Fish and chips

[mattiempool]

So, I have this british friend who is a vegetarian, but has a big craving for some good fish and chips. Needless to say, the fish and chips had better be good seeing as how he is stepping out of his vegi diet and he is from the land of fish and chips. Help!

[flex933]

wow 17 bucks for fish and chips, sounds pricey. Try Fish N Go on the north side corner of pulaski and lawrence. newer place I believe but man o man r they delish......order is by weight which makes it easy to pick the right amount. fries are fresh cut. half a pound and and order of fries will do for me and it only puts me back like 6 bucks.

[KateBChi]

Big & Littles makes an incredible fish & chips. The fish is very fresh and it is is incredibly crunchy and tasty. Malted vinegar is standard on all the tables. The portion is huge (too much for me) and it costs more than fish N Go but it is located near north so that's to be expected.

[grimaldi]

B&L really need to relax on their price-gauging. I like their menu as much as anyone, and I've had nearly everything on it. But just having Guy Fieri et al. mention you on TV doesn't give you the right to jack up the front end by 40-60% in a 12-month period. If the numbers get any higher, I may have to start feigning illnesses and getting my money back.

[KateBChi]

I agree that the prices have risen at a ridiculous pace but they started pretty absurdly low for the area and the quality. This place is no longer the bargain that it was but in their new digs you no longer have to pay for parking. A small bone but a bone none the less.

[Shaggy]

The Globe Pub has good ones, and they are all you can eat on Friday night.

[GraceW]

The Celtic Knot in Evanston has pretty good fish and chips.. and I'm someone who ate 7 days of fish and chips in London because I loved it so much.

[AwesomeCheeseburger]

I know this is an old post, but the responses were so offensive I had to register and reply.

Most of the place listed above use frozen factory fish. Duke of Perth's only saving grace is their all-you-can-eat special on Fridays.

Shaw's is fantastic, but overpriced for the basics. Go there for their happy hour oysters or $0.25 oysters and pick from their 12 varieties.

If it's in Wrigleyville and it's a sports bar with $4 Miller lites, they'll have very standard food that might be comparable to Chilli's or Applebee's... like John Barleycorn or Irish Oak.

Elephant Castle used to be good, but they've recently changed some of their ingredients cause of the recession. Then again, I've always been skeptical of places that offer halibut as an alternative to cod for $3 extra.

The Gage is dead center in the loop and probably has the best the city can offer.

Paramount Room over by Milwaukee/Des Plaines has fantastic fish and chips with an all-you-can-eat special on Tuesdays as well as a strict no-crap-on-tap policy. They absolutely refuse to serve Bud, Miller, and Coors on draft.

Don't get me wrong, it's like 90% of bars that serve food in Chicago will have fish and chips, and they'll be decent, but how *would* you mess up factory frozen fish in a deep fryer?

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Duke of Perth
2913 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60657

Applebee's
1719 River Oaks Dr, Calumet City, IL 60409

Irish Oak
3511 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60657

Paramount Room
415 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60654

[adamsdad]

Even though this is an old thread, I have to reply to this post specifically. I've recently been craving fish and chips and am looking for a place to try (Duke of Perth was my old stand by).
I have to disqualify the Gage for the ridiculous price they charge. $17 for fish and Chips? That's just insulting. I don't mind if they reinvent fish and chips into something more... gourmet. But don't masquerade as the common man's dish then. Call it la tee da fish and chips or something.

[sxr71]

Okay sure it is supposed to be common man's food *if you live by the coast* but this is Chicago and there is ocean to be seen for hundreds if not thousands of miles. Sure maybe if a lake fish were used it would be both fresh and relatively inexpensive. But I think generally a member of the cod family is used.

Now as the person above said pretty much all of places people listed use factory frozen fish. This is the reality of living in the Midwest. If you want "fresh" fish (in reality at least 2 days old) you will pay for it. I had the fish and chips at the gage and frankly they are nothing to write home about. If you need to take someone for good fish here you will pay and still likely be sold something old. Just take the kid to Boston and get him fish there. If you stay here you probably are better off with factory frozen fish. It isn't terrible and is better than what they claim is fresh.

[chicgail]

The best fish and chips I've had on either side of the Atlantic is at Owen & Engine, a British gastropub on Western Ave. in Logan Square. Haddock. $17 and worth it.

[dulcie54]

I would wholeheartedly agree with Chicgail. Not only am I married to a Brit, but I also spend a fair amount of time in "the old country". Owen & Engine has the BEST fish and chips anywhere. And it's a generally awesome place. Fantastic beer selection...with actual cask ale, like you would find in the UK.

[foxriver]

Cleo's is an interesting, almost-dive bar that is an overlooked treasure. My companion and I had awesome fish and chips there for $5.50 as their Friday half-price special. Very un-british thin fries accompanied it, but I was happy because thicker chips are not my fave. It's a neighborhood watering hole, not a gastro-pub, and seems to attract men in kilts.

[urigio]

Amazingly, the food court at Marshall Field's on State (basement)) has some of the best f&c I've had in Chicago. (btw, I love f&c so I've had it in quite a few bars.) Hopefully, they're still open after the change to Macy's.

[abf005]

How does ELEPHANT & CASTLE rate for Fish & Chips since it's a British export to Chicago? I've been meaning to go for lunch since it's right around the block from my office.

[cimh]

Fado's down on clark and grand has pretty good fish and chips. But their chips and curry sauce is truely addictive. Mmmm curry.

[YoYoPedro]

Keefer's has/had a superb panko-crusted fish and chips. Not cheap, but very good. Having had fish and chips at 4 of London's "best fish and chips" according to a local guidebook, I'd say that almost any fish and chips I've had in Chicago tops theirs! Soggy and greasy seemed to be the rule. We were seriously underwhelmed and wondered what all the fuss was about.

[lina14]

They're pretty good at John Barleycorn, too.

[BRB]

I'm a big fan of the fish & chips at Irish Oak on Clark near Wrigley.

[Akatonbo]

I used to think that Shaw's Blue Crab Lounge had the best fish & chips I'd ever had, but on a recent visit there, they were disappointing. So that leaves (in my experience), the Great Street's fish and chips, which I believe they only have at lunchtime. This is the restaurant on the 2nd floor of the Renniasance Hotel on west Wacker. The fish is perfectly fried and very crispy. The chips are crispy french fries. It's all served with malt vinegar. Yum!

[wkaufmann]

I thought O'Briens (on Wells) had pretty good fish and chips, but I don't know how a Brit would feel about being told that an Irish Pub was the place to go...

[lbs]

Duke of Perth has excellent fish and chips IMO. Nice and crispy, not oily. Plus they serve them with peas which I like. They have a special on Fridays

[foxriver]

It seems like Duke of Perth is a top runner in the fish & chips contest, but I have to report that my visit there last week for the AYCE Friday was a disappointment. Our first plates of fish and chips were very oily. I requested a second platter and it too was oily, too oily to eat. The oil must have not been kept at the right temperature. I hope it was just a blip, but will reserve my 2-star rating till I've been there a second time. I'd like to see what others have to say now that it's 2012.