# An English Chip Shop in the USA **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2008, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906 "2008-03-27T13:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/61 "2008-03-27T23:36:01Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. PoopiePants] … Scottish eggs … [/QUOTE] [nitpick] Unless you’re actually referring to eggs flown in from Scotland, they were probably [Scotch eggs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_egg) (invented in England). [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/62 "2008-03-28T07:13:36Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] The only proper chips are served with salsa. Thank god for Mexican food. [/QUOTE] Burn him! Burn him! Bloody heretic ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/63 "2008-03-28T11:08:20Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Burn him! Burn him! Bloody heretic [/QUOTE] I see **chowder** likes his salsa ‘n fries (ok, chips, I’d rather have those big honkin’ fat ass steak fries over measley faggy french fries any day, and Steak 'n Shake? Pussy fries hardly worth the effort). Anyway, as I was saying, it looks like **chowder** likes his salsa 'n fries on the hot and spicy side. Mmmm… hot, fresh, thick chips fried to a delicious light crispy brown on the outside tender and quite mushy on the inside, covered in a thick and savory blend of tomatos, onions, fresh cilantro and lots of jalapenos. Piled high on a couple of thick pieces of bread with the salsa and grease soaking in and dripping out. Heres to a scalded pallet, a flaming tongue and a cholesterol level higher than the price of gas (yeah, yeah, petrol… whatever). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/64 "2008-03-28T12:05:00Z")
[QUOTE=nd\_n8] I see **chowder** likes his salsa ‘n fries (ok, chips, I’d rather have those big honkin’ fat ass steak fries over measley faggy french fries any day, and Steak 'n Shake? Pussy fries hardly worth the effort). Anyway, as I was saying, it looks like **chowder** likes his salsa 'n fries on the hot and spicy side. Mmmm… hot, fresh, thick chips fried to a delicious light crispy brown on the outside tender and quite mushy on the inside, covered in a thick and savory blend of tomatos, onions, fresh cilantro and lots of jalapenos. Piled high on a couple of thick pieces of bread with the salsa and grease soaking in and dripping out. Heres to a scalded pallet, a flaming tongue and a cholesterol level higher than the price of gas (yeah, yeah, petrol… whatever). 😉 [/QUOTE] Another bloody heretic! Burn him also, but slower and over easy…or whatever. Chips and salsa? behave yourself. The only way to have chips is with S&V ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/65 "2008-03-28T12:13:09Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] That looks like an accident with a pressure cooker. [/QUOTE] Try thinking of it as the culinary equivalent of hummus or falafel, only green - very green. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/66 "2008-03-28T12:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] Try thinking of it as the culinary equivalent of hummus or falafel, only green - very green. [/QUOTE] There is a story told of that pretentious twat and ex-MP Peter Mandelson who mistook mushy-peas for Guacamole when visiting his constituency in the North-East. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/67 "2008-03-28T15:28:29Z")
[QUOTE=Rayne Man] There is a story told of that pretentious twat and ex-MP Peter Mandelson who mistook mushy-peas for Guacamole when visiting his constituency in the North-East. [/QUOTE] Haha, yes, I remember that story. MIGHT be an urban legend but dammit, it fits in so well, it has to be true. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/68 "2008-03-28T15:34:49Z")
On the subject of peas, has anyone ever had black peas with vinegar? When we first moved to sunny Rochdale many moons ago I was urged to try them, I did, once. They’re fucking 'orrible and I suspect this was one of the reasons we got out of the shithole of a town. If the world had piles that’s were they’d be, in Rochdale Town Centre ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/69 "2008-03-28T15:40:22Z")
I think you’re supposed to eat black peas on bonfire night around here (along with parkin and treacle toffee). Only ever had them once - I can’t remember them being especially terrible, though. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/70 "2008-03-28T16:35:41Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] I’m surprised no one has mentioned **Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips**. It was a fast-food version of the British “Fish and Chips” (and claimed they could trace their ancestyry back, somehow, to the “original Fish and Chips” shop, whatever that means). They used actor Arthur Treacher (best known to me as the Constable in Mary Poppins) as spokesman, and at one time had some 950 locations. They almost went bankrupt, and are now down to about 45 – none of them anywhere I know of. But they were successful in the 1970s and 1980s. > **[Arthur Treacher's](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Treacher's)** > > Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips is an American fast food seafood restaurant and restaurant chain that specializes in fish and chips. At the peak of its popularity in the late 1970s, it had 826 stores. As of 2025, there are only three standalone Arthur Treacher's locations remaining, all in northeastern Ohio. The menu typically offers fried seafood or chicken, accompanied by french fries (chips). The fish recipe is authentic, having been purchased from Malin's in Bow, London, the first rec The fr... Here’s their own account of their history: [http://www.arthurtreachers.com/about-at.htm](http://www.arthurtreachers.com/about-at.htm) [/QUOTE] I was right on the verge but I hadn’t gotten to page 2 yet! I remember them from my youth, a neat treat the place was, and it was as close to anything British as I’d seen in Chicago. Now, how about some spotted dick for dessert? ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/71 "2008-03-28T17:15:23Z")
Nowt wrong wi’ spotted dick laddie or Toad in’t 'ole come to that. Why I ‘member me and me dad doing a 72 hour shift down t’pit and being glad of a bit o’ dick, either that or ‘alf a roofing tile spread wi’ lard. Kids today have it cushy ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/72 "2008-03-28T19:49:40Z")
Heck, the native people here were frying potatoes before my English ancestors knew what a potato was. What, you never heard of the Chippie-wa people? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/73 "2008-03-28T19:54:33Z")
Since this is about food, or things that sound like they are supposed to be food anyway, I’m putting it in the fondue pot and bringing it to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906/74 "2008-03-28T20:11:20Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Since this is about food, or things that sound like they are supposed to be food anyway, I’m putting it in the fondue pot and bringing it to Cafe Society. [/QUOTE] Try a peas porridge pot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-english-chip-shop-in-the-usa/442906.md?page=3)