I'd arranged to go on a
date but due to a slight mix up, the plans had changed and the date was rescheduled for another time. I now had an evening off and out in
London but with nothing to do and nobody to see I had to make some
new plans.
I called around my
mates, some of which I hadn't seen in a long time. Only one replied.
Oh well, at least one of my mates is willing to meet up with me. With
no idea of what we were doing I had a quick pint at the pub and was
told by my mate Harry, to meet him at Camden Town tube.
A cousin of Harry's,
Sam, had recently opened a restaurant. A fish and chip shop on
Parkway in Camden, London. Along with a friend of his, they'd secured
investment and opened up a restaurant in Brussels, Belgium, that was
now doing very well along with this two month old venture in London.
I'd actually first laid eyes on the place when I had a quick glance of
the menu on my search for the elusive whitebait a couple of months
back. I only had a very quick glance specifically looking for
whitebait which was absent, so I had no real idea of what the menu
actually consisted of. If you're interesed at all in how poorly my fishing for the little fish was then check out The search for whitebait.
I was hungry now and an excitement was started
to build inside of me.
Walking up Parkway
towards the restaurant, we happened to bump into Sam. Him and Harry caught up
and he explained to us to order a drink but to wait for him to get
back from the shops before we ordered any food. Being winter and the
season of the sniffle, he was in need of some relief.
We went inside, took a
seat at a big tall round table right by the front window. It was
almost 9pm so we had missed the evening dinner time rush and with
there being office Christmas parties and drunk wankers all over town,
the place was relatively chilled. A waitress came over to tell us
about the specials and this new Christmas themed cocktail that Sam
had created, it had Guinness, whisky spices and some other
ingredients. It was velvety smooth, rich and creamy, with the perfect
amount of Christmas cheer and sweetness to allow it to go down an
absolute treat. It was delicious but I think would have been better
after we'd eaten as a kind of liquid desert. We should have opted
for a beer to start with but like a sirens call, we couldn't resist
the persuasiveness of the waitress and caved in.
Sam returned and told
us of his plan. It sounds like it was going to be something rather
dastardly but it was not. He told us to order a fish each, he'd then
give us a 'surprise' fish and a selection of sides and some of their
fabulous home made condiments. Our hunger and excitement had boiled
over at this point so I ordered us some beers as we waited for our
food. Harry went for a Camden Hells, I went for something I'd not
seen before, Brixton Breweries 'Electric IPA'. It was boozy, hoppy,
everything an IPA should be and annoyingly hard to drink slowly.
About the menu. The
options for the batter was either panko breadcrumb or a light
tempura. Both with a selection of rather novel non-classic flavours
that one wouldn't normally associate with fish and chips but had
obviously been proven to work very well.
I went for a lemon and
basil tempura sea bream with a garlic truffle mayonnaise. It had so
much flavour, and a deliciously fresh zingy batter to die for. The
chips were chunky skin on wedges with a very crisp outer and an
almost mash like interior, divine. Harry had the Cajun panko haddock
(I think it was haddock may have been another), also very tasty. Our
'surprise' fish was Jamaican jerk haddock (I think). A slightly spicy
jerk crumb with a hot sauce, great unexpected combination that worked
very well. The odd choices of batter really did work, they all
sounded amazing and the ones we had were. I concluded that I'd made
the correct decision as I couldn't get enough of the bream. I will
have it again, possibly even this Saturday. The sides were great too,
minted peas, a sea spaghetti and samphire citron salad and a celeriac remoulade. A
tasty selection of home made sauces and a small but expertly chosen
selection of booze.
Good value, brilliant
food, exceptionally friendly staff and an overall fantastically
filling and delightful meal. An experience I'd recommend for all.
Especially if you are partial to a good bit of fish and chips.
The fish is all
sustainably sourced and delivered daily, straight from the boats in
Cornwall.
the restaurants website
Camden Town Brewery
Brixton Brewery
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