Fin Boys, 2 Mill Road, Cambridge CB1 2AD (01223 354 045; fin-boys.com). Snacks and starters £7- £18, mains £32-£38, desserts £8, wines from £27
If you choose to sit at the deep-varnished wooden counter of Fin Boys in Cambridge, which is the best place to sit, chef Richard Stokes may well tell you things. He’ll tell you about the Cornish day boats that supply their fish, and the WhatsApp group of skippers who ping him with news of the catch early each morning. He’ll tell you about the giant scallops they sometimes get from Orkney, the size of a Dobermann’s paw. He’ll talk about the sauces he makes from smoking and grinding fish bones, and the Asian shops a few doors down, with their stocks of dried ground scallop and shrimp for his oof and aaah of an XO sauce. He’ll tell you a lot of things.
