Heritage Fish & Chips

Where: Heritage Fish & Chips, 840 Main St E, Milton, ON

When: First week of January, 2012

What: Haddock and chips lunch special and fried clams (forgot the price)

After moving to Lees Summit, Missouri, my parents moved back to Canada and settled in Milton, Ontario which is sort of next to Mississauga, where I grew up. I once talked about Heritage Fish & Chips with my friend Denise who said, "I hear they have tea cozies on their teapots."

I have eaten at Heritage Fish & Chips before. It's true that they have tea cozies on their teapots when you order tea. I didn't order tea this time though.

Fredrik and I each had the haddock and chips lunch special and shared an order of fried clams.

The fried clams were pretty good. I don't think I've had enough fried clams to really pass a proper judgement on what is good fried clams. I just know that they're like batter covered elastic bands when they're bad.

It's been a while since I had haddock and chips. It was a pretty good portion for a lunch special. I actually didn't end up finishing it. I've learned that haddock is a bit fishier than halibut. That'll teach me to stray from the usual.

The fish is beer battered but with not too much batter, which I like. The chips are crispy.

The only "downside" is the tartar sauce.

I don't know about you but I have a tartar sauce preference. In fact, I have had conversations about the best tartar sauce. My friends and I find ourselves going back to the ketchup packet packaged tartar sauce (pictured on the right). It doesn't taste like "real" mayo. It's got the right amount of sweetness and tartness. It's just much better than any "homemade" tartar sauce. Heritage Fish & Chips does not have PC Condiments tartar sauce. Most fish and chips places I've eaten at has PC Condiments tartar sauce.

Useless info:

After some research, I found out that my favourite tartar sauce is made by a company that started out making Chinese noodles. The company that makes it is the same company that makes Wing's fortune cookies.

I give the lunch special at Heritage Fish & Chips 3 wee fishies out of 5.

Queen's Fish & Chips

Where: Queen's Fish & Chips, 131 Queen St S, Mississauga (Streetsville), ON
When: Wednesday, December 28, 2011
What: Halibut and chips, $12 +tax

When I was in high school, I would go for fish & chips once a week with 2 of my friends. Queen's Fish & Chips was the local fish and chips place and they had a $5 special, choice of haddock or cod. My first fish and chips were eaten at Queen's Fish and Chips. After we finished our lunch, I often doodled with the ketchup 'cause they came in squeeze bottles.

Since my high school days, more than 10 years ago, Queen's Fish & chips have changed owners on more than one occasion. At one point, Caz's Great Fish took over and changed the name but now it's back to Queen's Fish & Chips.

On our recent Canadian visit, I met up with my 2 previous partners-in-crime for fish and chips. The interior is the same as I remember it. In fact, the chairs are the same chairs from when we were in high school. They still write their specials and deals on brightly coloured bristol board.
Fredrik and I each got halibut and chips with a pop. They still have lunch specials but I forgot how much those are. They weren't so far off from the old $5 price tag.

The fish was beer battered and crispy as always. The chips were a bit lacking but I usually focus on the fish. The ketchup was still in squeeze bottles. I didn't doodle with them as I once did.

It wasn't the best fish and chips experience but it certainly wasn't the worst either. Perhaps it's the nostalgia but I'm going to give Queen's Fish & Chips 4 wee fishies out of 5.

Andrew's Fish & Chips

Where: Andrew's Fish & Chips, in front of Spring Garden Road Library, Halifax, NS
When: Sunday, May 8, 2011
What: One piece fish and chips, $6.

I was wandering around downtown Halifax on Sunday and decided to get some fish and chips after my trip to the library. During the warmer months there is usually a chip truck in front of the Spring Garden Road Library. The highly coveted spot in front of the library is very popular among chip truck owners. I hadn't had truck fries in years and decided to treat myself.

Andrew's Fish & Chips sells more than just fries. They sell 1 and 2 piece fish and chips, poutines, and hotdogs, as well as cold drinks. There was no line up on this day, but since it was an overcast Sunday in May, that was not surprising. The truck was staffed by 2 people and my order came quickly. In front of the order window is a shelf with lots of condiments for your fries or hotdogs, including ketchup, mustard, relish, white vinegar and red wine vinegar, tartar sauce, salt and pepper, and sauerkraut. 

I took my plate of fish and chips and sat on a bench in front of the library. There were a lot of pigeons around which was kind of gross, but that is not the chip truck's fault. People need to stop feeding the pigeons! *ahem*

You maybe can't tell from the above photo, but there were a lot of fries. Way too many. I would rather have had 2 pieces of fish and less fries. Well except for the fact that the fish wasn't that great either. The batter was crispy but didn't have much taste to it, and it was really wet on the inside. The fish was also very mushy. I wonder if they pre-cooked the fish or just fried it too long. Hard to know for sure really. The fries were a bit tough, also like they were fried for too long. I wasn't overly impressed, but it was a chip truck after all, and only $6.

Maybe I should make it my goal to try all the chip trucks I can find in the city?

I give Andrew's Fish & Chips 2 little fishies out of 5.

Willman's Seafood on Good Friday

Where: William's Seafood Restaurant, Smythe Street, Fredericton, NB
When: Friday, April 22nd, 2011 (Good Friday)
What: Small Fish & Chips and small poutine

I had my annual fish and chips on Good Friday at William's Seafood in Fredericton, New Brunswick. This year I wanted to get a fish and chips with poutine so that's what I ordered. William's does not have a fish, chips and poutine special on the menu, so you have to order two separate items. I got a small fish and a small poutine. 

As you can see from the photo above, the gravy on the poutine does not look very appetizing. The fries were good as per usual, and so were the curds. It's good that they actually do use real curds and not shredded mozzarella like some places. The gravy was a gelatinous glob with very little flavour. It was almost pudding like, which is not a desirable quality in a gravy. I will definitely pass on the poutine next time I am at William's. 

I don't really want to mark this meal too low as the fish was great as usual, but the poutine was disappointing. 

This time, I give William's Seafood 3 little fishies out of 5.

The Battered Fish

Where: The Battered Fish, Scotia Square Food Court, 1999 Market Street, Halifax, NS
When: Friday, March 11, 2011
What: Two piece fish and chips, $8.49+tax

This review sort of has a long story behind it. Last September I bought two vouchers from the coupon website Steal The Deal to use at The Battered Fish, Bedford Highway location. The deal was for $10 worth of food for only $5, so kind of like a two for one. I bought two vouchers thinking I could use one for myself and give one to a friend. I didn't get to use them right away, but unfortunately by the time I did plan to use them the Bedford Highway location had shut down for the season.

I didn't know what to do and was annoyed with myself for waiting too long. I left a message on The Battered Fish Facebook group but figured I was probably out the $10 and didn't think I'd get to use my vouchers. Well apparently they did respond to my Facebook message but I didn't get any notification. In February I got a message from the owner who said he'd be happy to take my vouchers at their new location in Scotia Square. Super awesome!

This past Friday my friend Tina picked me up and we went to the Scotia Square food court to get our fish and chips. This new location opened in February and it wasn't busy when we arrived late afternoon. There was a bit of confusion at first when I handed over my vouchers, but they had no problem honouring them. We could each get $10 worth of any food we wanted, but we both ordered a two piece fish and chips.

While waiting I took a look at the various condiments they had on the counter. There were two mustard and ketchup dispensers which is great because I love getting my ketchup in those little paper cups. On the counter were four different types of vinegar, salt and pepper, plus sea salt. When our food was ready we were offered tartar sauce and another type of secret sauce. You could also get a variety of beverages from fountain pop to drinks in glass bottles, including Propeller soda.

Our fish and chips came in a box with red and white checked wax paper. At first I did like the presentation and it seemed like the boxes would be great for a meal on the go. I dug into my fries before trying out the fish. I had sprinkled sea salt on them but the salt didn't really stick like ordinary salt would. Maybe it would be better if they provided a smaller grind of sea salt (I know smaller sea salt exists because I've bought it). The fries were really good though; clearly hand cut in a shoe string style which I do like. They were hot, crispy and plenty of them.

The fish was another story. It looked good, but once I cut into it I saw otherwise. The batter was light and crispy in some parts, but it was very oily. This may have been because the box and wax paper didn't allow for absorption of the extra oil, so the fish was sitting in the oil. That is just my guess though. According to their website, the take out boxes are biodegradable. The inside of the fish was alright, without any of the doughy or gooey inside you sometimes get when there is too much batter. It was flaky and had a nice freshness to it, but overall I felt like the fish was just soggy.  My friend agreed with me that she found the fish soggy too.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else had the same problem with their fish being soggy. I had high hopes for The Battered Fish but was left with some disappointment. I would go back to try some of the other fried delights on the menu, but it will probably be a while before I try the fish and chips again.

If you would like to try The Battered Fish, keep an eye out this summer for their locations on the Halifax Waterfront (beside Beavertails), and at 766 Bedford Highway.

I give The Battered Fish 3 little fishies out of 5.