Friday, June 13, 2008

The Rock & Sole Plaice, London

Cod Fish and Chips

This one was a bit of a head-scratcher. A number of comments that I saw online bashed this fish & chips shop for having bad service and food...and a listing in some travel guides made me worry that this was a tourist trap too. Yet when I walked by earlier in the day around noon, the food looked and smelled great, and there was a huge line forming outside. I thus figured that maybe those online comments were totally wrong, so I came on down in the afternoon (47 Endell Street, 020-7836-3785) to see for myself.

Unfortunately, the comments were largely right. The batter was stiff and thick; almost to the point where it was like the Colonel's fried chicken. The chips were done way too hard too, making it taste like cardboard. I thought maybe they intentionally did it that way to help offset any sogginess resulting from a good vinegar dousing and paper wrapping process when ordered to go. But I was eating on-site, and I just didn't like it. At least the fish was fresh...and there were quite a few other selections of fish for your choosing, some of which looked pretty good. But by and large, this is a place that I probably won't miss.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Singaporean based in London for the past..well coming to five years now. Was just looking at your blog two weeks ago drooling at the good stuff back home and lo and behold, here you are in London! Fish wise, I'd recommend this for something more authentic:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/reviews/9384.html
I prefer it to the rock and sole plaice for the texture of its batter, and judging by how the place is packed with pensioners on saturday evenings, it is pretty authentic.

Keep your musings on the food trail going, much appreciated!

Anonymous said...

Second this. I prefer the juicy cod though. There aren't really that great chip shops in Central London, cafes are ok for fry ups but for some reason, they don't really do fish and chips very well.

There's one shop in the back ends of Marylebone High Street area, it's sort of unmarked, the ceiling border is light green. Think it could have been Golden Hind.

The only tasty thing to eat around Covent Garden area is the Cornish Pasty shops, there are two side by side.

Anonymous said...

like bonos, it's interesting to see you blog about london because i've been coming here torturing myself with pictures of yummy food back home. try the bayswater duck rice at chinatown or the original outlet at bayswater. it's the fattiest, juiciest duck i've had in my life.