‘Quirky’ steak and shellfish restaurant finally opens

A NEW steak and seafood restaurant has opened in Henley.

Shellfish Cow has taken over the former Royal China site in Reading Road, which closed in August last year.

Co-owners Neil Wornham and Paul Hodder held a launch party on Wednesday last week for 50 people who are loyal customers of Shellfish Cow in Wallingford, which the pair opened in October last year.

The Henley restaurant, which has created about 12 jobs, is open from Tuesday to Saturday.

Mr Wornham, 51, said there had been “huge demand” to open a second restaurant in the town as a large proportion of their existing customers come from Henley.

He said: “When we made the announcement that we were coming to Henley, we had a lot of positive comments from people. They have had to wait patiently.

“Henley is the predominant area from which people come to us and now they don’t have to travel, which is great.

“We are thrilled to get over the final hurdle. I have absolute confidence that we are going to deliver and I am sure we will be well received.

“If you enjoy steak and shellfish in a relaxed and quirky environment then this is the place for you. My favourite thing is the mussels and it doesn’t matter what sauce they are cooked in.”

The men came up with the idea for the Wallingford business when they were playing golf together.

Both men have a background in hospitality and shellfish is their favourite food but they were unable to find a restaurant that combined it with steak.

Mr Wornham owned two restaurants in Covent Garden for 30 years until he sold them five years ago.

He lives in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell with his wife Jo-Anne and children Georgia and Louis.

Mr Hodder, 59, spent 10 years in the industry and before that he was a financial advisor for 30 years in both London and Wallingford.

He lives in Wallingford with his partner Katie and children Joel and Hayley. Mr Wornham said: “We have had to balance the need to build this place, along with not taking our eye off the ball in Wallingford.

“We had to be in the two places at once, which somehow we seem to have managed.

“Because we are a relatively small company, we cannot just throw money at it to get it done.

“We want to make sure everything is done properly and that is why it has been hard to be specific about when we were opening.”

The Wallingford restaurant has become known for its decor and the Henley branch has followed suit.

The walls are decorated with lobster wallpaper and the bar has been constructed using hundreds of 1p coins.

Mr Hodder said: “We like to be quirky and we are going to concentrate on the quality of the shellfish. We won’t rest on our laurels, we want to improve.

“We already have a good relationship with Henley residents. A lot of them come to our restaurant and wanted to know when we were moving to Henley.”

Staff, including general manager Jason Haskins, have been working at the restaurant in Wallingford during the construction phase in order to understand the menu.

The lunch menu offers a steak baguette and french fries for £10 and a crab sandwich for £11.50.

The evening menu includes Cornish mussels and oysters, king prawns and Aberdeen angus steaks.

Helen Barnett, Henley town and community manager, said: “Shellfish Cow has a fabulous reputation. We are delighted to have another restaurant in Reading Road to encourage footfall to that part of the town. 

“We were talking to them for a while before they arrived. It has been a long time in the making but I know they have been searching for the right property.”

Shellfish Cow was among the participants at the inaugural Eat! Food Festival in June.

• More pictures from the launch party will be published in next week’s Henley Standard.