Geales Notting Hill Gate

Friday night dinner at Geales. Maybe there was a rush of customers around the corner, however the staff were a bit slow when taking our orders, and we were failed to be informed until we order that they had run out of sole.

 Starters: whitbait and tempura soft shell crab. The whitbait were crunchy and the soft shell crab had a soft flesh inside its crunchy light tempura batter.

 Mains: grilled john dory, battered haddock and a fish pie. The john dory was reasonable, the haddock's batter had a nice crunch however was slightly overcooked. The fish pie was "interesting". There was a crunch topping of breadcrumbs, which was to cover the burnt cheese topping. Underneath was big chunks of fish, prawns and peas (however the peas were looking a little grey), most bizarre was at the bottom...

For some reason, at the bottom of the pie, the pie appears to be burnt. We informed the waitress, who did not know how the pie was cooked, so she asked the chef. She returned to say that the pie wasn't burnt it was in fact "caramelised". I think the word "caramelised" is used by chef to sound trendy and avoid the fact that the food is in fact very very brown towards being burnt. At least it didn't taste charcoal burnt, it just gave the pie a slight nutty taste. I was not impressed with the pie at all. You could pop down to the supermarket and get a better fish pie which wouldn't be burnt.

We looked over at the table next to us and saw a couple eating a seafood platter, this looked so yummy and made us all envious.

And the damage...?

I reckon service would be better if you're a known local, as they seem more attentive to the local customers. What they really need to change however is the fish pie and the annoying fact that you can hear the chef call "service" every time a dish is ready. Surely with modern technology nowadays they could invest in something where customers do not need to hear this.
Maybe this is petty, however, I do find it very bizarre that this is a fish restaurant but they do not give you a fish knife to eat fish with?