Tag: king fin

Posted on

Calamari and Fries

I was in Bristol and on my lunchtime walk I headed off to the Finzel Reach street food market. There were lots of stalls to choose from, I got a portion of calamari from King Fin along with some rosemary fries. The calamari (as usual) was cooked fresh to order.

calamari

This was a lovely generous portion of calamari. The batter was nice and crispy, but not too thick to overpower the squid. It was cooked just right, as well as light batter, the squid was nice and tender. The fries were tasty as well.

Last time I said “Must remember next time to ask for less salt though.”  This time I did remember to ask for less salt, they did say that the batter for the calamari has salt in, but it was only the extra salt I wanted to avoid. I was pleased I did, as the calamari was well seasoned and didn’t really need extra salt.

I enjoyed my food and would certainly get it again in the future.

Posted on

Calamari

I fancied a snack and the Temple Quay market was running in Bristol, so headed down to see what was on offer.

I got a portion of calamari from King Fin. They (as usual) were cooked fresh to order.

This was a lovely generous portion of calamari. The batter was nice and crispy, but not too thick to overpower the squid. It was cooked just right, as well as light batter, the squid was nice and tender. Sometimes when I have squid it can be overcooked, so the batter is more crunchy than crispy, and the squid can be somewhat chewy. This squid though was cooked really nicely. Must remember next time to ask for less salt though.

Posted on

Monkfish Tempura

I was in Bristol and went for a walk at lunchtime. Went to the Finzel Reach market intending to have something from Big Nath’s BBQ stall, but they weren’t there, so went to King Fin instead. 

Was torn between the calamari and the new monkfish tempura. Whatever I chose I was going to have chips anyhow. In the end I went without the chips and went with both the monkfish and the calamari.

The calamari was excellent as usual (maybe a little too salty), but they were cooked to order, so the squid was nice and tender, and the coating was nice and crispy. The and cider vinegar slaw was a nice accompaniment.

The special, monkfish tempura was new to me. 

The pieces of monkfish were deep fried in a tempura batter, and served with a lime and coriander yoghurt, tamarind, crispy sweet shallots and curry leaves.

The monkfish was cooked perfectly, and the batter (on top) was nice and crisp. Alas by the time I got back from the market to the office, the batter on the underside of the fish had got a little soggy from the yoghurt. I think if I had eaten the dish as soon as I was served it, it would have been fine. If I was to offer one piece of advice, I would probably say serve the yoghurt on the side, rather than on the bottom of the box. Or have something to separate the crispy fish from the yoghurt. Even so I liked the lime and coriander yoghurt which added a sharpness to the fish. I also enjoyed the tamarind, crispy sweet shallots and curry leaves.

Overall it was a little extravagant to have two mains, and no fries, however I really enjoyed having the calamari instead of fries.

Posted on

Not my first choice

Heading to Finzel Reach street food market in Bristol for lunch, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to have. I did see that King Fin has their calamari, which I had enjoyed the other day. However first I walked down the market to see what was on offer. Decided I would go with the calamari, only to find when I got back to the King Fin stall they had sold out of the calamari.

Though I hadn’t been totally impressed with the soft shell crab burger when I had it before, I went with it this time.

The burger was a soft brioche bun with a deep fried soft shell crab, and a coleslaw. I added a side order of rosemary chips as well.

The twice cooked rosemary fries with sauce were very tasty, and crispy.

The burger was as I was expecting. The bun was lovely and soft, and the spicy coleslaw added heat and freshness. The deep fried soft shell crab was crispy, but didn’t have the crab taste intensity I would really like to see in this dish. I also felt the crab got lost in the spicy coleslaw as well. However, as I was expecting the food to be like this, I wasn’t really that disappointed.

Posted on

Time for some calamari

Castle View, Bristol

I was working in Bristol and went for a walk at lunchtime.

I wasn’t really thinking about getting some lunch, but knew that I was out that evening, so might be a good idea to have a bigger lunch. I had brought a packed lunch, but did think that I might get a portion of something to add to it.

I decided to head to the Finzel Reach. There I wasn’t sure if I wanted anything, or what to have. In the end I got some calamari from King Fin. I’ve had some lovely food from King Fin in the past.

This time I got it without fries, you can add fries for another three pounds to make it a more substantial dish.

This was a decent portion of calamari. It was served with a chunk of lemon, garlic aioli, and some slaw. 

calamari

It had been cooked to order, so was lovely and fresh. The coating was nice and crispy, the squid was tasty and tender. I liked the slaw, could have had more of that to be honest.

I think my only real criticism was that there was slightly too much added salt for my liking. I think in the future I will ask for no salt, and then add my own.

Overall I really enjoyed the food and it was excellent again.

 

Posted on

Soft Shell Crab Burger

I have had some really nice food from King Fin on previous visits to the Finzels Reach and Temple Quay markets, including some excellent calamari and (some okay) fritto misto. 

On a recent visit to the Finzel Reach market I went to the King Fin stall. They had fish goujons, calamari was back on the menu, and they also had the soft shell crab burger. I’ve always liked the idea of the soft shell crab burger, but always went with something else. This time, I decided to shell out for the soft shell crab burger.

I added a side order of rosemary chips as well. The burger was a soft brioche bun with a deep fried soft shell crab, and a coleslaw.

Soft Shell Crab Burger

The twice cooked rosemary fries with sauce were very tasty, and crispy.

The burger was not as good as I was expecting. The bun though was lovely and soft, and the spicy coleslaw added heat and freshness. The deep fried soft shell crab was crispy, but didn’t have the crab taste intensity I was expecting. So overall I did enjoy the food, but was a little disappointed with the soul of the dish, the crab.

Posted on

Crispy Squid

One dish I eat on a regular basis at restaurants is crispy squid.

I’ve recently eaten crispy squid at Las Iguanas, though the squid in my opinion was rather overcooked. 

I also had chilli squid at Wagamama.

That time I was expecting to have soft tender squid in a crispy batter. What I actually got was rubbery squid in a hard crunchy batter.

The second time I had calamari from La Lola at the St Nicholas Market in Bristol it was excellent.

calamari

The squid was freshly cooked, nice crisp batter, tender squid and was delicious, served with a slice of lemon.

Alas the calamari from King Fin from the street food markets in Bristol was one of my favourite lunch dishes. You got a decent portion of squid. It was quite tasty, you could certainly taste the difference with the fact they cooked the squid from fresh.

However they have changed their menu recently so you can’t get it anyore.

As well as eating crispy squid I also make it at home. This is a recipe for making my own gluten free crispy squid.

I take some squid, sometimes I use fresh squid, I score the squid and slice into chunks. Other times I use defrosted squid rings that I cut so I get strips of squid rather than rings.

I coat the squid in seasoned gluten free plain flour. This I leave for at least fifteen minutes and check that all the squid is coated in the flour.

I then deep fry the squid in hot oil. Season and serve.

Posted on

Fritto Misto

I have always enjoyed the calamari from the King Fin. My introduction to King Fin was back in the summer of 2019 on a visit to the Finzel Reach Market. King Fin have recently revamped their menu. They have lost their calamari, but you can now have a softshell crab burger, a cod goujon wrap or fritto misto.

Since I found out about the new menu I was tempted by both the softshell crab and the fritto misto.

So when I was in Bristol one Thursday, this meant that for lunch I could visit the Temple Quay Market. It was nice to have the opportunity to get some tasty street food and I was pleased to see King Fin at the market.

 A few weeks back when I was in Bristol, I had intended to pay a visit to King Fin at the Finzel Reach Market to try out their new menu. However upon visiting the market they weren’t there, so went to La Lola at the St Nicholas market.

So I joined the queue and ordered the fritto misto. There was a bit of a wait as they had a bit of backlog, a sign the stall was popular. They had already sold out of the cod goujons and their kedgeree scotch egg.

Whereas the calamari came with rosemary chips and salad, the fritto misto was just fritto misto. I could have ordered chips for another £3 but I wasn’t that hungry.

The dish contained calamari, prawns, whitebait, small pieces of cod, and some courgette slices. It was served with a slice of lemon and some bright yellow garlic aioli.

Overall, if I am honest, though I enjoyed the dish, I was a little disappointed. The calamari was great, but the rest of the fish was a little soggy, despite having just being deep fried. There were two prawns in the dish, one peeled prawn and one whole prawn. The courgette was floppy and was quite greasy.

I really loved the calamari special I’ve had in the past from King Fin and would be happy to order that again. Would I order the fritto misto again, probably not.

Posted on

Some delicious Calamari

I was working in Bristol on a Thursday again, which meant that for lunch I could visit the Temple Quay Market. Having been off work for a while it was nice to be back in Bristol and having the opportunity to get some tasty street food.

My introduction to King Fin was back in the summer of 2019 on a visit to the Finzel Reach Market. 

King Fin who sell fish wraps and chips, they also do specials, and the one they were selling this time was calamari once more. I did think about getting the mackerel wrap, but in the end defaulted as one does to the calamari.

The squid rings were coated in a flour mix and then deep fried. They were served with aioli, some salad and rosemary fries.

This was quite a substantial meal not just a snack. I really like this dish and I found it just as tasty as on previous occasions. There was quite a decent portion of squid. It was quite tasty, you could certainly taste the difference with the fact they cooked the squid from fresh, rather than heating up or second cooking pre-cooked squid. 

The food was absolutely delicious.

Posted on

More calamari please

calamari

I was working in Bristol on a Thursday, which meant that for lunch I could visit the Temple Quay Market. The pandemic has meant that there are a lot less stalls there than there was before. Despite the limited choice I was tempted by a few places but in the end I went with the King Fin stall. My introduction to King Fin was back in the summer of 2019 on a visit to the Finzel Reach Market. 

King Fin who sell fish wraps and chips, as well as their fish wraps, which sounded rather tasty, what really caught my eye back then was their special, which was calamari.

So it was no real surprise that this was what I chose this time.

The squid rings were coated in a flour mix and then deep fried to order. They were served with aioli, some salad and rosemary fries. This was quite a substantial meal not just a snack. I really like this dish and I found it just as tasty as on previous occasions. There was quite a decent portion of squid. It was quite tasty, you could certainly taste the difference with the fact they cooked the squid from fresh, rather than heating up or second cooking pre-cooked squid. The fries on the other hand were pre-cooked and then fried again, but this didn’t matter that much. I would have liked more salad. Overall though I really enjoyed the food.