Fish & Chips Restaurant

I've long wished to visit Fish & Chips Restaurant in Altamonte Springs, and a recent Friday evening was my lucky night. Yes, it sure was lucky, as we had a great meal here.

I miss having a good Fish Fry place in the Orlando area--I'm originally from Wisconsin where they have a Friday tradition of a great fish fry. So when I heard about Fish & Chips Restaurant and saw the rave reviews they'd gotten, I knew that I had to get here, sooner or later. That day finally came!

My friend Tommy and I went here on a recent Friday evening. It's a small place and very homey. It was a bit busy when we arrived but cleared out rather quickly. We sat at a small table, but as soon as a larger table cleared, the waiter asked us if we'd like to move. That was great, but we stayed put, we were satisfied. Our drink orders were quickly taken and drinks quickly returned. In short order our waitress appeared. I'm guessing she was the wife of the chef and one of the owner. No matter, she knew her stuff and quickly suggested we try the crab cake, and we did. And we ordered.

Tommy ordered the She Crab Soup. It was a good choice. I had quite a few good sips of this soup and it was excellent, very, very good. It had a nice bit of a crab flavor, but also a very savory flavor. I suspect the ingredients had been simmered together for a very long time. The care that was put into this soup showed--it was excellent.

I ordered the crab cake at the suggestion of our waitress. Let me tell you, I have never, ever, had a crab cake quite like this one before. It was mostly crab! Now, I'll say it was mostly backfin meat, not a lot of huge pieces, but it was mostly all crab with just a bit of mayo to bind it. Certainly not a lot of filler like most of the other crab cakes I've experienced before. This crab cake was dipped in bread crumbs and then fried, but not at all greasy. It was exellent. It was served with a remoulade that was also very good. This was a great appetizer, I'm so glad we ordered it.

Both Tommy and I ordered the Fish and Chips for our main course, I had the cod, and also substituted onion rings for my chips. It was all very good. First, a comment on the coleslaw--excellent! Very good coleslaw, and decent sized portion too. The onion rings also were very good, nicely fried with a good breading that was just right. But the star of my plate was the cod. It was cooked perfectly, not at all overdone or dried out, as can easily happen. It was tender and juicy and flavorful--well, as flavorful as cod can get. But it was very good, the breading did not overpower it. I liked it a lot, about as good as any fish fry I've had in my life, and I've had plenty.

Tommy ordered the haddock fish fry with french fries. Again, it was very good. The french fries were very nice, thicker slab-style fries. And the haddock was also cooked just right. 

We were very pleased with our meal here and can fully understand why this place has had such good reviews. Our service was attentive and accurate, too. We'd go back in a flash. There aren't any good authentic fish fries in the Orlando area, but this is about as close as it comes to perfection!