Fish and Chips in London
 

Hi all! I am off to London in a few weeks, and would like some opinions as to where the best Fish and Chips can be found! I will be staying near Kensington High Street, but will be all over the city touring. So, a somewhat central location would be nice, but not essential.
Suggestions?

Geales in Farmer Street, W8, is one of the very few places in the centre that's consistently reliable. Walk up from KHS, through the residential belt, towards Notting Hill.

Many people claim that good fish and chips cannot be found in London - but in my experience that's because they didn't know where to look.

I unreservedly recommend the North Sea Fish Restaurant at 7-8 Leigh Street WC1. It's just south of Euston Station at the arrow on this map:

<b>http://tinyurl.com/dob2p</b>

If you're a Tuber, go to Russell Square. If a buser, ride a 59, 68, 91, or 168 to Tavistock Square and go east. In either case, you will go north on Marchmont Street and turn right onto Leigh Street at Cartwright Gardens.

I have never had good fish and chips in London.

Never ever.
You need to head north.
To the land of barm cakes and Yorkshire Caviare (mushy peas) Head for the ORIGINAL Harry Ramsdens. Or a back street chippy in Whitby.

London is for Jelly Eels, warm flat beer and an Angus Steak (see other threads)

One place i always go to is called the Fryer's Delight
19 Theobald's Road, London. Its a no frills place and their prices aren't bad. It not locatd in the most scenic part of the city but if you really want good fish, its worth the trip.

Here is a picture of it..

http://londondailyphoto.blogspot.com...ps-anyone.html

Actually I think you'll find that you can't get any good food in London....

Stuff and nonsense!!

Probably the most famous is the Sea Shell on Lisson Grove

http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaura...?Rest_ID=81189

More centrally is the place on Berwick Street in Soho - this is a spit &amp; sawdust kind of establishment, in the vein of a traditional chippy -

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/2849.htm

For a slightly 'posher' version, I'd say Randall &amp; Aubin on Brewer Street, also in Soho -

http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaura...?Rest_ID=81098

Not that I've had fish and chips often enough to be an expert, but the best f&amp;c I ever had was last November at a place called Super Fish, near the Old Vic Theatre in London. The fish fillet was huge, flavorful, freshly caught that day and was not at all greasy. Delicious!

We had fish and chips at both North Sea and Rock and Sole Plaice last fall and both were good.

If you go to Rock and Sole Plaice, though, watch them if you charge your meal. They tried the conversion trick on me and then said their credit card machine did it automatically and they couldn't change it. They did cancel the charge, and I paid cash.

The hotel owner said that is absolutely not true. They are always supposed to ask before they convert to other currency and it could have been reversed.

If anyone gives you the tired old lies about not being able to charge in local currency, write LOCAL CURRENCY NOT OFFERED above your signature, and dispute the charge when you get home.

You will win, because for a merchant not offer the choice of currencies is a violation of their Merchant Agreement with the card issuer.

Robespierre:

This advice may be useful elsewhere. But with chip + PIN becoming virtually universal in the UK from Feb 14, how will your advice work here?

What's chip + pin?

chipandpin.co.uk

&quot;The majority of card holders will now have chip and PIN card. If you have not yet received your chip and PIN card yet, you don't need to do anything. Chip and PIN cards will continue to be issued throughout 2005, most probably when cards reach their expiry dates. <b>You can continue to use non-chip and PIN cards in all outlets, and you will be asked to <u>sign for goods</u>, just as you always have done.</b>&quot;

Good point!!

We don't have the option. Britons MUST use C+P from Feb 14.

But of course many visitors won't have C+P. So they'll be able to write what they like on the payment slip.

If, of course, they can get the staff to realise credit cards from steam-age countries still work.

Which will obviously be next month's mini-scandal.

Robespierre, thanks. This sounds like something that won't affect us as Americans visiting Ireland?

&quot;steam-age countries&quot;?!

Do you get punched in the face a lot?

Carolyn, Thank you for the info.

Rock and Sole Plaice is now on my list of places to never ever stop.

Keith

The Golden Hind on Marylebone Lane is good; batter is nice and crispy and they serve bread with butter so that you can make chip butties. They don't serve alcohol but are quite happy for you to bring your own.
I've heard a lot about Sea Shell on Lisson Grove - it's on my list of potential do's for this March.

It has been awhile, but we went to Geale's and didn't like it at all. Tired surroundings, mediocre food, somewhat high prices for what we got.

I loved Geale's! The surroundings may have been 'tired,' but it made me feel like I was at one of my neighborhood restaurants.

Hi all! Thank you so much for all of your input. I will definitely be searching for the best when I am there. I am really looking forward to London as it is one of my absolutely favorite cities.
Just one small question: what the heck are &quot;chip butties&quot;?
And I will be SURE to visit the Angus Steak House chain -- I hear that it really shouldn't be missed (insert wild hysterical laughter here).

I can only conclude that the clientele at Angus must be functionally illiterate - because I have never read one single positive thing about the place(s).

A chip buttie is a chip sandwich - and quite delicious! It has to be made on white bread, plenty of butter and either ketchup or brown sauce. Buttie is a slang term for sandwich.

Keith, the food was good. Just pay cash.

Paying cash is just what the merchants want you to do. When you don't use your credit card, they don't have to pay any discount points on the transaction.

If cash is more convenient for <u>you</u>, then by all means do it. But don't be intimidated into doing what the merchant prefers by their petty subterfuge.

Stand your ground, and let this be your mantra: CHOICE OF CURRENCY NOT OFFERED.

Hi all!
Thanks for all the advice. With respect to chip butties, I recall a past post concerning peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, where many European posters found this combination absolutely revolting. I must confess that I absolutely cannot imagine that a chip buttie would taste good! Is this particular &quot;sandwich&quot; popular? Do people really, really eat this, or is my leg being pulled just a little bit???

freiamaya: Not at all! Guess it's just horses for courses. Personally I quite like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches but equally I wouldn't choose to have syrup on my bacon &amp; eggs.

The chip buttie is quite a Northern thing, where it was more common to have bread and butter with your supper, so if chips were served people would sometimes eat some of them between bread. It's really not at all disgusting, but perhaps a matter of taste!

Incidentally, this is something you do with proper thick chips, not fries.

(Personally I'm rather partial to crisp sandwiches as well but tend not to admit that!!)

Chip butties are real!! no leg pulling here! The chips must be hot though in order to melt the butter on the white bread - it is really good although I admit probably doesn't sound that way. Tallulah, I also love crisp butties, haven't had one of those for a long time! Cheese and tomato sauce was another good one. My Dads favourite sarnie was sliced tomato with lots of salt and pepper and the soggier the bread the better - that one was an acquired taste...

kmowatt: My mum and sisters love tomato sandwiches too! But I only like tomato IN things and preferably cooked.

Now a banana sandwich (white bread, proper butter, sliced banana) is my personal favourite!

Ok, syrup on bacon and eggs is NASTY. I can wrap my mind around crisp sandwiches, and a friend of mine used to have tuna salad sandwiches and stuff it with crisps. Oh the internation dining habit of us all!!!

Very few of the Fish and Chip shops I have visited take anything other than cash. It may be &quot;Steam age&quot; but they are no less real than the &quot;modern&quot; fish and chip shops that do. If aomebody tried to pay by plastic, on a typical Friday night, when the queue goes out of the door and some way up the street, I think there might be a riot.

In terms of the &quot;steam age&quot; countries adopting Chip and Pin, the system was in use in South Africa at least 15 years ago, so the UK is hardly and early adopter.

I've never seen anyone eat syrup on bacon and eggs. Rather, we put it over pancakes which may be ordered with bacon and eggs, but only if you're really hungry!

Never had a pancake sandwich at IHOP or your local pancake house? The pancake serves as the &quot;bread,&quot; and the filling is bacon and eggs. Most people eat it like regular hotcakes, just with the filling inside, so it's served with syrup. (I guess that's how the McGriddle got invented.) I like it.....the salty and the sweet is a good combination.

I've actually seen a lot of odd sandwich combos with my triathlon friends, but I guess that's another thread for another day. Peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich, anyone?

Sorry to go back to this, but what exactly is chip+pin? I'm guessing it involves entering a pin rather than signing? The same way a debit card is used?

Just as an aside, many &quot;restaurants&quot; here (Panera, Boston Market) no longer require a signature if the total is under $25. Don't know whether that qualifies to bring us out of the &quot;steam age&quot;!

chipandpin.co.uk

It's a card that uses a PIN instead of a signature. Debit cards were supposed to work like this, so I don't know what the big deal is, but there it is.

fishandchipandpin.co.uk

Thanks, Robespierre. Had trouble with the website when I tried it after your first post. But got it this time. Still don't quite get the &quot;chip&quot; part of it though. Also don't get what the big deal is. That *is* the way our debit card works. However, I can see that it would make it difficult to have recourse if the merchant charges in dollars rather than local currency.

Try the, Sea Fresh, on Wilton, near Victoria Station. We saw a hundred cabs parked near it on a Friday evening. We asked a driver what was going on. &quot;Best fish and chips in London!&quot;. The manager told us that his fish were caught the day before, landed and brought to market for an early sale on that day. Find out if your shop is using/serving frozen/thawed fish or fresh ones. Cod, Haddock or Halibut?

Why were there cabs parked at a restaurant? Because the drivers ate there? Did the restaurant have room for a hundred cab drivers in addition to their usual clientele? What is going on here?

Can't recommend Geales enough - we have been going there for over 20 years and the fish is excellent. Everything is freshly cooked and the service is efficient and friendly.

For an &quot;experience&quot; try the mushy peas. Not a favourite of mine but something of a traditional (Northern I think) English dish.

The advantage of Geales is that they are licenced - so if you fancy a traditional British pint - or a glass of wine, they can oblige.

I don't think you will be disappointed.