Travel Nibbles: ‘The Fish Club’ Review

Hey Everyone!
What’s a visit to England without having some good ol’ Fish and Chips?

‘The Fish Club’ Review

Where: 57 Clapham High Street, SW4 7TG    Website: http://www.thefishclub.com/index.html

           Fish and chips was one of the things I had to eat while in England and I’m glad I chose ‘The Fish Club’ to lose the experience with. ‘The Fish Club’ takes pride in their earning as one of the top ’50 restaurants in London on Timeout’s website 2011′ and the constant flow of customers certainly shows.

           From the outside, ‘The Fish Club’ looks quite dimly lit from the outside however, as soon as you walk in the restaurant’s backdrop immediately makes you feel like you’re somewhere by the sea. From their wooden tables, white and blue painted ship’s wheel and beach themed props you can pretty much smell the ocean. The staff are also very attentive and quickly show us to our table and explained the specials for the night.

           For my drink, I ordered the Traditional Lemonade (2.75 GBP) which was not my cup of tea. I was expecting a freshly made glass of lemonade but instead it came from a bottle. It was slightly fizzy and had a very sharp, sour lemon taste that did not compliment the meal well. But, if those sour Warhead lollies are you’re thing this drink is for you.

Cute Tomato sauce dispenser!

‘Traditional Lemonade’ (Approx. $4 AUD)

            For a shared entree, we ordered the ‘FishClub calamari’ (6.95 GBP.) It had a lovely crispy batter but apart from the crunch there was no wow factor in terms of taste. It says that the calamari was coated in spanish flour and smoke paprika but none of those ingredients shown through so I would give this a miss next time I’m there.

‘FishClub calamari’ (Approx. $10 AUD)

The other entree was the ‘FishClub soup’. I believe this can be found on their ‘Specials’ menu for the day and not on their usual menu. Silly me, I did not document the price so another lost dish. But dont fret, you’re not missing out on much here as I can’t even recall any details about this dish so, nothing special here.

‘FishClub Soup’ Another blunder.

Now, up to the main meal. I ordered the battered Haddock (7.70 GBP) with a side of chips (2.25 GBP). This was delectable. Amazing crispy batter that wasn’t too oily and the fish tasted so fresh. The batter is thicker than what the Aussie fish and chips are like but, I think the thick crust added more texture to the dish. It was made to order so steaming hot and I after two slightly disappointing starts to the night, this was definitely a winner. While the chips did not have the same crunch, the potato inside was so soft and creamy, I pretty much demolished this in a heart beat.

             I do also have to mention the ‘Sweet potato chips’ that my cousin ordered as a side with her battered fish. This was certainly one of the champions of the night. I have had several awful experience with sweet potato chips. They were always so soggy and tasted stale. These ‘Fish Club’ ones were amazing. They were as creamy and soft as their white potato fries and even had a better crunch. The sweet ones always come first.

Battered ‘Haddock’ with Chips (Approx. $15 AUD together)

So, it wouldn’t be dinner without dessert. It also didn’t help that their homemade ice cream had a 3 scoops for 5 GBP deal. We picked the ‘Very Vanilla,’ ‘Chunky Chocolate,’ and ‘Salted Caramel.’ The ‘Very Vanilla’ was your standard vanilla ice cream something I could buy at the supermarket. The ‘Chunky Chocolate’ was indeed chunky with blocks of chocolate throughout. I liked that it wasn’t so sweetly rich that I could have become diabetic so, good on you ‘Fish Club!’ The ‘Salted Caramel’ on the other hand was definitely my favourite. The caramel flavour is quite potent but having the salty hit while the ice cream is mulling through my pallet was pure joy in my mouth.

‘Very Vanilla, Chunky Chocolate and Salted Caramel.’ (Approx. $7.30 AUD)

Hope you all have a lovely week! Planning on posting some more sweet treats this week so if you haven’t already, feel free to subscribe.

            Jo x.