Eating Out | The Fish and Chips Shop

A fishy tale

 Pro Quality cooking throughout.

 Con Details to add polish.

Pay

€€

Per Person €20-25 - sharing a starter, two mains, sharing a dessert. 3 beers. El tenedor offer might be available.



Find

Website Should be https://thefishandchipsshop.es/ but for some reason it ignores the Madrid location.

🛈 Dietary You'll need to ask.

Access Step free to eating area.

The Story

Hopes? We're absolutely NOT expecting a fish and chip shop.

Reality? No. it's not that sort of fish and chip shop. But it does serve very nice fish. And excellent chips. I know. Confusing.

First Impressions? I wasn't expecting to see a gas meter above my head.

USP? Fish and Chips. After a fashion.  

The offer in three words? Fried fresh fish. Fish fresh fried. Fresh fried fish. And so on. 

Service? OK. But two people on hand for the Friday early lunch rush meant things took long enough to notice how long it was taking. And, servers everywhere, put your phones away when you're in public view. If it even looks like you're on Instagram while I'm trying to attract your attention, that's on you. 

On tap? 10 craft beers on the mini blackboard.

Eat me! Deep fried Avocado with Mango chutney. Well it's half an avocado, sliced and covered in a crumb that resembles muesli or something from a modern crumble. There are a lot of seeds in there. It's crunchy. And the avocado's creamy. Although the chutney isn't a chutney but a smooth mild, sweet sauce. It's well cooked, but as a combination this needs a colossal kick up the flavour end. Do something interesting with that crumb. A bit of coriander or cumin, maybe. Add some chilli to the mango syrup. All three elements are too bland at the moment. 

Fish & chips We went for a large portion here and it's certanly that. Four large goujons of fresh boneless fish, with the skin still on. Very well flavoured indeed, the batter stays in place and they're juicy and delicious. Very, very good. Calamar & chips comes as a one-size option, but it's similar to the large F&C. There's not quite as much calamar, matched with a lot lot of chips. The calamar is very well fried, chewiness is at a minimum and the batter's crispy with some nice seasoning. We'd have like a squeeze of lemon.

Back to those chips. They are little short of a revelation. They are fantastically good, They feel home made. They're probably double cooked as they maintain their crunch. The seasoning is excellent as well. We can't really fault them, But. They demand sauces. There's a very good creamy pink tartar which we enjoyed a lot, but (home made?) ketchup would be an even better fit with them as they're terrific. The flavour contrast would be near-perfect. Make it happen! 

I think Chocolate Ganache is a crowd-splitter. An incredibly rich combination. Tiny toast slices. A powerful olive oil, flaked seasalt and a very intense chocolate ganache. It's like the poshest Nutella sandwich known to man amped up to 11. And that's really not really my cup of tea, but I did my bit for King and country by thoroughly trying that choc and it's expertly done. Small, but mighty, this is a dish best shared.

Friend friendly? All fish- or plant-based dishs. Obvs you'd probably want to check on the frying set up, but the intent looks positive.

Rating for dating?  Suppose so. The food's different enough and fish and chips for a date? Quirky. If you need a dose of quirk. And the location's cosy enough. So yeah, probably.

Tip? Small one.

Change one thing? Sauces, sauces, sauces.

Revisitability? Potentially. Not exactly, as soon as I have another free weekend, but it's got something.

Fish & Chips - Calamares & Chips

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