Hix Oyster and Fish House

We visited the restaurant on a Friday at 5pm having phone ahead for a booking on the terrace as we had a small dog with us. We weren’t told that the terrace was very small with a narrow ledge for food & drinks and bar stools but were prepared to overlook that because the situation is superb and it was a beautiful day.
We had to wait while menus were being printed and ordered drinks to quench thirsty initially.
Main gripe was the very slow service… we were there in total over two hours and just to eat starters & mains… too annoyed to order desserts.
Prices high, lobster starter for £18 was a small portion and had to be returned as half of it was undercooked and I was told that it would be taken back to the kitchen «if you’re not happy with it» (It wasn’t supposed to be sushi!) At no time did anyone ask if we required further drinks or whether the meal was ok. The bill initially for two beers, one soft drink, three starters & two mains was £114.This was reduced to £96 when we made our feelings clear and would have rigorously contested the «service charge» anyway.
We also (with the exception of the young female waitress) found the
two male members of staff sullen & unsmiling. From the vibes inside the restaurant other people were being kept waiting far too long also.
Such a shame. It takes more than a brilliant location to attract return customers and we certainly won’t be coming back.
Very disappointed seafood & fish lover.

I cannot say anymore about the location than anybody else that has complimented this place. I do however agree with the majority of reviews that this is not value for money. I guess if you ’ want to be seen !’ eating here then you have to pay the premium to be ’ seen’ The food certainly is not worth the price

This must be the best restaurant along the coast. It is certainly one of the prettiest. Perched atop a hill overlooking the sea, with large windows around two sides, and a lovely deck/​bar, where you can sit outside.
Not only do they have fresh seafood, but the wine list is also excellent. Definitely make a reservation, as they are quite busy.

I took my family to dinner at HIX for a special experience. This was a big mistake as the restaurant was a major disappointment on almost every count. I guess I should have read and trusted the reviews online, and the lack of encouragement given by a few local friends who have previously had a similar let down. To help the reader of this review decide whether to visit Hix in Lyme Regis here are my observations: — Specific table reservation was honoured; location and sea view is spectacular; there are too many tables crammed in like sardines and not what I expect from a high class expensive restaurant; painted table tops questionably hygienic especially when they have to be used in lieu of side plates which are not provided (presumably because the tables are too small); the service was pretty awful, unattentive, did not remove used item from table, we were left to pour our own wine after an amateur tasting, very hard to attract attention of servers despite waving arms on at least three occasions, average food and greatly overpriced eg almost £40 for a plain grilled modest lobster; overpriced limited wine list; failed to serve additional bread requested until too late! There were other faults but I think this already makes the point. We shall not return to this restaurant nor reccommend it to anyone. I believe the whole experience could be transformed if the staff were suitably trained and motivated to provide a wonderful experience to each and every customer by providing service excellence. In our experience the staff gave very little indication of interest in providing outstanding service, and to add insult to injury this establishment has the arrogance to state that a discretionary service charge of 12.5% would be added to the bill! This despicable practice not only makes a mockery of the term discretionary but it also reinforces the lack of motivation to provide service excellence since the staff know the service charge will almost invariably be paid regardless of the service provided! I paid it, decided to skip the expensive desserts, and intend not to return.

Went for a treat when on hol there; promised a window table which was denied us — insensitively. Wonderful oysters, good starters, average mains.(boring John Dorey; small amount of unexciting fish, with an ill matching sauce, for £20. Cold chips, unremarkable veg. Wine overpriced -(but good, though limited) Altogether disappointing & not worth money. We left before puds. No ‘discretionary’ tip left! Very expensive food should be exciting and special — it was neither.

My wife and two teenaged children went for a late lunch on a lovely sunny afternoon.
View — Absolutly beautiful. I guess this is the main point to this place.
Food — Good honest sea food, no better and no worse than Loch Fyne. Lovely simple and well cooked and spot on in for this seaside resort.
Service — Nothing more than fine here but equally no problems.
VFM — This is where Hix falls down. £160 for two adults and two children with only two small glasses of wine to drink, to my mind is probably about twice what of should have been and for that reason I would say certainly, go and have a drink, but then go and eat at the nearest Loch Fyne!

I can never quite make my mind up about places like this. I like the chef and what he does and anyone who opens a decent fish restaurant on the British coast has my vote. But is it really good or not?
Well I think it is. The but comes later. First excellent starters of cuttlefish, smoked salmon and scallops although odd that the salmon arrives on its own with no lemon, bread, mayonnaise etc. Mains all good. Generously filled fish pie, decent fish and chips, excellent steamed bream and grilled lemon sole. Puddings to die for particularly the absolutely delicious rhubarb trifle.
All of this served in a very pleasant setting overlooking Lyme Bay a short walk down the hill from the Cobb Street car park on the hill out of town. Service good, friendly and efficient.
The issue? Price. Starters £8-£10. Mains £12-£24 for a crab curry. Puds in the region of £7. Extras like sides, soft drinks etc £3+. This all quickly adds up to a hefty bill. All plus 12.5% service charge.
So, a great addition, fabulous setting, well run and more than decent food but at a price that makes it more for the special occasion than regular visit.

I’ve eaten here five times now — always at lunchtime and happily when the sun was shining. The setting gets ¹⁰⁄₁₀ as does the wine list but the rest of the experience — service and food — is a lottery and that’s not good enough at these prices. From the fabulous Jonathan (ex-​Brindisa) to the sulky blond who covers when he is off, from the spectacularly good monkfish cheeks to the tasteless mackerel with ice-​cold green tomato salad etc etc etc. Portion control weaves wildly from over-​facing (a whole chicken served to a 14 year old) to downright stingy (the seafood salad starter at over £12!) Will they survive the winter, when most restaurants round here rely on their regular local clientele. I’d be surprised — the lack of consistency and above all, the silly prices have put most of us off — and I imagine the restaurant’s lacking in warmth and atmosphere on a cold winter’s night.

This used to be a fish restaurant and now it is a ponceraunt. Having grown up in the area and now living back in the area — a group of us went to the restaurant to see the New London restaurant that has arrived in the area. We did not eat a full meal — we all have good jobs but come on guys we are not paying that for some fish — even if we could see the beautiful sea. Our group of 10 spent about an hour (non weekend day) we had 1 glass of champagne each and 3 oysters — £25 bill each.
We soon left and went to the lovely communal garden drank wine and enjoyed the fresh air like the olden days.
So if you want to be in a tardis that is trying to be london in lyme and are prepared to pay for it then feel free you may enjoy this place otherwise don’t bother.

Recently my wife and I had occasion to go to this restaurant and despite the warnings and bad reviews we decided that we should make up our own minds, an expensive mistake! I began with some oysters; they Looked quite interesting the way they were presented; unfortunately the shallot vinegar that arrived with them was so strong and aggressive that it totally spoilt the oysters, perhaps I should have tasted the vinegar beforehand, but as I like oysters and have eaten them in many good restaurants I presumed that they would know how to prepare such a simple thing, they didn’t even serve a spoon for the vinegar. For my next course I chose the pumpkin and goats cheese salad, they roasted the pumpkin with the skin on, skin which was virtually impossible to remove so I ate it, not at all enjoyable, if they had used something like an ishi kuri (not sure of spelling) it would have been far better as the flavour is fantastic and you can eat the skin. My wife chose the fish soup and enjoyed it. For main course I had scallops and they were cooked perfectly the garlic butter was also very good. My wife had the lobster and monkfish curry; you could not taste the lobster which by the way was like rubber, the monkfish went well with the sauce and was well cooked, they would have been better off making just a monkfish curry, the rice that came with it was undercooked to the point of being crunchy and inedible. We decided to take cheese next; for £7 we received a small piece of cheddar on a wooden board with a spoonful of the most disgusting not properly matured aggressive chutney that either of us had ever tasted. For dessert we had the chocolate mousse which we both enjoyed even though presentation left a lot to be desired. We had a lovely evening because we were having an evening out together, something that doesn’t happen so much when you have young children (not a complaint by the way) but for over £100 with only had two glasses of wine and a glass of port (wine and port were both very good) is a great deal of money defiantly unwarranted for the standard of food provided, I have eaten in Michelin stared restaurants and paid far more and felt that it was well worth it, Hix’s Oyster Bar is really not worth the money!

Here’s the deal. The restaurant is in a great location. The building is very attractivegreen oak, white fittings, fab view.
We went mid weekso Mark isn’t around. The prices are the same as at the weekend but I kinda hope the food isn’t.because we’ve booked a s* or bust revisit with the friends I took (birthday treat) and it would need to be a lot better to be an ongoing feature in our west country lives.
trouble is that a) both I and the birthday girl can cook; b) we have both lived in London for many years and have eaten at all the best places thereand in France/​Italy. We like restaurants where the staff are passionate about the food (this is why something as simple as the Town Mill’s offering in Lyme works so well). The staff on Wed night (with one exception) did not seem to know about the food. We guessed they wouldn’t know the difference between a red mullet and a black bream if they had name tags on. They were polite enough, even sweet enoughbut really not professional or knowledgeable enough for a £50 per head resto.
If you are going to charge London prices in the country, your food has to be better than good. It has to delight and thrill. We eat very well down here at our own tables, thank you. We demand a lot from our expensive restaurants. Smoked salmon which sweats because it was a) made from too fat a fish in the first place; and b) was plonked on a hot plateis not a thrill.
A mixed grilled platter which includes a bit of bass which is greasy on the outside and dry inside is not endearing. A skate wing which challenges you to doubt whether or not it had been frozen and tastes weary is not alluring. When coffee comes before the pudding, with no option, that is simply uncool.
OK, so my palate has been spoiled by the deliciousness of fish caught and cooked off the back of a boat in the Cook Islandsand by exceptional food (at comparable prices) in restaurants in London. or, say, Rick Stein’s or The Riversidebut I am not impossible to please. I am, however, more difficult to please at that £50 a head mark. I expect delight. And when the front of house says *yes, it does get hot and stuffy here, but we don’t care because the food is delicious I almost urge my mate to cancel the next bookingbecause you just DON’T say thatunless you REALLY know what you are delivering. and that you can deliver it.
Oh yes, and another thing! You can REALLY hear the kitchen! Aaaagh!
AND!!! we had scrumptious bread with our pre-​dinner treats (tempura samphire, very good, pea pods) but NONE with the mussels (starter) or smoked salmon (starter). How weird is that??? I feel a rant coming on.

This restaurant is in a fantastic location so I kept telling myself I was paying for the view! Couldn’t fault the quality or presentation of the food (except for the chips which looked very much like they’d come out of a packet), though I did feel that the menu was a bit limited. We had scallops to start, I had delicious halibut with samphire and clams, and my husband had the lobster which he said was delicious. However the price put me off ever going again. The cheapest main course was £13 for pollack fish fingers and chips, but most mains were around the £19−25 mark, plus side orders of veg. Puddings were all £6.75. We visit Lyme Regis every year and were regular customers of the wonderful fish restaurant that operated in this building a few years ago, so we know it’s possible to operate a very good and atmospheric fish restaurant out of this location without charging a fortune. But Hix prices strike me as excessively high (is he charging London prices in the provinces I wonder?). I’ve had meals of the same or better quality than this at a lower price and at £140 for two adults and one small child, this is a restaurant we won’t be visiting again because although the meal was good, it wasn’t that good. Another thing to mention is that the air conditioning unit in the kitchen (which is below the restaurant itself) is clearly audible and the restaurant floor vibrates. Think they need to get some soundproofing sorted out! On the staff front our waitress was cheerful and friendly throughout and thoroughly deserved her tip, but the other staff were fairly aloof. Glad we tried the place but we’ll sit next to the mini-​golf to take advantage of the view next time instead of dining with Mr Hix.