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REAL Fish and Chips in Beijing?

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mrangry

There used to be some half decent fish and chips shops in Beijing, but now I'm struggling to find any fish and chips at all....tried one in a restaurant in Sunlitan but it was awful, as was what they served in The Cheesecake Factory in Wan Fu Jing (usual disgusting American impression).
Where to get REAL fish and chips?

JeremyMoen

Try The Local, Friday night they offer a fish and chips special and it’s really good

mrangry

This one?

http://www.beijing-local.com/content/sp … ish-friday

That doesn't look much like fish & chips to me - for a start, there's no chips, and it's on a plate not paper/box. Perhaps that isn't their 'fish & chips'. The menu is full of 'fries' - not a good sign at all. I mean, on the menu it says 'Fish & chips - served with a side of french fries' !!! NO!

Worth trying though, I suppose as a last resort.

What I'm after real Fish & chips, like this at this place:

http://www.thatsmags.com/beijing/direct … h-and-chip

which, I presume, is long gone.

I'm heading to Harrod's ("The British House", apparently) - theirs looks quite authentic and specifies Cod which is my favourite. I'll report back.

mrangry

The British House has changed its menu and Fish&chips are not on it.
Very sad.

mrangry

Harrod's menu had changed and fortunately I called beforehand...'fish & chips' is no long on the menu.

We decided to risk trying a place at some random mall, a few blocks south of the zoo. It was quite nice to look at, with a UK telephone box and other UK-thingies, but that part looked closed - ie none of the fryers was on/etc.
However, there was a vaguely similarly styled place next to it that was open and they said they were the same place and would do the fish & chips for me - so we decided tried it.
It was absolutely totally disgusting. Worst attempt at fish and chips I have ever experienced. I can't even describe it. The chips were approaching acceptable, but were more like 'fries' than chips; but they tasted a bit odd too, or perhaps it was the ketchup. What I thought was tartar sauce was something cheesy (blue cheese?). No malt vinegar.
It totally ruined our day :(

We vowed never to even try going there again.

To be honest, I wonder if it would have been better if we had gone at a busier time when the 'dedicated' fish and chips part was open. But that's kind of being generous and giving them the benefit of the doubt, and there's not too much else around there so we're not even going to attempt it.

Our search continues...

tiamoen

Yes! Friday night Happy Hour Fish ‘n Chips at The Local are the BEST! Our Brit friends even agreed. There was no malt vinegar but the fish was just right. I highly recommend!!

mrangry

No malt vinegar? 😢
What kind of fish (or was that already mentioned)?

mrangry

Well, I tried Fish Friday at The Local last Friday.

It wasn't bad, for sure. Not as good as I remember the dedicated chippy there used to be in Beijing (Fish Nation?), but worth the journey (it's on the other side of town).

It was all a bit 'American', and not what I would call a 'pub'....perhaps more like a 'sports pub' come 'night club'. Music was too loud for my taste, but clearly it wasn't 'my type of place', which is fine since I was there for the fish and chips.

I opted for the beer battered fish. The other option was pan fried sole. I'm not sure what sole is since I always choose cod - that's what fish & chips means to me (though my dad always had plaice). I am not sure what the fish was in the batter...probably sole again. It wasn't bad...but it had a funny pink colour, which made me wonder. It wasn't that tasty....but....yes, they did have malt vinegar! We had to ask, and it came in a small bottle with a DIY label, which was kind of a nice touch that showed they had put some extra effort in. So, with the vinegar and some salt, it made for a very passable effort.
The chips were indeed more like fried than chips, but still enjoyable.

We also had some crinkle-cut 'chips' with cheese and bacon - which was *massive* for a starter, and they were excellent. Also, some chicken satay starter which was too much for us so we took them home (made for an excellent breakfast the next morning).

I prefer a stout (ideally Murphy's), but that was 'off' so I opted for a cider, which was just ok - but then I come from Somerset which has the best cider :)

So, overall, not so great, but certainly good enough, and well worth the trip. I appreciate that it is there to give me a taste of home.

Now I'm on the lookout for some Steak & Kidney pie....fat chance of that I think...

Frankly, I think there's a distinct lack of anything British in Beijing lately...Jenny Lou's and April Gourney neither have anything much from the UK - they used to have more. I guess Brexit is having an effect, and they need to find some new suppliers or something.
I used to be able to get Murphy's Stout here, but not any more - that isn't even British (Irish, from Cork, iinm), so I'm not sure what's going on :(

jgmlake

@mrangry there is a new one opened very near solana shopping mall just off Lucky Street. Its pretty decent by all accounts. Also a fellow Somersetonian in the house. This is ironic

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