I'm sorry, but this is perfection. The night before, I went out planning on fish & chips, but the three well-rated places next to one another Yelp led me too looked really lacking. The fish looked thin and tired sitting in big heat-lamp metal housing. The fish were clearly depressed. The few people who were ordering anything were ordering chicken, or just chips. Seriously - - these chippies looked like places where the inebriated go in the wee hours, only to chunder up the cod into the kerbside shortly thereafter. So I gave up on fish & chips and went and had a burger (Wagyu beef - - out of this world delicious).
But today down on Queen Street Parc Lane beckoned like a siren's call.
Me: "A regular cod please. No chips."
Clerk: "It will take 8 minutes. I hope that's OK."
Me: "That's great. It means it's fresh."
Clerk: "That's the only way we do it. Otherwise it gets soggy."
And? Perfection. Fork into it, and it looks like the flippin', flakin', glistenin' white cliffs of Dover. Done with just enough batter and oil to give it added richness and crunch - - coated and heated to perfection, so it is light and zaftig and super, super tender. They focus energy and technique on having fresh fish; fresh oil; perfect temperature; perfect timing). It does not get better than this.
I do like battering that is big and blistery and lumpy - - like a volcano of batter exploded over the fish - - but this is thin, light and delicate - - but still crunchy - - a perfect accent to the fish, while making the fish clearly the main feature. I can't stop thinking about it (and, also, writing about it, as you have probably figured out by now). read more