I associate fish and chips with the impending arrival of the weekend. Back in the day when I was a spring chicken exploring the dark arts of jellied petrol, I also tended to the student bar. Ah the days of minimum wages – £4.80 an hour, I think. We didn’t even have fancy touch screen tills to work with, and we did all the sums in our head, old school. “A pint of snakebite, nine lagers, five gin and tonics, a shandy, four packets of cheese and onion, my chilli peanuts… and yourself?” . £19.50.The student bar was near the Albert Hall and did I make a lot of money serving BBC Proms participants. Happy days. Ravenous and reeking of alcohol at the end of my shift, I would make my way to the common room for haddock and extra mushy peas – reward for the strenuous work I suppose.

It still remains a Friday tradition of sorts for me, even though I hadn’t had a whiff of batter from the company cafeteria in well over two years now, ever since I started this blog. I brought some pineapple cakes back from Taiwan, and wanted to hand some over to Helen. The World foodie guide suggested we try one of her old favourites in town. This restaurant has an interesting background to say the least, being that it has only changed ownership four times since it opened in 1914. There is even a story of how its original Italian owner fled to England after killing his mayor in his hometown, and he started out by frying bits which fishmongers threw away (I read it on WFG, naturally). Generally speaking, the Golden Hind is close to many hearts, with compliments regarding its neighbourly if basic décor as well as the superb batter. The real secret to Golden Hind’s popularity is though is probably due to its produce, fresh fish, delivered daily from Grimsby, all except for the halibut steak which is bought in frozen. You know this place is a proper chippy when the air smells like grease, and the floors are slippery because of it. It was packed out on a Thursday night.

Did I mention it was BYO? Free BYO at that as the final tally did not include corkage. We brought a bottle of Waitrose Riesling, nothing fancy, just something easy drinking. So the menu is expectedly affordable. Starters included breaded calamaries (£3.60), king prawns in garlic and olive oil (£4.50) and slices of bread at fifteen pence per each. Choice of white or bread I think.

Helen pointed out the silver hair gent who took our order was the current Greek owner, I vividly remember his firm recommendation of the home made cod fish cakes. Firstly, the breaded calamaries were pretty good if standard, can’t go wrong with prawns in garlic. The fish cakes patty was a winner, loose bits of flaky cod amongst smooth potato bits, comforting. The first brush with its crispy batter was definitely agreeable.

On with the fish!

There’s a choice of Haddock (£7.70), cod (£7.40, skate (£erm.) and halibut (£11) and you have the choice of either battered or steamed. Naturally, the women went for the healthier choice. It is an interesting option of course, it highlights the freshness of the produce, and can even be had with an equally diet friendly portion of garden peas on the side.

Of course, I went full whack. Chips (£3.40), Mushy peas (£1) and battered cod (£7.40). That’s nearly twelve quid, pricier than my local, but hey this is crème of Grimsby.

Mushy peas were smooth, sweet and inoffensive, it’s quite standard, but disappointingly the chips were soggy and no better than any takeaway. There are reports that these bad boys are double fried maris pipers, well if they are, it makes it even more disappointing then as they were just bad. Thank goodness for Grimsby, because the fish was gloriously flaky, juicy all the way through and which exhibited a bouquet of greasiness. I was most impressed with the portions – humongous. I’m not an expert on batter, sure it was a crispy golden brown, but I wouldn’t say that the Golden Hind version tasted any better that my local chippy. I mean let’s not get all hedonistic here, this is after all just battered fish.

Lots of food for three, naturally it was nice to catch up with Helen once again. Our bill came to £40. Yes, the fresh Grimsby catch is definitely the attraction of Golden Hind, and for what you pay, I think you’ll get good food. I particularly enjoyed the fish cakes. I hold the view that fish and chips is a lost art in London, when compared to the rest of the country. Not that I’m an expert of course, because I really am not. Let’s see now, places where I’ve made a trip to the local chippy: Glasgow, Durham, Sheffield and hazily Manchester. The most impressionable one was from a farmer’s market in Durham and I remembered it for a certain intensity from the sizzling batter. I’d love to try the Anstruther Fish Bar which was famously crowned the best fish & chip shop in the country last year. Perhaps a pilgrimage one of these days. I am attending a wedding in Glasgow during the August Bank Holiday and maybe a detour is warranted. Until then, Golden Hind will have to make do.

The Gist of It

Golden Hind £12pp
73 Marylebone Lane
W1U 2PN
Tel: 020 7486 3644
Tube: Bond Street

Related reviews: World Foodie Guide ; Londonelicious ; Food Snob

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Fish and chips is a national symbol. The reason I say so is because everybody has their own personal experience of it. If you ask someone where their favourite chippie is, you’ll get this long gaze (like he’s going down memory lane), with a lowered voice, they go ’i know this place…’. You can tell from their facial expressions how much they enjoy it. 

The story usually ends with a polite nudge to pay a visit and proclamation that you wont be disappointed. Oh the joy of having found that dish.

my chippie story

I grew up in a really small town on the other side of the world and as far away from england as can be. But you know, I still remember my first brush with the old fish and chip combo. It was in a ‘western restaurant’, as they are call it in asia, that served steaks roast chicken and the like. I ordered a large haddock and chips. 

The beauty is its simplicity. It can taste so good, when the batter is crispy, the steam gushing out on first cut and silky smooth fresh fish.

geales and tradition

As someone who doesnt have first hand experience with a real chippie, its all abit new to me, so I dont really have a stance over reinventions of this old tradition. But as you will read from AA Gill’s and Matt Norman’s reviews, its caused quite a stir. Both good and bad. 

Established in 1939, according to esteemed crtics, it was a regular spot for old colleagues to unwind for a long, lazy lunch. Last year, this place was taken over by the genius team of mark fuller and andy taylor with gary hollihead applying his michelin starred skills in the kitchen. Geales is about a 5 minute walk from notting hill gate tube and is conveniently tucked away behind the cinema.

rise of the posh chippie 

Hollihead &co will not be the first to reinvent the national symbol as many places, such as these in liverpool are attempting a similar thing. You can even find an excellent example at belgo’s in covent garden. Though, I think the main difference at geales is that fish and chips takes centre stage. This hardworking dish has seemingly been given a slick makeover, abit like how a nostalgic tv show gets the silver screen treatment. Think charlie’s angels, erm, mission impossible? Another great chef, Tom Aikens of chelsea attempted it in similar fashion at tom’s place, it would have been nice to try it, but sadly, the neighbours very recently brought about a shock closure.

Gasp.   

Can our world weary heroes save the day?

fish, chips and mushy peas

Lets get straight to the point, this review is about the main event. If this doesnt work, everything else doesnt really matter. Although, if you prefer, you can jump to page 2 to read about the co stars and if its added sparkle to the mix. So on to the food. We order double portion chips, double mushy peas on the side. I had the cod and Nic went with the haddock.

We skipped the alcohol and only had an hour with the table, since we turned up sans booking. Me and nic, we go way back.

I believe the secret to getting really good chips is to double fry them, so they are crispy on the outside and use top quality spuds like maris piper to make them soft and fluffy on the inside. Just look at the chips, they are an absolute beauty and they taste great. But there’s the issue of price, that’s a double portion that costs £6. Its abit steep, granted they do taste good, but is it justifiable paying a £5 premium to get chips that taste marginally better than burger king?

Im no expert on mushy peas, but again its a double portion that costs £6…except this not very good. It was lumpy and rather bland; my canteen at work (yes, i have a real job) does this for free with the friday ‘fish of the day’ option. And that taste alot better than what geales had to offer.

So one out of two, how does the fish fare? It certainly photographs very well, served with sprinklings of sea salt on top, a slice of lemon and tartare sauce on the side.

It didnt work for me. I really wanted it to blow me away, but it just didnt. Where was the gushing steam? I found a measly portion, covered by a thick batter with large pockets of air. Gaps so large, I suspect the chef blew air in through a tiny hole while he was frying the fish. At first i questioned the seasalt, but my first bite confirmed my fears, the fish was bland. It really needed the salt.

The batter was not up to scratch. According to some of the critics, they say that because it wasnt fried in beef tallow, it’s not going to be great. Well, they were right. I was expecting the fish to be moist but it was a tad on the soggy side for me. I was sorely disappointed because it just looked so good. Im trying to convince myself that maybe mine was just a rare slip up and the next time I return it’ll be a much improved. 

Next page, the good bits and why I will visit again…