A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Supperbowl

Supperbowl - Gilmerton
 Price: £6.60 (Supper)
After the drama of the last few weeks, we decided to go on an adventure down to Gilmerton.  A simple 33 bus away and we arrived at this rather large looking shop at the centre of Gilmerton, coincidently near the amazing Gilmerton Cove - a mysterious and wonderful little cave.  It is called Gilmerton's secret for a reason!

The shop is very large and I felt a lot of the space at the front of the shop was wasted.  There was enough room to fit a pool table or indeed some chairs to sit and eat your food at.  They decided to just keep it empty however.

My food was served by a glum looking girl, although she brightened a bit when we commented on the size of the fish.  We were given a cardboard box and vacated to a bench at the other side of the road in order to eat our food.  I believe the place is on Just Eat so you can look it up on there.

Despite it's very large size the fish was largely tasteless.  It tasted like vanilla ice cream without the vanilla.  Sometimes I wonder why some chip shops give you such large portions.  It is very wasteful.  The chips had a tiny hint of a flavour but otherwise were as tasteless as the fish.

I have been told that this is a very good chip shop so I will maybe have to review this later, but I won't hold my breath.

On average:
5/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Central

Central, Potterrow
Price: £6.80 (Supper)
A brief walk from the centre of town took us to the Central chip shop.  We had seen this on our outing to Marchmont so decided to revisit.  I had heard great things about the Edinburgh Chip Shop sauce from this place.

The shop needs a little spruced up as the seating and decoration was past its best.  There was an old TV on the wall that looked a little broken and a model ship that provided something to look at.  My food was served by a man who gave little to no chat and took ten minutes to serve my food in a polystyrene tray.  It was efficient, but not exactly the most pleasant experience I have had.

A discount is offered at lunch time, so if you are in the area, it is worth a visit.  They do sell bottles of their famous Edinburgh Sauce
for £1.60 a bottle.  They are served by Just Eat.

My fish was one of the most delicious that I have had.  It was not too flaky and a little bit meaty.  The chips were a close match to my second rated chippy L'Alba Doras.  One thing that made the food a magnitude better was the vinegar.  I've found that the vinegar can either break or make a meal but this place has learned that lesson long ago.

All in all, if you want to go for some delicious food in the centre of town and do not care about the decoration or what the chat is like then this is the place for you!

Overall
8/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - The Dolphin

The Dolphin, North Junction Street
 Price: £6.60 (Supper)
After a little discussion about what exactly makes up an adventure, we decided that to have an adventure you must either get the bus or walk to the place you are going to eat at.  With that decision we set off on the 30 minute walk from Waverly down to North Junction Street with many laughs along the way.

We eventually arrived at this very well decorated shop that had everything pristine.  There were very comfortable stools and a TV with a film on to watch while I ate.  My food took 10 minutes to prepare and they reacted with humour when I asked them to drown Ryan's in vinegar.  They served it all up in a cardboard box.

My fish was beautiful.  Not too oily and not too meaty.  I would say this was second only to Eatalias.  The vinegar was lovely and left you wanting more.  The chips reminded me very much of L'Alba Doras and I would happily demolish another box of them.

Now this was done on a slightly different day as it was a Wednesday, traditionally the day before the oil is changed though we didn't ask.

Altogether I would recommend this place to anyone passing through that way or at the Ocean Terminal.

On average:
9/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Leo Burdock

Leo Burdock, Temple Bar, Dublin
Price: £7.60 (Supper)
After an eventful first night in Dublin, we set out for dinner and ended up at this fish and chip shop!  The shop was very well decorated with 1970's style wooden panels and had a very large seating area.  There was even a group of about 10 (Spanish?) students there for a birthday party.  My food was served up by a rather banterful gentleman who due to his Irish charm was very funny.

An immediate choice was offered between fresh and smoked cod instead of haddock.  I decided to stick for continuity and went for the fresh cod, although I was fortunate enough to sample the smoked cod which was one of the nicest I have tasted.  The fresh cod was beer battered which meant that it was very very filling but thoroughly delicious.  It had very little oil and was quite meaty.  The vinegar covering it was very nice.  My chips were quite heavy also, which was a bit of a let down.

If you are ever around the Temple Bar area, pop in here and get a smoked cod!

On average:
9/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Salvatores

Salvatores, Marchmont
Price: £6.20 (Supper)
After a fairly enjoyable Christmas break, we set off into the unknown area of Marchmo
nt to have our first supper of the year on this stormy and blustery day - much like a Winnie the Poo adventure.  This was a very nicely decorated little cafe/fish and chip shop in the centre of Marchmont.

We were served promptly and they took about 10 minutes to bring us our food on a plate, although I noticed they served their takeaway in a cardboard box.  My fish was fairly bland but was nicely flaky.  The chips were not that impressive either compared to some of the other places I have been.  What really made this meal was the vinegar that was left at the table for you to put your own on.

Our meal was interrupted halfway through by two incidents with the staff.  The elderly server decided that it was appropriate to discipline one staff member in the front shop and in front of the customers.  Following this public humiliation, a customer asked if the server knew him as he had been away for a year or 2.  The server abruptly declared he had no idea what he was talking about and let him go on his way.  I learned all I needed to from this exchange.

Despite the poor staffing, the food was adequate, although if I was in the area I would go to the Marchmont Takeaway instead for some delicious Mackerel.

On average:
7/10