Beyond the Menu: Skew, the destination Mediterranean restaurant nestled beside the River Stort

It’s great to have a choice. We are very fortunate here in Bishop’s Stortford to have a wide variety of restaurants, cafés and bars to choose from when looking to dine out. In this occasional series, I aim to visit a variety of eateries and, besides sampling the food, take a peek beyond the menus and tuck into the stories of some of the people who run them.

One of the largest restaurants in town, Skew is nestled alongside the River Stort, with an outside terrace for al fresco dining, comfortable inside areas and an upstairs champagne and cocktail bar for pre-dinner drinks.

Ali Delidogan is the owner of Skew, the name giving a nod to skewers in kebabs. His culinary journey began in 1994 in the north-west of England, peeling potatoes in some of the area’s fish and chip and kebab shops.

Five years later, after meeting his wife, he moved to east London to open his own business, working 16-hour days in a kebab shop before launching one of the first boutique espresso shops.

An expanding family drove a move to the Stortford area and, at the end of 2016, he took over the site in Adderley Road, which had a chequered history with three different restaurants in pretty rapid succession.

Ali completely refurbished the building. The aim was to establish a destination restaurant serving high-quality ingredients. Ali’s passion for quality food and high-end service certainly comes across when you speak with him and dine at Skew.

The restaurant has been open for nine years and, although originally known as a Turkish restaurant, serves an array of world cuisine with a chargrill and house specials on offer. The menu is reviewed regularly, with the lunch menu scheduled to change shortly. Vegetarian, vegan, gluten and dairy-free options are always available.

With some of the chefs having worked at Skew since it opened and waiters for six years or more, there is clearly a loyalty at work here and recognition that the high-end Mediterranean menu requires experience and skill to deliver the service Ali feels diners should experience.

Fresh fish is delivered five days a week from Billingsgate and meat from Smithfield, and despite the triple whammy of Brexit, Covid and the Ukrainian-Russian war putting pressure on prices, Ali has not compromised the quality of the ingredients used in the dishes on the menu.

Specialising in grilled, freshly prepared food, the favourites include chicken shish cooked over charcoal, escallops, fish including skate, and Sunday roasts. They have menus for children and for midweek set lunches.

My wife and I visited on Mother’s Day, so the restaurant was in full swing and there was a very comprehensive set menu. The food was delicious, flavoursome and the portions generous. Despite being very busy, the service was not compromised.

We both started with prawn cocktail, which had a generous portion of succulent prawns which did not need searching for amidst the crispy salad.

I followed this with an impressive roast beef with a rich, meaty gravy dish with honey roast carrots and parsnips, roast potatoes and a Yorkshire pudding which even my wife, the self-anointed ‘Queen of the Yorkshires’, was impressed by. For her dish, she chose the roast lamb, and we agreed that the quality of the meat was superb.

We finished with an orange crème brûlée and a berry crumble with ice cream, a lovely finish to a delicious meal. A live pianist added to the ambience.

We paid £60 each for our three-course meal (£30 for children).

But back to choices. As you approach the entrance to Skew you see the riverside terrace and a conservatory complete with retractable windows, built by Ali to meet the Covid eating out restrictions at that time. Or, if you prefer, there are tables inside the light and airy restaurant, some giving close views of the open-plan kitchen so you can watch in anticipation as your orders are prepared. Alternatively, the upstairs Oyster Champagne and Cocktail Bar opens Thursdays to Saturdays, 6pm-11pm, and can be hired for private parties and events all week round.

Skew is open six days a week (closed on Mondays) from midday to midnight. The Jackson Square car park across the road is convenient for motoring diners. The restaurant has disabled access and dogs are allowed on the terrace. It is well worth a visit.