Fish & Chips Room

Chippy serving up staple British classic to the JBR crowd 2 Reviews

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From Time Out Dubai Eating Out 2009

The British know fish and chips. And they don’t want anything fancy: if it isn’t fried to a crisp and likely to ensure they never reach 60 – or if they do, they’ll look like Mick Jagger post-marathon – then the Brit pack is not coming in.

On entering, the smell of battered fish envelopes the nasal hairs with admirable gusto. If you’re a Brit, you will be transported back to the chewing gum-stained streets of your nearest seaside town.

The lemon-hued decor and uniform-clad staff may not match your memory, but the hordes of tattoo-etched folk elbowing each other out the way for the salt and the pickled eggs will soon evoke nostalgia.

The classic fodder of battered cod, mushy peas and chips doesn’t let the fond memory down. A golden crispy shell gives way to silvery goodness, and the thick-cut chips have a hint of crunch and a slither of grease.

However, the moment the grub is devoured, you’ll be wishing you were in chilly old Britain, as the sweat pit that comes from cramming 30 people into a garish capsule in baking Dubai is whinge-inducing. But then, the British do like to have something to moan about – all the more so through mouthfuls of cod and chips.

By Time Out Dubai staff
Time Out Dubai, 17 March 2009

• Previous reviews
  • 09 June,2008- reviewed by Becky Lucas

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Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.

Posted by: John Smith on 11 Nov ' 09 at 14:56

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Went in there with the family. everything was first class, except for the decor but tthe food is the most important. cod was slightly expensive but understandable due to getting it out here! batter light and crisp, chips were propa chippy chips not french fries. staff were informative. even had a scottish bloke serving us which is a first for me and ive bin in dubai for 10 yrs now. will go back again!!

Posted by: Luke in Dubai on 06 Sep ' 09 at 13:02

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Never ever EVER be tempted to eat here. A fish and chip shop that can't produce edible chips is just a complete waste of time and money. I have (stupidly) eaten here on at least 4 occasions now and each time I've been introduced to a world of queasy disappointment. Where to start: Flies. If you like flies, you'll like the interior of the Fish & Chip Shop, because at any one time there are 50+ all ready and eager to land on your food or your face. The wait. Go to any fish and chip shop in the UK and chances are, they'll have chips ready to go. You might have to wait 2 minutes for the fish to warm up, but you'll be out of the door sooner rather than later. Not here. Here, you're looking at 10 minutes minimum,more like 15 and it's truly not worth waiting 10 seconds. The food. The chips, oh what meagre, tasteless soggy apparitions they are. Taste the chips here and you'll know what apathy tastes like. No crispness, no flavour, no nothing. Oh and even though you've waited 15 minutes, they're still not cooked properly on the inside. Yay. I had Red Snapper that was supposed to come with some kind of sauce. The sauce has congealed into a crusty mess on the side of the plate and tasted like a homeless man's trousers. So say the fish was rubbery is a bit like saying Madonna's getting on a bit. My girlfriend had a battered sausage. How we laughed. It's all we could do really, we certainly couldn't eat the thing. Enter at your own peril boys and girls.

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