Tag: fish and chips

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Fish and Chips

When travelling out and about I try as much as possible to avoid eating at motorway service stations. Either they are overpriced and overcooked, or they merely consist of fast food chains. One alternative is to eat at a supermarket restaurant where the food is usually a little better and generally much cheaper.

So it was that I found myself at a Morrisons supermarket last week looking for a bite to eat for lunch. As I hadn’t had it for a while I went with the fish and chips.

To be honest it was quite good and value for money at less than five pounds.

The batter was crispy, though for me a little too greasy, and the fish was only just overcooked. Generally I find in these places they well overcook the fish. The chips were crunchy with a fluffy inside. The peas were as expected frozen peas heated through and slighty overcooked as they were obviously cooked and kept warm over the lunch service period.

Well not bad, and to be honest what I expected from a supermarket café. Certainly it was better than what I would find at the motorway services.

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Fish and Chips

In the past I have enjoyed fish and chips from Sainsburys, it has been a nice piece of fish, freshly cooked and served with chips and peas. So when I was in there recently and saw it was on special, only £3.79 rather than the regular £4.79 I decided that I would have that for my lunch.

When it arrived it did look quite nice.

The fish was smaller than usual, so I was slightly disappointed.

When I cut into the fish I was even more disappointed, the batter didn’t appear to be “fresh” in other words this was not freshly battered fillets of fish, but pre-battered fish (the kind you buy off the shelf or from the freezer and put in the oven) that the café had then deep fried themselves.

As a result the fish looked and tasted over-cooked.

The chips were okay as were the peas, but I was disappointed with the fish and the meal as a whole.

Now I could also go on about the service on the day. Despite having lots of staff in the café it seemed to take both ages to place an order and then for the food to arrive. Part of the issue was only one till was working.

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Fish and Chips

I do quite like fish and chips, but rarely eat them when I am out to eat, unless I am buying a take away. Down in Plymouth in the Watering Hole down on the quay I made an exception for these.

The batter was good, the mushy peas were good. I took fries in preference to the chunky chips on the menu. I didn’t though think much of the tartar sauce. Though that may be because I don’t like tartar sauce!

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Beignets de Cabillaud

Earlier this week I mentioned the starter I had had at Café Rouge. It was part of the fixed price menu, for my mains I had Beignets de Cabillaud, which is deep fried cod goujons served with French Fries and remoulade sauce.

So it’s fish and chips!

I did enjoy this dish, I liked the fries, the batter was cripsy, the fish had flavour, the sauce was tasty.

I think I should have ordered a salad to go with it, but if the rocket leaves were anything to go by on the starter than maybe it was a good idea I didn’t.

This dish almost made up for the disappointment of the starter.

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Resting on your laurels…

Aldeburgh Fish and Chips

If you read a comment like:

I still can’t visit the place without going to The Aldeburgh Fish and Chip shop. Best chippy in East Anglia, I reckon…

Then in my opinion having eaten recently fish and chips from the Aldeburgh Fish and Chip Shop, I hate to think how awful fish and chips is in the rest of East Anglia!

Now let me put this post in context. Lots of people rave about the fish and chips from the Aldeburgh Fish and Chip Shop.

The Observer named it their number one fish and chip shop.

Scene of the longest queues since the petrol crisis, this is rightly regarded as one of the UK’s premier chippies. Eulogised by the likes the of Rick Stein and OFM’s own Nigel Slater, its popularity is such that, come the summer, this small Suffolk fishing town resembles Rourke’s Drift, as thousands of salivating punters appear on the horizon and stampede their way to its door. But with cod and chips from just £2, and the not inconsiderable benefit of having the wonderful White Hart pub on hand while you wait, it’s not difficult to see why the Fish and Chip Shop commands such respect among fish fans. And the secret of their success? ‘I never add flour to my batter,’ insists owner Margaret Thompson, who’s been frying fish for over 30 years. ‘I fry in pure vegetable oil, never in beef dripping. I think vegetable oil lets the flavour of the fresh fish shine through.’

Number one in the UK…

Well that top ten was done back in 2002…

I use to use the fish and chip shop a lot twenty five odd years ago, so this was the first visit back in a long long time.

Well was I really disappointed.

These are suppose to be the best fish and chips in the country.

Well sorry that may have been the best, but the portion of cod and chips I had on a Saturday night were terrible and very poor.

Let’s start with the chips which really weren’t too bad, crisp, good size, however the oil they had been cooked in was either very old or rancid. Despite the quote from the Observer, they did taste like they were cooked in rancid beef dripping.

As for the fish, sorry if I want battered cod I expect the fish to be boneless and skinless. I know it’s fish, I don’t need the bones and skin to prove it’s a real fish. If I want that experience I’ll pop down to the proper fish stalls on the other end of the beach.

The reason you batter the fish is to protect the fish from the oil, so when coating in batter, ensure that the whole fish is coated. Mine wasn’t so as a result the fish was very greasy (and remember this was the rancid flavoured oil the chips were cooked in).

I was very disappointed, nothing like the reviews and a very bad experience. Next time must do better, but I doubt there will be a next time.

Finally when asked and I ask for no salt, I prefer not to have salt.