Fish and Chips

[EpicureanX]

As spring comes rolling around and after reading the boards for a while I realize that I want some great fried seafood. All this nice weather has made me want the best fish and chips in boston. My favorite at the moment has to be The Barking Crab but theres got to be more out there in or around the city. Any ideas?

[GretchenS]

Went this weekend with a friend to Jake's in Nantasket Beach. Their F&C is as good as ever. We did one with "onion rings instead" and shared both onion rings and fries. Outstanding onion rings, pretty ordinary fries but nice to have both. Excellent pristinely fresh fish, beautifully fried. Above-average cole slaw. Nice service. This remains one of my favorites along with Moulton's which has never disapointed (echo all of rlh's sentiments).

[catsmeow]

Above, I posted about how good the fish and chips were at Townsends. Well, after not going for a while, I went a few days ago and was disappointed. Now, the fries are just regular run of the mill fries,,,,not the wonderful crispy skinny fries they use to serve. The fish was good but seemed greasier. My friend got the bass special which was excellent.

[phatchris]

Tavern at the end of the world does a mean fish and chips.

[Prav]

They can mix a mean gargleblaster, too!

[phatchris]

I'll have to try one... Just googled garbleblaster and came up with like 15 different versions.. Whats in theirs?

[ghostcat]

The worst fish and chips I've ever had in any Boston restaurant was at the Beacon St. Tavern two months ago. Peter, the chef said that they use fresh fish, but not the best grade as they use when broiling. That was a lot of Irish bullshit. I was compted a glass of wine, and I love going there, know the staff pretty well, but there was no excuse for the meal that I was served.

[vesuvia]

A few weeks back I searched this board for fish and chips recommendations. Several people wrote about Moulton's in Medford. I went with a friend...it was super disappointing...downright bad, actually. Bad tasteless fried food, weird small space trying to be big and important, strange waitstaff. All in all a bad expereince not to be repeated. Off to the Druid next time!

[rlh]

Wow, sorry your first post has to be about disappointment - when were you there (time of day and day of week)?

It sounds like a completely opposite experience from what we've had every time we've been there - was it lunch?

We always go for dinner, frequently on Friday night, and it's always quite busy, but there's never any attitude and the primary server David is ALWAYS terrific - and the food truly excellent (though we don't get much fried stuff).

[nightsky]

Beacon St. Tavern had a very good fish & chips a few months ago, served with a curry tartar sauce. They change the menu often so i'm not sure if they still offer it.

[phatchris]

Neptune's Tuesday special is now fish and chips. I can't comment on them as I have not tried them yet, but they definately know how to fry seafood.

[twentyoystahs]

Hmmm interesting. I'd love to hear how they are. Not cheap, I bet...

[MC Slim JB]

J.J. Foley's Cafe in the South End does a solid fish and chips, just in time for Lenten Fridays.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[twentyoystahs]

Pops in the south end does a really nice english style fish n chips...light tempura style batter, really good.

[CocoDan]

J.J.F. does a good job, but when I want to infuse that much fat into my body, I get in the car and drive south on 3A to the Hingham Lobster Pound. Or if I don't want to go that far I just stop at Burke's on Billings Road in N. Quincy (reachable by the "T"). As they say, "it's worth the trip".
Say out of the Barking Crab. Yikes!
CocoDan

[Boston_Otter]

I'd vote for The Burren, in Davis Square. Great tartar sauce, curry sauce on the side for chips, and a well-poured Guinness.

[digga]

Just up the street from the Burren, in Teele Sq, PJ Ryan's serves up a pretty tasty version. Fresh-tasting, two large pieces of fish (we've never inquired about the specifics). When the cook is on, the dish is really ON. Fries are off to the side, of the skin-on, hand-cut (?) variety.

[catsmeow]

A little bit out of Boston proper is Townsends in Hyde Park. I'm hooked on their fish and chips. A huge portion of very fresh beer battered fish that melts in your mouth. The fries are thin crispy fries that remind me of the ones at Sel de Terre. I always have the fish served beside the fries vs on top of them. I never understood why most plces serve fried fish and seafood on top of the fries. It makes them a bit limpy.

[rlh]

This thread sparked a craving for me and I had excellent haddock and handcut fries at Kingston Station for lunch - the fish was very lightly battered, really fresh, and crispy (but not crunchy) and there was a truffle flavor to the (tartar?) sauce sparingly on top and on the side. I like crispier fries, but these were top notch for hand cut and probably only fried once. My DC had a special haddock piccata over chive mashed potatoes that was also really good. The service was great and the space is interesting - I will be back again.

[Matt H]

Now I have a craving for F&C, anywhere in Brookline Village or Coolidge Corner anyone can recommend for lunch today? Excluding Matt Murphy's, I was really disappointed with their version.

[A.A.]

Not a popular place around these parts, but I think the Obligitory F&C at the Publick House is pretty good. Haven't had it in a while.

[yumyum]

Ha! Around this time last year, I had a similar craving. My head to head fish and chips tasting is chronicled here --> http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/508010

[Bostonbob3]

The Battery in Brighton has the best fish and chips around (IMHO).

[gourmaniac]

Respectfully disagree on the Battery. I've been twice and problems both times. First time fish was uncooked in the middle and the batter-fish interface was liquid and gummy. Second time it was thoroughly cooked but tasteless piece of fish.

[Bostonbob3]

I've only been once, but it was perfect. Crisp, nice moist fish, excellent chips.

That said, if they have a big problem with consistency, that's a huge problem in the world of fish and chips.

[hynespb]

I've also only been once, and thought it was pretty dam good. I have been meaning to get back there.

[chickendhansak]

The Battery have the best chips I know of in Boston. Plus, they have peas and curry sauce, and other things that properly go with chips.

[Blumie]

This topic is discussed with great regularity. Make sure to search recent threads.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

As far as I'm concerned, the fish and chips at the Druid is the local pinnacle.

[nfo]

I finally went there recently, after meaning to go there for a long time. The fish and chips are indeed great (as long as you don't mind some herbs added into the seasoning).

[pierce]

I second the Druid. Worth traveling across town for. For me it has ranged from the "best F&C i've had on either side of the atlantic", down to only "absolutely amazing". The fish is very fresh, breaded neither heavily nor lightly, with some seasoning that i don't recall, and served in newspaper. Chips are hand cut with moderately large salt grains and good size pieces of rosemary.

Don't balk at the price, its enough for two most nights, especially if you get a cup of soup or split an app or something.