The day’s catch at Fish & Co.

It can be a poor man’s staple or a rich man’s delicacy, a dieter’s best friend, and a gourmand’s special fare. Our waters teem with it, and its abundance and variety is as astonishing as it is fortunate for man and beast alike.

Whether steamed, grilled, sautéed, fried, smoked, poached, dried or served raw and, in Japan and Korea, sometimes while still alive and kicking (imagine attempting to swallow a tiny octopus while its tentacles cling tenaciously to your lips), seafood occupies a distinguished place in the culinary world.

There are many restaurants in this country devoted to seafood alone. Most concentrate on a single regional cuisine, such as Filipino or Chinese, or limit the number of dishes to a few specialties. But Fish & Co. took an altogether different tack. Opening in Manila late last year, this Singapore-based chain of specialty restaurant is proving that there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Or in this case, cook fish.

The menu reveals a plethora of seafood dishes from all over the world. Europe, Asia, and the Americas are represented in myriad ways. Searching for spicy Malaysian or Indian food? Italian pasta? Cajun cookery? That pillar of British fast food – fish and chips? Look no further than Fish & Co.’s wide range of offerings. In the entire menu there are only three – count them – non-fish dishes, a concession to the Filipino love affair with meat. Operations director Lilet Martinez mentioned that they had to get special permission from the head office in Singapore to include them in the local bill of fare.

Fish & Co. recently added four dishes to its already considerable repertoire. Hence, my visit to the Shangri-la Plaza branch, a two-storey nautically-influenced restaurant, bright with color and warm with the staff’s hospitality.

We started off with the restaurant’s signature appetizers, prawn fritters and calamari.

Soon after, the first of the new dishes made its appearance. Unagi salad is Japanese both in flavor and appearance. Slices of smoked unagi, or eel, and tomato chunks rested on a bed of iceberg lettuce and red frisée. Alfalfa sprouts not only added a nutty flavor but, used as a garnish, also gave the dish a touch of whimsy. The dressing was surprising – slightly sweet teriyaki sauce. A sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds finished the salad, which immediately proved a great favorite with the group.

For the following dish, soft shell crab salad, fried breaded soft shell crab was tossed with mixed greens and a balsamic vinegar dressing. The salad was then topped with alfalfa sprouts and dribbled with Japanese mayonnaise. I was surprised by the combination of the mayonnaise and the balsamic dressing. They actually complemented each other. The resulting salty and sour almost lemony sauce worked very well with the crab.

Soft shell crab is not easy to come by. It is available only during the molting season when crabs shed their hard shells to accommodate the growth in size of their bodies. The crabs must be caught before their new shells have a chance to harden.

A healthy alternative to the usual beef burger, the fish burger makes a hefty meal nonetheless. Its size is generous, to put it mildly, and, though not heavy on the stomach as with its meaty counterpart, is very satisfying indeed. The fish used was the juicy dory and the sizable fillet that replaced the standard burger patty was crisp on the outside but almost melt-in-your-mouth tender on the inside. Served with a liberal helping of large, thickly cut french fries, this burger would tempt even the most finicky teenager.

The most exotic of the new dishes, sambal prawns, consists of tiger prawns sautéed with garlic and onion, then simmered briefly in fiery sambal sauce. And I do mean fiery. Be warned: This is one dish that is not for the faint-hearted and, unless you’re fairly used to palate-searing dishes, it would be advisable to ask when you order that the spiciness be reduced. But despite its gasp-inducing heat, this dish is delicious. The prawns were plump and juicy, and their sweet flavor went very well with the sambal sauce. Served with seasoned rice and mixed vegetables, this dish hews closely to its Malaysian origins.

One of the benefits of an all-fish lunch is that you don’t feel as stuffed afterwards even when your appetite has been more than adequately satisfied. Another benefit is the extra space for dessert. And with the desserts available at Fish & Co. you simply can’t miss out on the last course.

The simply yet aptly named chocolate fudge is actually a dense, flourless chocolate cake with a very moist center. Served warm with fudge sauce and vanilla ice cream, it is a chocoholic’s idea of heaven on earth. I could have happily tucked the whole concoction away were it not too embarrassing to prove that I was capable of it. And besides, there were other desserts to try.

I found it rather amusing that after a meal composed of the "fruit of the sea," one of the desserts consisted of fruits from the vine and tree. The rustic fruit salad of slices of tart green apples and peaches and grape halves is served with silky sabayon sauce, the French version of pouring custard. Vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup completed the salad. Were I not such a chocolate lover, this would have been my favorite dessert.

There was also a luscious tiramisu made from genuine mascarpone cheese. It was rich and creamy but not oversweet. In lieu of the more common powdered unsweetened cocoa on top, dark chocolate shavings served as garnish instead.

Did I say that I didn’t feel so stuffed afterwards? Perhaps I spoke too soon. As I downed the last of my coffee, it dawned on me that I’d probably eaten enough fish to satisfy a grizzly bear during salmon spawning season. All right, I exaggerate, but it certainly felt like that.

One final touch I appreciated very much were the mints given to every diner after dessert. Brought in from South Africa, the candies were soft yet chewy with only a mild bite to them in comparison to local mints. They were a great help in cleansing the palate after such a flavorsome meal.

The founders of Fish & Co. did not merely fill a niche but in many ways created one for their brainchild. They intend to bring their vision to every part of the world. If my experience is anything to go by, I’d say they’ll go the distance and more.

Theirs is one fish story that doesn’t stretch the bounds of credibility to its limit.