King's Head

Fish n' chips first appeared in the 1860's in England and was spread throughout the UK in the 1930's. It's f*cking amazing and it's FRIED at its best. And THAT is all you need to know.

 

When Boo and I were in Galway, Ireland, in early July, two questions arose. ALL the time. 1. Are we having our next drink? And 2. Where are we having more fish n' chips. Fish n' chips is pretty much life over there, you know. OK, it is MY life. Same dif.

 

We had passed by King's Head in the Latin Quarter, on the main street, a couple times, before we went in. The place had a nice terrace at the back of the restaurant, also accessible by a little tunnel from the street. That is SO not well explained. Deal with it. The restaurant itself was quite big, with lots of movement! I just LOVED the pub ambiance. And this was more of a restaurant than a pub, so just imagine an actual PUB. I think we could've spent all day, every day, in a pub. Not necessarily drinking, but just hanging out, talking to the people, listening to awesome live music. And there I go, reminiscing. Ugh.

Let's begin. I really liked the way this cod (I'd say a LOT of the fish that is fried for this dish is cod) was deep fried. I liked the batter. It was different from other batter. I ain't no battexpert (ha, get it), but this one was so much fluffier and actually, rather lighter! The fish was perfectly moist (not sure what 'imperfectly moist' means.. I guess the word is dry) and that tartar sauce was just SO good. I think I legit fell in love with tartar sauce whilst in Ireland. You know what else I fell in love with? Well, except for a couple cute redheads, of course! That pea puree. Oh, that pea puree! With mint in there, it was the freshest thang on this side of town. Again, I'm making no sense. Anyhoot, that heavenly puree was just salty enough, and just tangy enough. Just imagine having, on your fork, a little piece of fish, slathered in tartar sauce and topped off with a bit of pea puree. HEA-VEN. This puree was LIFE!!! The chips, I could only describe as, well, larger and fatter fries. I loved them, but Bridge wasn't too keen. You know what that means, right? More for me! No wonder I gained, like, 4 pounds in one week!

Service was great throughout! We got our food quickly (in those cute-ass plates, no less!), and our drinks in a timely fashion too!

And now, the scores!

Food: 9
Service: 8

Yes and YES. Well, obviously, I ain't going back anytime soon. I can only WISH.

Queue de poisson

I loves me a good fish n' chips! I had already eaten at La Queue de Poisson a couple years ago but since I went with my aunt, I didn't write a review. Ya, I can be nice, you know! Anyhoot, Em and I were looking for a nice little lunch spot after gym one day and we didn't have to go very far. 28 steps to be exact. I am lying, of course.

The place is really cute. First of all, you feel like you're on a boat. I will forever remember the 'I'm on a boat' ad for Old Spice. I wanna watch it over and over and OVER. But enough about tv. They have about 30 seats and, as I mentioned, it was like we were in the ocean. Which, btw, is a pretty freaking good place to be. There was no music, but we didn't really care because we were right at the window, so we had some noise happenin' on the street. What's also very cool is that it's basically a fish shop. That's pretty damn awesome.

We shared one order of fish and chips, because a: we're poor and b: we weren't THAT hungry. We had the fried cod: moist AF and oh so tasty! We actually regretted sharing one portion of fish for a moment. Ya, it was THAT good. By the by, the fish was SO fresh: he legit took it from the display at the front and battered it up. The fries were crunchy and crispy and the salad was great. Yep. It's rare that I say that about a salad. It was just so simple and well done: lettuce with some marinated red onions and colored carrots. The carrots and the onions brought a bit of sweetness to it all and the vinaigrette was just present enough. All in all, a great little dish.

Service was OK. Took a while for him to take our order and then a while for us to get our meal. He was the only guy there AND he was taking care of the orders too, so I get it (but I don't). We had water quickly, so at least that's one good thing hahaha. He WAS a nice boy tho, very smiley, which is always appreciated.

And now, les scores!

Food: 9
Service: 6

Awesome fish n' chips: ya, imma be back!

Comptoir 21

My fun activity recently has been walking on Wellington and finding a nice, good tasting restaurant! And oh did I ever find that last week at Comptoir 21!

This is the third Comptoir 21 in Montreal and it's a great freaking thang that they opened one on Wellington, I tells ya! And it opened just recently! OH, and the last for digits of their phone number? FISH! What what!

This restaurant has a big 'U' shaped counter so that the waiter can be in the middle for easy serving. It's decorated very simply with a huge fish on the wall made by an artist in 2013 and some fishies on the wall. I personally don't think they are taking full advantage of the space they have, half of it not having any tables... I mean... there's an opportunity there to make more money people!

Alright, so the chairs are a tad uncomfortable... I couldn't rest my feet on anything so my legs were basically hanging. You know, being short and shtuff!

Anyhoot, I asked the waiter what I should order to get the 'real experience' and he said fish n' chips. So I took the 'small portion' (there's also a bigger portion but gosh darn it, I can't imagine what it could look like because my small one looked--and felt-- like a gigantic one!).

So, small portion of fish n' chips it was! It comes with homemade fries, homemade tartar sauce and homemade coleslaw. Let's start with the coleslaw! One of the best I've had: it had just the right amount of vinegar. The sauce was seriously like a burst of freaking goodness in my mouth! YUM! And it was just your basic relish and mayo but it tasted like so much more! The fries were crunchy but could have been crunchier. And now, the fish. Ah, the fish (cod). HOLY BEJESUS!!!!! Hands down, the best fried fish I've EVER had! Oh, I'm not even kidding! The batter became just crispy enough and the fish was so moist (lord, I hate that word!). Ah maaaaaaaaaaaaaan! I never have these but I can safely say this was my first fishgasm ;) I just wanted more! And the lemon added just the acidity needed. 

Service was great. Glass of water was always full and service was prompt. Plus, the waiter came to check if all was good. The only thing that bugged me was that when I told the waiter that this was the greatest fried fish I'd ever had, he said something like 'well duh, that's why we have three restaurants'. Geez, cocky much? 

And now, the scores!

Food: 9

Service: 8

Well, my legs were numb by the end of lunch but if you like fish n' chips, this is a MUST!