Fish 'n' Chips

Mmmmmmm ... Fish and Chips!!!

What could be more Bri'ish? Well, apart from tikka masala ...

I have been lucky enough to live near two great British fish and chip shops; Mike's Plaice (geddit?), a Welsh/Italian takeout in St Anne's, Bristol - fantastic haddock ; and West Hoe Fish Fryers in Plymouth, neither of which I can find a link for.

So you might think that finding good fish and chips in the USA might be a hopeless task, but not necessarily so.

Nearby New York City has A Salt & Battery (another geddit???), a real Bri'ish fish and chip shop in the Big Apple, but a couple of bars also have a good try, notably The Parlour, on W86th Street.

Amazingly, the fish and chips in the fast food restaurant at the Statue of Liberty were rather better than I've had in some British outlets ... hard to believe, I know ...

Meanwhile, Triumph Brewery*, in Princeton serve very good fish and chips, as well as brewing their own English (style) IPA which is served through a beer-engine at 55F. Nice. *Beware; this website is totally Flash orientated.

Lastly, you can always cook your own. Cod here, is less expensive than back in the UK, and there is an even cheaper alternative called tilapia, which is very good. I've not seen haddock anywhere here at all. You can find loads of batter recipes on Google.

In fact, the bigger problem is finding good chipping potatoes. There are no King Edwards here. So far the varieties I've tried have been very starchy and tend to taste okay, but come out looking rather brown and not very crispy. Until I sort this out I'm resorting to frozen fries ... sorry.

And while tartare sauce is easy enough to find, mushy peas are proving a problem to source here ...