Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Food & Drink => Topic started by: andyoxon on 04 April, 2024, 02:44:48 pm

Title: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: andyoxon on 04 April, 2024, 02:44:48 pm
That iconic British meal*...

...seemed somewhat sad (before starting to eat) when I had it in a pub recently, for £17 as it happens.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53630489157_63bea30512_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa)F&Cs (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145942400@N06/), on Flickr

What do you notice?   

[ Not thinking about mushy greens particularly; this was one of the rare occasions I opted for them.]

*dietary variations & preferences allowing

edit

Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 04 April, 2024, 03:04:50 pm
Not many chips. Not many at all. Unless you've already eaten most of them.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: orienteer on 04 April, 2024, 03:11:49 pm
Not much fish either. We usually get almost twice as large in the places we go, for about £15. Toffs in Muswell Hill, or Three Horseshoes in Towersey, near Thame.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: De Sisti on 04 April, 2024, 03:15:34 pm
The small bowl with the tartar sauce is chipped. Only 15 chips on the plate (unless some are
hidden underneath the fish).
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: hellymedic on 04 April, 2024, 03:29:51 pm
Seriously unimpressive portion size and price!
We had a HUGE piece of chicken (maybe at least triple the size of that fish), with a portion of spaghetti, for a similar price, when we had our Pollo Milanese, near Waterloo Station in That London, last night.
D and I both finished our meals and subsequent desserts.
We eat like cyclists...
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: andyoxon on 04 April, 2024, 03:31:21 pm
Not much fish either. We usually get almost twice as large in the places we go, for about £15. Toffs in Muswell Hill, or Three Horseshoes in Towersey, near Thame.

Yes [My bold] funny you should say that...   The cod had apparently been cut in half, prior to battering.  You can see the straight fish edge on the right hand side.

It tasted nice, but call me old fashioned, or whatever, but I kind of expect to have a whole piece of fish served.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: andyoxon on 04 April, 2024, 03:34:11 pm
Not many chips. Not many at all. Unless you've already eaten most of them.

Hadn't started eating.  Agreed - chips were pretty sparse.

I'm not a mushy pea connoisseur by any stretch, but they look like they be scraped off the bottom of the pan.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: hellymedic on 04 April, 2024, 04:23:14 pm
I had a similar sized ration of Mushy Pea at The Kanteen in Brent Cross Torture Chamber earlier this year.
The fish and chip portion sizes were considerably more generous.
Kosher eateries have come a LONG way since I was a nipper, which is good.
They used to be an embarrassment and were, deservedly the butt of jokes.

The Mariner in New Quay does a good line in fish and chips. Took me 26 years to complete my Unfinished Business there.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Hot Flatus on 04 April, 2024, 04:39:00 pm
The Mariner in New Quay does a good line in fish and chips. Took me 26 years to complete my Unfinished Business there.

Soon to be followed by the productive sicky burp known as 'Synod's regret'.

Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: spesh on 04 April, 2024, 04:47:14 pm
Not much fish either. We usually get almost twice as large in the places we go, for about £15. Toffs in Muswell Hill, or Three Horseshoes in Towersey, near Thame.

Yes [My bold] funny you should say that...   The cod had apparently been cut in half, prior to battering.  You can see the straight fish edge on the right hand side.

It tasted nice, but call me old fashioned, or whatever, but I kind of expect to have a whole piece of fish served.

So you're saying it's a piece of cod which passeth all understanding?  :demon:
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: hellymedic on 04 April, 2024, 04:54:40 pm
The Mariner in New Quay does a good line in fish and chips. Took me 26 years to complete my Unfinished Business there.

Soon to be followed by the productive sicky burp known as 'Synod's regret'.

I deliberately withheld from fish & chips in 1996.
I returned with three friends, in their car, in 2022.

We had fish & chips, with TEA, for all of us for £40.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Wowbagger on 04 April, 2024, 04:58:47 pm
Our local chip shop does "specials", formerly known as "pensioner specials" which are about half the size of normal fish & chips. They are big enough for Jan and me. However, the normal sized fish & chips was £10.30 when I bought some last week. The "specials" are between £6 and £7 so Jan and I share the one portion and save ourselves about £3.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Hot Flatus on 04 April, 2024, 05:12:25 pm
The Mariner in New Quay does a good line in fish and chips. Took me 26 years to complete my Unfinished Business there.

Soon to be followed by the productive sicky burp known as 'Synod's regret'.

I deliberately withheld from fish & chips in 1996.
I returned with three friends, in their car, in 2022.

We had fish & chips, with TEA, for all of us for £40.

Custard slice for pudding?
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: hellymedic on 04 April, 2024, 05:37:23 pm
We were full up!

We were staying at Llanerchindda Farm, where the food is very good and the portions generous.
Though D had hired an e-bike, it wasn’t a very active weekend.

Needed to keep some space for forthcoming 3 course evening meal!

Will return to Llanerchindda for first weekend in May. Probably won’t be able to pop into Llandovery cafes at appropriate times.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: T42 on 07 April, 2024, 10:17:13 am
That iconic British meal*...

...seemed somewhat sad (before starting to eat) when I had it in a pub recently, for £17 as it happens.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53630489157_63bea30512_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa)F&Cs (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145942400@N06/), on Flickr

What do you notice?   

[ Not thinking about mushy greens particularly; this was one of the rare occasions I opted for them.]

*dietary variations & preferences allowing

edit


Not wasabi then.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Andy W on 07 April, 2024, 10:37:59 am
Looks like the fish has eaten half the chips!
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: rogerzilla on 07 April, 2024, 10:45:13 am
Always ask for haddock.  It tastes the same as cod but they'll think you know about fish.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: orienteer on 07 April, 2024, 10:52:54 am
Haddock used to have a distinctive taste, but not now they are caught before they have a chance to mature.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: De Sisti on 07 April, 2024, 11:05:44 am
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53630489157_63bea30512_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa)F&Cs (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145942400@N06/), on F
What do you notice?
What were you trying to point out?
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Hot Flatus on 07 April, 2024, 11:44:00 am
The problem with fish and chips, IMHO, is there is no linear spectrum of goodness.  It goes straight from bloody amazing to utter shite, with nothing in between.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Paul H on 07 April, 2024, 12:35:02 pm
Always ask for haddock.  It tastes the same as cod but they'll think you know about fish.
I think I can tell the difference, even if not it's worth choosing for other reasons.  It may be slightly more sustainable and a lot of chippies only cook it to order so you know it's freshly cooked.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Ham on 07 April, 2024, 12:43:17 pm
That iconic British meal*...

...seemed somewhat sad (before starting to eat) when I had it in a pub recently, for £17 as it happens.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53630489157_63bea30512_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa)F&Cs (https://flic.kr/p/2pH9gYa) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145942400@N06/), on Flickr

What do you notice?   

[ Not thinking about mushy greens particularly; this was one of the rare occasions I opted for them.]

*dietary variations & preferences allowing

edit


I notice that you have captured an image of the rare Suckling Chip. These strange beasts feed off the natural oil exuded by the mother fish, who has 10 teats allowing only that number to feed at once. These chips are notoriously shy, and fall off the mother and hide once they are full, and your image has captured six of these!! The lower numbers than regular chips allow them to be humanely caught and tagged, before being released into the wild. Given the amount of grease they will have ingested, they are protected against their natural predators. The scarcity of this genus is why you see so few in the image.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: JellyLegs on 07 April, 2024, 12:50:33 pm
I hope I never frequent that pub, that is one of the saddest plates of fish and chips I have ever seen and for £17!  Fish portions everywhere seem to be shrinking lately as costs go up but there is no excuse for 15 chips.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: andyoxon on 07 April, 2024, 01:13:02 pm
...
What were you trying to point out?

Mainly the shrinkflationary pressure on pub fish & chips...

...The cod had apparently been cut in half, prior to battering.  You can see the straight fish edge on the right hand side.

It tasted nice, but call me old fashioned, or whatever, but I kind of expect to have a whole piece of fish served.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: andyoxon on 07 April, 2024, 01:14:13 pm
Always ask for haddock.  It tastes the same as cod but they'll think you know about fish.

No-choice pub offering.  Cod, or leave it.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Jasmine on 07 April, 2024, 02:17:27 pm


...The cod had apparently been cut in half, prior to battering.  You can see the straight fish edge on the right hand side.

It tasted nice, but call me old fashioned, or whatever, but I kind of expect to have a whole piece of fish served.

I'm slightly confused. I've been veggie for a long time, so can't say I've eaten fish & chips in 30 years, but you surely never get a whole cod? An adult cod is a big fish.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: andyoxon on 07 April, 2024, 03:28:53 pm
... I'm slightly confused. I've been veggie for a long time, so can't say I've eaten fish & chips in 30 years, but you surely never get a whole cod? An adult cod is a big fish.

The offering on this occasion was noticeably smaller; tapered & thin, with a long cut edge.

A couple of F&Cs from last year... 

If I search my google photos I have quite an archive of F&C images.   ;D

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53637964120_ace312a9d6_w.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2pHNA1Q)Ang3 (https://flic.kr/p/2pHNA1Q) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145942400@N06/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53637964145_0eee81815a_w.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2pHNA2g)Angl2 (https://flic.kr/p/2pHNA2g) by ao (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145942400@N06/), on Flickr





Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: robgul on 07 April, 2024, 08:41:49 pm
Just been to New Zealand where they like their F&C (or Fush 'n Chups as they rather oddly call  it) - in most cases the standard order consisted of 2 small pieces of fish which is, we were told, something to with the type of fish and the way it is cut for cooking.  It still tasted good and was about 2/3 the price of F&C here in the UK.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: John Stonebridge on 10 April, 2024, 03:03:44 pm
This pic is of a small take away fish & chips  from The Allan Water cafe in Bridge of Allan, which sadly is about 60km from where I live.   I have been known to cycle there especially.

I don't like food waste so always choose a tiddler. 

Current price £7.65.

I tend to find that fish and chips uniquely among eat out food never quite lives up to expectation levels, even when excellent.     

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53643873252_9aa5074337_k.jpg)


Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Regulator on 10 April, 2024, 04:40:06 pm


...The cod had apparently been cut in half, prior to battering.  You can see the straight fish edge on the right hand side.

It tasted nice, but call me old fashioned, or whatever, but I kind of expect to have a whole piece of fish served.

I'm slightly confused. I've been veggie for a long time, so can't say I've eaten fish & chips in 30 years, but you surely never get a whole cod? An adult cod is a big fish.


Not these days, thanks to overfishing...

Strictly speaking, the cod in 'cod and chips' is a part of a fillet.
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: andyoxon on 15 April, 2024, 02:38:49 pm
So I had a response from the establishment, to a review I wrote.  Apparently the cod fillets are all weighed by the chef, so the portion is standardised for all (so the larger fillets are cut to size). Not sure if they count the chips...  ;)   Still not that inclined to have F&Cs there again; will have something else, as generally it's a good eating pub. 
Title: Re: All about Fish & Chips...
Post by: Legs on 29 April, 2024, 01:57:31 pm
'Small' cod (£4.70) at our chippy in Uttoxeter overhangs both sides of the plate, and 'small' chips (£3.00) is a portion that even I (as a gannet of great renown) struggle to get through.  We had F&C on Friday, and, even working together, Jo and I couldn't get through the chips.