Well I know what I ate last night and it wasn’t pretty. The restaurant was great — Emily Moon outside Plettenberg Bay — and the food was equally palatable but I was curious about the fish I ordered as I’ve never seen it on a menu before. The fish in question was “Gurnard” and I made the mistake of Googling it on my iPhone after I had already ordered it and proceeded to show everyone else at the table (many of whom had also ordered it).

This has to be one of the strangest fish I’ve ever eaten:

I’m relieved it wasn’t this variety — the Flying Gurnard:

According to Wikipedia:

Sea robins [AKA Gunards] are bottom-feeding scorpaeniform fishes in the family Triglidae. They get their name from their large pectoral fins, which, when swimming, open and close like a bird’s wings in flight. Sea robins have six spiny “legs,” three on each side. These legs are really flexible spines that were once part of the pectoral fin. Over time, the spines separated themselves from the rest of the fin, evolving into feeler-like “forelegs.” The pelvic fins have been thought to let the fish “walk” on the bottom, but are really used to stir up food. When caught, it makes a croaking noise similar to a frog. The first three rays of the pectoral fins are membrane free and used for chemoreception.

It tasted a bit like creamy Hake. Now you know…