When I drove past a new banner ad for Nosh claiming it served the best fish and chips, I had to put it to the test. The location is about 10 minutes' walk from my residence, so there's a major plus point already.
The restaurant is cosy, catering to a small number of diners, light piano jazz over the speakers for ambience. The service was friendly and responsive, upfront about payment options which was important because 'credit card' was not on the list.
I ordered the mushroom soup and sourdough appetizer which you can see as the empty bowl in the background. The soup's consistency was not as thick as most other places suggesting it's made on-site with fresh ingredients and it was served scaldingly hot. The sourdough was fragrant, soft with a satisfyingly crunchy crust. It seemed like a waste to dunk it in the soup so I enjoyed it between spoons, appreciating the texture and flavour even sans butter.
The fish and chips was, in fact, the best I've had in a long while. I chose the halibut over the dory because, what the heck, man? Of course halibut! It came coated in a lightly crisp batter, the way I like. The halibut tasted fresh and went down smoothly while the brittle crunch of the batter provided a nice contrast of things going on in the mouth. The salad was rocket and a couple of halved cherry tomatoes splashed with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar -- standard fare, but still rounded out the dish well.
My one mistake was in over-using the tartar sauce provided. It made the meal feel heavier than I wanted. Next time I'll ask for a sprinkle of classic salt and white vinegar, nothing fancier.
Oh, the 'chips' turned out to be interesting slices of potato cut into loose, wide spirals which they call 'sidewinders'. Never seen anything like that before. The groove on each chip suggests a machine rather than a hand cut. I ate them without ketchup 'cos they didn't need any.
A meal of this quality isn't cheap. $41 and change. So using a portion of my CDC vouchers, I let the government pay for it. Yay! A new place to use them up before they expire.
