Review of 'Rick Stein's Fish & Chip Shop'

For many years I have wanted to try the famous television chef Rick Stein's Fish and Chips in his beloved Padstow. Travelling in the area gave us the opportunity to do so. Ok, it is not his restaurant it is basically a seated area in a Fish & Chips takeaway - Not fancy but well worth the wait and the trip!

We planned the trip to Padstow so that we were there (a) in the middle of the day (b) in the middle of the week and © when it was NOT the summer (and it has definitely NOT been summer-like VERY cold but sunny on the day we visited). We waited in the queue for the afternoon service (12 to 3) for only about 5 minutes then were seated at one of the 4 or 5 long tables that comprise the restaurant, seated beside other dinners on long wooden benches. The takeaway is part of the restaurant and, of course, where all food is cooked. It is a well-oiled machine with our bill arriving at our side in about 30 seconds after placing our order! Oh, what did we eat? Let me see…

I started with a single deep-fried, battered, scallop (£1.80 each) just to give it a try. Very nice, served with a token bit of greenery and a sliver of lemon (actually, everything had the sliver of lemon with it…). The scallop was sweet, juicy and not over-cooked. For my main I had the Hake & Chips (for something a bit different, £9.95) which was absolutely amazing - The batter was seriously crispy though slightly thicker than you might get at other chippies. The fish was amazingly flaky and tender. I had an order of tartar sauce (£0.90) on the side which was lovely as it was packed with garlic flavour - Tasty. I, of course, used the vinegar and salt for most of the dish. Amazing. The tartar sauce was used for dipping some of the chips though…not wasted, certainly! All of the seafood is sourced locally and you can tell - None of the “fishy” flavour you might find in lesser takeaways. My wife had the Haddock and Chips (£9.95) which was quite a thin fillet so she found it a bit overwhelming with the coating (I ended up eating a fair amount of the coating…fine by me!). She also had a side order of mushy peas (£1.15) which she said was done correctly - Not minted as she feels it should NOT be! Just good, honest, pea flavour.

Ok, not a typical takeaway bill at £29.45 for the two of us (having non-alcoholic local apple juice - very tasty as well, not too sweet, £2.40 each) but well worth it.

Probably the best Fish & Chips I have ever had. Amazing. Fresh and cooked with care and attention. I did feel a bit like we were part of an assembly line but the staff were friendly and only too happy to talk about the food. Perhaps this might be different if the queue was around the corner of the building (Rick Stein has a fish shop, deli, the takeaway and restaurant in one long building right on the Padstow harbour-front). It has to be done…Go!

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2013-03-28

Cuisine: American/British

Address: South Quay, Padstow PL28 8BY

Location: Cornwall (England) - Padstow

Map:

Telephone: +44 (0) 1841 532 700

URL: http://www.rickstein.com/