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| - I normally go to Reliable Fish n' Chips to get my fix, but this time decided to venture further down the street to the other little fish n' chips spot on Queen Street East in Leslieville, B & B Fish n' Chips.
Outside, the quiet, little, dark store front with windows filled with potted plants is a bit discouraging compared to Reliable, which is bright, modern and normally buzzing with the cook frying away and clientele tucking into one of the specials at the window counter. These few blocks of Queen Street East have little restaurants that have since been transformed into dive bars (Tasty Chicken House, anyone?). Since I couldn't find a recent review of this place, I was concerned that it was indeed a dive bar.
Inside, I found a little old Chinese man reading a newspaper. I ordered up a fish n' chips and he promptly opened the fridge door, which must have been there since the shop originally opened way back (50+ years), took out the batter and fish, and went to work.
The fish went into the hot oil, and then the chips. Then it all came out, was drained and went onto a sheet of paper, which was wrapped into a cone, sprinkled with salt from a repurposed Huy Fong rooster brand chile sauce jar, and was swiftly wrapped into a bundle of old Sing Tao newspaper.
Ten minutes later, I got home and opened up the bundle to reveal, golden brown fries and a good hunk of fried fish with what looked like a pretty crunchy batter. I doused it in malt vinegar and went to town. Despite having steamed in the paper bundle for a good ten minutes, the batter on the fish retained a good crunch, the fish itself tender and juicy, and the chips were divine - a nice, firm, almost crisp exterior and a lovely fluffy interior. Difficult to explain, but it is definitely hard to find nice thick chips done well like this.
A negative is that the fish was a tad too brown - but probably because I distracted him with conversation the entire time I was there - and greasy. But eating over a pound of deep fried goodness never leaves you feeling nice and light afterwards.
The price was $9.75, almost at par with Reliable.
A diamond in the rough. Definitely my new go-to place for fish n' chips.
Sorry Reliable!
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