The Fish and Chip Shop

The Fish and Chip Shop owner Mick Shillingford was kind enough to comment on my post praising his business. Here are his thoughts, hoisted from the comments:

Thanks for coming to the fish and chip shop! Here's a quick update. I'm expanding the dining area (within the next 30 days) so seating room should double. Also I applied for a beer and wine license. People like beer with their F&C yes? Soon hopefully. The cod is fresh year round, I buy true cod over ling, the halibut season started last week so I have fresh and previously frozen right now.(not sure what you guys tried) The market price for fresh is up a little right now. I'm told due to the volcano and the weather in alaska. But it should drop back down soon. ... Also fyi the portion sizes went up, we stopped using lettuce for garnish and switched to green checkered paper. Our menu also has fish and chip combos now, as well as our ala carte menu which seemed to just create confusion. I'm sure as we grow there will be more changes to improve service and quality. Thanks for all the great comments on the F&C. Much appreciated! See ya at the chippy!

A few notes in response:

One, the picture I grabbed from this article (and should have credited, sorry!) because it was pretty and I forgot to snap a pic or two. What I really wanted was a closeup of the storefront, but alas, the internets failed me. Anyway, the lettuce garnish was indeed absent from our plates (which is a good thing, because then you feel guilty that you are not eating any leafy greens - unless you want to eat the leaf under your chips...).

Two, the service was great - fast, friendly and casual. They also have a great kids menu and my son had a good time coloring Mikey the Fish. I am not a professional restaurant reviewer so I don't tend to think about all the stuff I should cover.

Three, they had a great flat screen TV showing football (er, soccer) - it was a Barca v. Mallorca replay when we were there. Learning that Mick hails from London however raises the ugly spectre that it is entirely possible that he is a Tottenham supporter, which, if true, would be too terrible to contemplate... Say it 'aint so Mick! Of course my Grandad thought I must have been switched at birth for supporting Arsenal and not his beloved QPR so there you go.

Fourth, the news that you might soon be able to enjoy a beer with your fish and chips is too wonderful to contemplate. One wonders how far Mick will go to stock British beers given his superhuman efforts to stock British soda. The thought of a good fish and chips with a pint of Theakston's Best Bitter? Oh the rapture!

Hmmm, I am hungry again....

Fish & Chips: The Verdict....So Far

[Note: Spring term begins today and I am in scramble mode after a spring break entirely consumed by illness. The tally: two double ear infections, one viral chest infection, one pneumonia, two colds and counting... Anyway, this is just to say a quick post on F&C (which the pneumonia kid got as a treat) and more blogging tomorrow - I hope]

Well, my search for authentic British fish and chips is over: the perfectly titled "The Fish and Chip Shop" on N. Killingsworth in Portland is a marvel. Absolutely perfect fish and chips in every way and lots of other gastronomic wonders from the Old Country like scotch eggs and, my favorite, Irn Bru soda from Scotland!

Both the fish and chips were exceptionally well done and you have a fine choice of fish. My son and I had the Cod and the Halibut to compare and we both decided, surprisingly, that the Cod was better.

One caveat, this is true British style fish and chips, meaning the batter is thick so as to make the fish finger food. If you are looking for lighter batter necessitating the use of a fork and knife, the pub route might be a better choice (and if you want beer - The Fish and Chip Shop does not serve alcohol). My current front runner on the pub front is the New Old Lompoc's Oaks Bottom (and perhaps it is the same at all of their pubs). The Fish and Chip Shop is a very small place and seems reasonably busy so a call ahead for take-out is probably a good option. But this is truly it: the holy grail for fans of British fish and chips. I look forward to taking me mum there on her next visit.

Enjoy.

Fish and Chips Update

Thanks for all the good advice about places to try fish and chips.  Today, on a lark, I tried the Oaks Bottom Public House which is a part of the New Old Lompoc empire.  Good thing too, the fish was perfect: light crispy batter and juicy steaming fish inside.  I was the only person at that time ordering food, so my order came right away and it was clearly the only thing the kitchen had going on, so it is possible that the quality will decline with a busy kitchen, but this time at least it was done perfectly.  The chips were good as well, however they were seasoned with paprika, I think, or perhaps cayenne pepper, so that was a bit weird and took away from the fish a bit, but I grew to like them.  Presumably all of the Lompoc locations offer the dish, so it is worth a try in my opinion. 

In my F&C post, commenter Mick points me to this outfit:

Go to "The Fish and Chip Shop" 1218 N. Killingsworth St. www.thefishandchipshop.com and your search will be over.

I had just read about this place in Portland Monthly Magazine and I had it in mind for today, but sick kiddies kept me close to home.  So I will get there soon and report.  

The Oaks Bottom, to their great credit, has kept a few rotating taps and today they had the Russian River 'Damnation' on tap.  This belgian style ale has received a lot of attention but I found it strange and antiseptic, so I went for the Diamond Knot 'Industrial IPA' which was pretty good and yet another hugely hopped beer of the type that I keep running into (and good for post tax prep cleansing).  

The Oaks Bottom also played a steady stream of late eighties pop/rick and, perhaps depressingly, I found I knew every word to every song.  

The Great Fish and Chips Search

Friday afternoon blogging: what do you expect, economics? No, my attention shifts elsewhere...

Being the son of an Englishwoman I was bred with an appreciation for fine English cuisine. And there is no finer example of the fine art of English cooking than fish and chips. Okay so maybe you think it is low-brow, but there is not much worse than fish and chips done badly - it becomes a greasy, slimy, tasteless fat fiesta. But done well, the batter is crisp and the fish is moist and juicy and wonderful.

In the US, bad is the norm and good is elusive in the fish and chips world. So I am always on the lookout for good spot. The worst offense in my mind is to try and make it too fancy - using bread crumbs and spices and fancying up the fries just misses the point. Also using too much batter and - gasp - overcooking it are crimes against humanity.

It is a typical pub food and as Oregon is awash with good pubs, you often find it on the menu. But one suspects that in most cases this is just because the pub thinks it 'should' and is not really serious about it. I keep trying however because I am determined to find a great spot for fish and chips.

The best I have had in the last few years was at the McMenamins Corvallis. One summer day me mum and I arrived and both ordered the F&C and a little while later were told that they would be delayed as a new batch of batter had to be whipped up. I suspect this was to our great fortune as, after a wait, the meals arrived piping hot, with absolutely perfectly cooked fish on top of McMenamins perfectly unadorned fries. Mum said it was fabulous and I agreed. But subsequent visits to that and other McPubs have not yielded as good results - the kitchen does not pay enough attention usually is my conclusion - but is probably the best I have yet found on average. Deschutes pub in Portland tries to be too fancy, as does the Rogue pubs, the Thirsty Lion yesterday was decent but not memorable and the Pilsner Room/McCormick and Schmicks use too much/too fancy batter. Glaringly, I have never tried the fish and chips at the Horse Brass, which might be expected to have the best.

So I ask you, fellow fish and chips enthusiasts, where to go next in my quest?