Mina is fish and chips critic

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Fish & Chip Reviews

THE CASTLE, London SW17 0RG, 10 October 2014

By myprice
fosters at The Castle, Tooting

Hello Hello Hello!! Love Friday, you find the Fish and Chips critic in deep South in Tooting, London at THE CASTLE.  Not long ago it was a rough old pub.  Once we tried to walk in, greeted by old gits “HELLO LADIES”, we turned around and left without step into the pub. Ah, it is now a distant memory.

Not bad pint, chilled Fosters can never go wrong but nothing special.
What a transformation to a clean friendly pub.   Not bad pint, chilled Fosters can never go wrong but nothing special.
We were presented with 2 menus.
We were presented with 2 menus.

Hahahaha!!!!  The smiley waiter greeted us “Here we are ladies, This is (the large one) the poncy menu, and this is (the small one) is the traditional menu”.  Love your honesty.  Fish and chips served in 2 ways.
Menu 1. Poncy menu : Pan fried cod supreme, beetroot puree, saffron potatoes, vegetable & dill butter sauce £13
Menu 2. Young’s ale battered Haddock, chips, tartare, minted pea puree and charred lemon £11.50

First impression. Too dark, indicates fried in too high temperature.
First impression. Too dark, indicates fried in too high temperature.
What is the point of "Charred lemon"?
What is the point of “Charred lemon”?

After a lengthy peer discussion, we came to the conclusion, there is no point in charred lemon.  In fact, it was too hot when I tried to squeeze. Annoying!

1. Fish 6/10. Shame, batter far too hard. Though managed to maintain moisture of fish, fish itself was tasty.
1. Fish 6/10. Shame, batter far too hard. Though managed to maintain moisture of fish, fish itself was tasty.

2. Chips : 5/10.  Good effort, nice presentation but it was frozen chips.

3. Pea. 3/10. This is all we get. I am sure it is nice but shame I could not taste as it was basically nothing on the dish. Also have a look the photo above. It was served by "pea shoots". Quite frankly it tasted like weeds (yes I have tasted weeds in the past).
3. Pea (puree). 3/10. This was all we get. I am sure it was nice but shame I could not taste as it was basically nothing on the dish. Also have a look the photo above. It was served by “pea shoots”. Quite frankly it tasted like weeds (yes I have tasted weeds in the past).

We were 3 of us.  One of my friend’s fish looked perfect golden.  Then the other friend’s looked slightly darker.  Then mine was totally dark.  I can safely identify the order of fish went into the oil.  Chef did not considered that oil was getting hotter as he cooked fish in sequence.

Total score 6/10.  It was supposed to be “traditional” fish and chips, not from poncy  menu.  But there were some poncy elements which spoiled our traditional fish and chips.

My search for the perfect fish and chips will continue.  Good night!

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