Fish and Chips

[Ivan the Butcher]

Monday was our anniversary, and I took the wife to the Cheesecake Factory. I have a very good burger I get there normally and decided to be different. As I looked over the menu, a sudden impulse hit me: FISH AND CHIPS! Since it was before 5pm I had a choice between lunch or dinner portions. I chose dinner sized after the waiter explained the differences.

When my meal came, the fish didn't look anything like a typical Fish and Chips. The 5 filets were covered in a panko crust, their size was about like my index finger and the spices reminded me of mom buying Mrs. Paul's fish sticks when I was a kid! The fish itself was just plane wrong. Not Cod! In the mid-west we often get Walleye, it wasn't that. I wasn't Whiteing or any other fish I recognized. The texture was mushy in spots and crystalized in spots.

I understood there would be standard French Fries. It came with Tartar sauce, but Malt Vinegar wasn't even available!

Two thing I now know: First, Cheesecake Factory doesn't know what Fish and Chips are! Second, Sunday after Church, we are going to "Bag of Nails" for some descent Fish and Chips!

Have you ever expected to be served any standard meal and they gave a very poor substitute?

Ivan

 

[CH4]

That’s why I always order the parmesan crusted chicken. To quote Patrick Henry: “Give me beer batter fish & chips or give me death!”

Edit:
Yesterday’s lunch at the Vegas airport. No too bad

 

[Erich]

I research restaurants for fun before going, and find it minimizes my surprises - but I've certainly gotten a few unpleasant meals, nevertheless. So sorry to hear that happened on your anniversary: here's hoping it becomes an amusing memory and that it's never repeated.

FWIW, I probably wouldn't order anything ethnic at Cheesecake Factory, either.

 

[gunzo]

Not always, but I try to stick with the specialties of the restaurant. Like, I don't order pork chops at Red Lobster. Getting out of their comfort zone usually doesn't go well.

A local place, been here over a 100 years specializes in southern homestyle meals, & while the portions aren't really up to snuff, the food is pretty good. I ordered a Rueben there once. Big mistake, way out of their field & the worst Rueben I've ever had.

 

[DWalt]

Fish restaurants may not be doing so well. At least locally, many of the Long John Silver's places have closed. I think their prices just got too high. And Red Lobster has just announced they are closing 99 restaurants and is considering bankruptcy before Memorial Day.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

A while back down in Mexico,
I watched Shrimp being moved with a feed scoop from a Row Boat into the bed of a Pickup.
Yessiree! I see Shrimp Specials at Red Lobster!

 

[swsig]

I refuse to eat seafood unless I am in sight of the water it comes from.

 

[LVSteve]

The OP's first mistake was going to the Cheesecake Factory. So-so food at inflated prices served on tables too close together, at least that's my experience here in Vegas.

 

[robvious]

well, Happy Belated Anniversary anyway... something to giggle about in the years to come...
"Hey honey, I made reservations at Cheesecake Factory, aren't you ready to go?"

 

[Onomea]

I am still trying to overcome the trauma of ordering crab cakes in Tidewater, Virginia, of all places, in the early 1990s and being served fake crab. Ever since, whenever I order crab cakes I grill the wait staff thoroughly as to their content prior to ordering. More often than not, I pass.

 

[old bear]

Ivan, "fish & Chips" are made from Cod. Join me at the Pub and I will be willing to treat you to the Real deal, Just ask pawngal, if this is the real deal.

 

[wood714]

I love Captain D's style fish and chips. Their fries, and hush puppy's are most tasty too.

My dad fished Lake Marion in Polk County FL everyday during the winter that weather permitted. Only thing that kept him home was fog and high winds. He had a motorcycle rain suit to keep him dry in the rain. Plus he had a private dock for his boat. We ate a lot of fish.

My mom found a fish batter mix that was dead on to the flavor of Captain D's. She'd buy it 20 pounds at a time.

 

[pawngal]

Ivan, "fish & Chips" are made from Cod. Join me at the Pub and I will be willing to treat you to the Real deal, Just ask pawngal, if this is the real deal.

Yes!! The best Fish & Chips. The only somewhat acceptable substitute for Cod is Alaskan Pollock. If a place is passing off tilapia or swai as fish & chips, Run, don't walk, you don't want that.

 

[lihpster]

Yes!! The best Fish & Chips. The only somewhat acceptable substitute for Cod is Alaskan Pollock. If a place is passing off tilapia or swai as fish & chips, Run, don't walk, you don't want that.

A restaurant near me has a choice of fish if you order the fish and chips. Cod or halibut. Good food, if it is a 45 minute drive away, if traffic is light. And yes, they have the malt vinegar.

 

[erikpolcrack]

Thanks to Uncle Sam, I used to spend a lot of time in Southern UK (10th SFG always deployed from various RAF dispersal bases there). I just loved the Fish and Chips! Never had the courage to try any of the common options other than cod. I have yet to build up the courage to risk ordering it Stateside, having heard about so many bad experiences.

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

The only real Fish 'n Chips I ever had was when stationed at the submarine refit base in Holy Loch, Scotland. North Atlantic cod, flakey and white with a crispy coating, wrapped in yesterdays newspaper to soak up the extra oil, and farm fresh hand cut taters sliced into thumb sized chips.

 

[Farmer17]

Anytime I go to the coast or beach the first thing I eat is some seafood. The last time I was Destin, Florida I was talking to a guy who had been a manager of several nice restaurants there for many years and I was commenting on how the seafood was so fresh and delicious! He said "I'll tell you a little secret...nearly all the restaurants around here get their seafood frozen from somewhere else".

 

[Rustyt1953]

The secret to F&C is day old newspaper and a vinegar bath.

 

[grover99]

Not a real big seafood fan but always liked the fish and chips at Bobs Big Boy. So the first time I ever went to Red Lobster I ordered the fish and chips. The chips were so so but the fish was so mushy that you could not even pick it up without the fish falling apart. Have no idea what kind of fish it was. Last time ever at a Red Lobster.

 

[Narragansett]

The secret to F&C is day old newspaper and a vinegar bath.

IN RI Stadium Fish and Chips, wrapped in newspaper.

I have surprises everywhere I go in GA. No good Italian or seafood, and I am a mile from the ocean. The best I have found so far is a 90 YO pub for sandwiches and burgers and Texas Roadhouse( which I had never been to ).

I am going to RI in 2 weeks. Matunuck Oyster House, here I come.

Ivan, I told you the last time you went somewere for mystery food. Go to Waldo