CALGARY: The British Chippy

People craving real fish and chips will go to any lengths to get it, including driving way south to Bridlewood where The British Chippy opened less than two months ago.

For a proper review, we brought Lady Anne of Devon who has been missing the fish and chips of her native land. She brought her own bottle of malt vinegar in her purse.

Anne was pretty happy with the not-too-oily batter, and the “real chips, not fries!”

Neon-coloured British sodas are available, as are Guinness and Boddington’s. I try a Vimto; it tastes like fizzy cherry cough syrup.

Hand-cut, six-ounce cod or haddock fillets are battered with a family recipe for a satisfying crunch without overwhelming the fish. Chips are cut thick from local organic potatoes, and double-fried to achieve maximum crispy, hot, goldenness.

Mushy peas ($2.50) need salt but don’t taste pre-packaged at least. Curry sauce ($1.95) is thick and savoury. Tartar sauce comes in Kraft packets.

— From my review in Metro Calgary

But the process of getting our fish and chips ($11.99) was pretty daft. From Chowhound intelligence, we were prepared to wait for food (up to 55 minutes).

I found this explanation from one of the owners after complaints of how long it takes. Basically, they cook everything fresh but only have one fryer for fish, and one for fries. Adding more fryers requires a major overhaul of the exhaust system as required under fire code.

But no one had mentioned the confusion when you first walk in. With no signage or servers to be seen in the eat-in area, we proceeded to the counter at the back.

We stood at there for 10 minutes and watched the only cashier help a table of 8 pay for their separate bills. When I finally started to order with her, she said, “Take-out right?” I told her no, we wanted to eat in — and she said, “Oh then you can just sit down and someone will be right with you.”

We sat down and waited. The Fawlty Towers DVD on the TV above us had finished, and was repeating the same introductory 30-second promo. It was a sign.

The tables around us were cleared. We waited some more.

The same cashier girl walked past us and I said, “Excuse me, can we order?” She looked at me like she had never seen me before and said she’d send someone right over.

We waited some more.

A very nice young man eventually served us, but to get the most out of this husband-wife run chippy, I’d say call for takeout ahead of time.

The British Chippy, 2335-162nd Ave. S.W., Calgary, (403) 256-1156. Open for lunch Wednesday to Saturday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., for dinner Wednesday to Sunday 4:30-8 p.m. Closed Monday, Tuesday.