The Best Fish & Chips Around

I've been doing an informal survey of fish & chips in both Ontario and Devon, England. We've been looking for the best batter, consistency of quality and size of portion. We've also been considering the chips that are served with the fish from the perspective of quantity and quality.

The best, freshest and largest portions are to be found at the London Fryer in Paington, Devon. The proprietor Roy is married to a Canadian girl from Smiths Falls Ontario. Orders of Roy's Haddock and Chips (large portion) resulted in plates being delivered with two huge fillets hanging over the plate edges. These fillets covered a generous helping of English chips which I must admit no one here in Canada has yet to best. I'll tell you that after eating this offering the only thing on my mind was hibernation! We've visited the London Fryer several times and the result is consistent, therefore I'm declaring it the winner (so far!) in the contest.

Ranking second, more easily reachable and always consistent is the Glen Cafe, a Scottish family restaurant in Kanata, Ontario. This hospitable place always welcomes it's patrons and there is usually one of the partners in the house to ensure a smooth operation. Their Haddock and Chips is a close second in quality to the London Fryer while not being quite as generous in size perhaps. The big advantage of this restaurant is that it's only a 5 minute drive from my house something I appreciate once a week.

In addition I've sampled several offerings from the Halibut House in Port Perry, Ontario; a small Fish & Chip shop in Newmarket, Ontario, one in Alliston, Ontario and in Perth, Ontario. They are all good but none of them comes close to either the London Fryer or the Glen. Most offering "English style" fish & chips have batters that are too thick - I don't want to dine on batter - I want fish!

If you've been somewhere that has exceptional fish and chips please drop me a comment and I'll try to sample it myself.

Cheers from the Valley.