Open from 7pm to 11pm on Friday and Saturday evenings, the Two Rivers restaurant (which operates from within The Deep, the city’s spectacular award-winning aquarium) is possibly one of the most unusual places to dine in all of Hull.

The Venue
Having gained entrance by the side door to the right of the main Deep entrance, patrons are directed up a flight of stairs and through to the restaurant via the Twilight Zone exhibition. To the right sits a small bar and seating area where you can peruse the menu and order drinks. Diners are then shown to their table and invited to explore the Endless Oceans Gallery and Twilight Zone before the food is served. This is a delightful touch, a definite USP and a fantastic opportunity to view the stunning marine creatures that inhabit The Deep.

Tables, each decorated with a single flower and minimalist tea-light candle, are located within the Endless Oceans Gallery, where huge floor-to-ceiling tanks flank the dining area, providing a magnificent backdrop for your meal. Eels, sharks, rays and octopi are all likely to swim past your eye line as you eat. The restaurant has a large floor space and the eating area is, as part of a functioning aquarium, quite an expanse to fill. High ceilings, exposed pipes and information boards do not allow customers to forget that this is a restaurant shoehorned into a tourist attraction – a task that The Two Rivers copes with effectively but can not, and does not, try to conceal.

The Atmosphere
The staff are pleasant, helpful and chatty, clearly taking pleasure in watching guests react to the unusual setting. A large proportion of diners are families, more than likely attracted to the venue by the fish as much as the food. In which case, you may need to anticipate the occasional wide-eyed toddler rushing excitedly from tank to tank. On the other hand, the low-lighting and ethereal ambiance of the restaurant is also faintly romantic, which makes The Two Rivers quite popular with couples.

The atmosphere is, in truth, particularly difficult to pin down. The fish tanks and their inhabitants are undeniably beautiful and relaxing to watch, yet it is possible that some people could find their presence strangely off-putting. The lighting is also somewhat ghostly and, as such, could be construed as either enchanting or eerie.

The Food
The Two Rivers offers set-menu dining with 2 courses at £18.95 or 3 for £23.95 which, when viewed against other local establishments serving comparable fare, is slightly on the more expensive side. Starters include the chunky, authentic tasting beer battered fishcakes served with tartare and lemon sauce. You can also try a roasted peppers, sun blushed tomato and mozzarella in a crispy filo basket with basil pesto, which is fresh and tangy with garlic. There is also a choice of soup or a tapas platter to share.

If you can disregard the strange incongruity of eating fish while surrounded by its piscine pals, you can try the fillet of halibut steak topped with seasonal vegetables and potatoes. Meat dishes include a (adequately cooked though sadly undistinguished) 10oz rib eye steak with a Jack Daniels glaze (for an extra £5), pot roasted rack of pork with a Dijon, honey and apple sauce with stuffing and pan fried duck breast served on a halloumi cake with a mango salsa. For non meat eaters there’s a trio of roasted aubergine.

A range of delicious sounding desserts, such as sticky toffee pudding and summer fruits or The Deep’s ‘special’ chocolate dessert with Cointreau cream are proffered in an effort to make you part with that additional fiver for the full three courses. And if you still have room for more, but don’t have a sweet tooth, the cheese board (acceptable but lacking imagination) is likely to tempt. Liqueur coffees and handmade chocolates are available for a further charge.

The menu is pleasingly sophisticated and the chef clearly has skill translating the dishes from menu to plate. Overall, however, the food somehow falls short of its lofty ambition. All the elements are there: the ingredients are fresh and locally sourced; the presentation is creative and deliberate; and the dishes appear inventive, yet (perhaps overshadowed by the underwater world that surrounds the diner) they remain disjointed and lack the wow-factor that the menu initially promises.

The Drink
A small bar services the restaurant and stocks a wide range of draught (Grolsch, Carling, Worthington) and bottled (Becks, Budweiser) beers and ciders (Koppaberg, Woodpecker). Bottles of house wine start from £11.50 and the bar also carries a large selection of whisky and cognac. Soft drinks, tea and coffee are also available.

The Last Word
A truly unique dining experience - if not for the quality of the food, then certainly for the unusual setting.

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