Fish & Chips in the UK

So a big thing in the UK is fish and chips... that means breaded and fried cod, haddock or plaice or if you're branching out fish could include salmon, skate, halibut... chips means fries. They come with lemon, malt vinegar and you can order pickled items or mushy peas.

We had good, OK and downright ugly fish and chips in and around London. In Covent Garden is a good spot, Rock and Sole Plaice. It held up as the best of the lot. The fish, haddock, was crisply fried, the skin flavorful and the fillet thoroughly boneless. The dill tartar sauce was creamy and went well with both the fish and the traditional wedge-cut chips. The mushy peas were bland and the beer was Turkish if I recall... go figure. It's one of the few legit take-away fish and chip spots and the best of the lot, not to mention that Covent Garden seemed to be the most conducive neighborhood to wandering around.

Geales was regaled as the best of the London chippies. The listings made mention of the fact that they had seating in addition to carry-out. It must have been an older guidebook because Geales looked like a straight-up restaurant. The fish was breaded but not crispy, the plaice was mushy and the cod was boney. The mushy peas were great seasoned with fresh mint. The tartar sauce was not as good as Rock and Sole, and cost extra. The bottled Peroni was expensive. The service was mediocre. The guidebook called Geales London's best. It certainly was not. But it wasn't the worst.

The White Horse is a thatched pub just outside of Stonehenge. It's in the middle of nowhere and looks picture perfect. The ceilings are low, the patrons are friendly but the food was positively awful. Then again maybe that fits the British stereotype of awful food. The fish was fishy, tepid and limp. The peas were badly puckered... more withered than puckered, dry and cold. Tartar sauce came in packets. The chips were soft and tasteless. The beer was good. They have a White Horse Ale that tasted very good. The sad thing also was that the fish and chips ran $10 pounds... or $20. Beers ran $3 pounds or $6 each. Fish and Chips and a beer would run you $26. That's ONE beer and (excuse the French) Shi-Tay fish. $26. Tastebud insult to pocketbook injury.

In Chicago you have many options for  fish and chips. You could easily make the arguement that the food is way better here. The pump beers are up for grabs, especially if you're an ale-fan. For  good gastropub (as they call them "over there") The Red Lion on Lincoln is always an option. I prefer the food at the Scottish pub The Duke of Perth. There are plenty of others around Chicago. One thing I miss about UK nightlife already is that you can't hear anything at most bars. I hate coming home horse from shouting and secondhand smoke.

Duke Of Perth
The Globe Pub on Irving Park
Elephant and Castle
The Red Lion
Six Penny Bit
Chief O'Neil's Pub
Cullens
Abby Pub
Grace O'Malley's
5th Province Pub
Galvan's Public House

If anyone wants in on a Chicago Pub Crawl send me a line.

Comments

[Thang]

i will be in chicago next week, and was wondering if you could suggest some really good place to eat. I will be coming in from D.C.

i'm a chef, and wanted to find some really small places that have awesome food.

thanks!

[Josh]

I'd take a look around the site. The margin on the left has links to certain areas of the city and types of food. I try as often as possible to include a mapquest link at the end of a post. Where are you going and what do you like to eat? Chicago has a plethora of great ethnic restaurants - from Indian to Italian, some great top-tier spots and lots of well above average places in between. I think we do Mexican, in general, much better than most other American cities.

Good luck. Let us know where you went and what you thought. (What do you cook?)

Josh

[steve]

The fish at all of those places never lives up to the promise, though. Anyone know where to get genuine english-style cod and chips in chicago?

[Joanna]

Yard House (yes, a California chain, I know, but still...) has great fish and chips in the Glen/Glenview. Golden batter is crisp and not at all greasy (the napkin under the pile or fries and fish is almost totally in tact, not see-though), and the fries are great. I like the tarter sauce: standard sauce, nothing fancy, but reliably good. I think it comes with malt vinegar, too, and maybe a third sauce.

I won't know how traditional the fish is until my September trip to London, but for now, it's a nice dinner.