Seeing as how yer actual Fish n’ Chips is the original fast food I got to wondering how an English “Chippie” would fare in the USA.
Y’know selling the full range of delicious and wholesome goodness that we have…
Steak and Kidney Pudding and Pies
Mushy Peas
Scallops
Battered Cod (or any other fish)
Meat and Potato Pies
Cheese and Onion Pies
Faggots (no, not that sort!)
Thick Brown Gravy tasting of meaty goodness.
Obviously there are other delights on offer but you get the general idea.
I think it would go fine, especilly in conjunction with a “pub” or tavern. But you forgot the other traditional English foods: kebabs and chicken tikka masala
This one in NYC looks fairly authentic, if maybe a little clean and well-appointed - they have seats for the punters to sit on! And I’m not sure about “homemade mushy peas”. Mushy peas should come from a can.
Not cheap either - $5 for a large portion of chips!
I luuurve mushy peas. I do have quite a few northern genes though. Some chippies down here don’t sell them, the barbarians. OTOH it did freak me out a bit when I first went into a northern chippie and they offered gravy with the chips.
In this area it would be one of the places closing in short oder. We don’t have a TGI Fridays or Applebees in this town. We have fast food, and mom and slop places which tend to close.
I was watching a show on the Travel Channel last night, and there was a Brit who opened his own chip shop in Brooklyn because he missed having fish and chips. In addition to that, he does deep fried Twinkies and candy bars.
Ye Olde King’s Head in Santa Monica has the best fish & chips I’ve had. A bit far to go nowadays though. (And their bangers are better than the ones I get from the German sausage maker in Pike Place Market.) They used to have faggots, which were very tasty; but I haven’t seen them on the menu for a while.
As far as ‘chip shops’ go, there used to be H. Salt Fish & Chips shops all over the place until the late-'80s. Then they just seemed to disappear. (According to Wiki there are 31 in California.) No pies or mushy peas as I recall, but battered cod and chips.
Up here in the PNW we have Ivar’s. You have a choice of cod, halibut or salmon. Again, no meat pies. Basically fish & chips, fried clams, fried oysters, clam chowder, fried prawns, etc.
There used to be Skipper’s up here, but they all closed down a couple of years ago.
There are a lot of independent places where you can get fish & chips as well as other things, but if you want English-style you pretty much have to go to a pub.
I remeber the H. salt Chain (in So. Cal)-that was great fish and chips! I think the key thing is having those british-made heated cabinets, that allow you to keep the fish warm, and the batter crisp. These are essential-I remember that H. Salts had them (made in England). That is the problem with USA fish and chips-unless you get your order right when the fish comes out of the fryer, your F&C will get soggy and unpleasant.
The Brits know how to do this right!
