again so thanks to you all who posted messages of support. It is a real testament to the community spirit of East Dulwichites!! Paul & Dan