2 x fish and chips please

Given that I'm getting married in just over two months, you may think that I'd want to steer clear of fatty, fried foods. But then you would be massively overestimating my ability to refuse free fish suppers.

Due to my lack of willpower, and love of food, I've enjoyed two such meals in the space of a month, and each one deserves a mention, even, I'd argue, a round of applause.

The first of these British delicacies was enjoyed in Cornwall, at Rick Stein's Fish & Chip Restaurant in Padstow no less.


As with most places in Cornwall, it takes a bit of getting to - a car journey and a ferry-ride over the Camel Estuary from where we stay in Port Isaac - and is so popular that you have to queue for the privilege. But oh is it worth it. Get there at around 11.30am and you're more or less guaranteed a seat for the 12-midday sitting. Get there any later and you risk being forced to standing outside, drooling, as you watch and wait for the first lucky diners to finish the last of their mushy peas.

Now, while I do love fish and chips - I'm from Yorkshire, home of Whitby and more locally Compo's chippy - the dish has decided that it doesn't much like me over the years.

"And would you like anything to finish madam?"

"Do you have any heartburn on the menu today? Oh you do, of course you do, it's your speciality."

So I now allow myself only the gluttony of the chunky chip, choosing the grilled fish options offered by the top notch frying establishments I frequent, and chose as my main Rick Stein's lemon sole - the perfect delicate and fluffy accompaniment to fried carbs. Special note must also go to the homemade tartar sauce - bearing no resemblance to the greasy, vinegary gloop you're usually served.

Also on the menu are battered oysters, scallops and local squid, all served up in cardboard boxes - let's hope they recycle.


I had allowed myself the Stein fish and chips as a 'last fling before I (try to) tighten my belt for the wedding'. But when PR company R&R Teamwork emailed inviting me to a fish supper at Brighton's famous Bardsley's Fish & Chip Restaurant , that plan was flung far out the window.

Arranged to build awareness around new website www.beergenie.co.uk, celebrating the social aspect of beer and providing a resource for journalists, the evening focused around beer tasting/drinking, with one of the brewers himself there from the local Harveys Brewery. My favourite was Samuel Smith's Organic Lager, which was light, refreshing and not too gassy - just as you need an accompaniment to fried food to be.

I also tried something else new - swordfish. The steak was meaty, tender and delicious and the chips even better than Stein's (although I did have the vegetarian version in Padstow this year - the chips fried in beer dripping are yum). I did, as ever, have a side order of mushy peas, and I could have eaten another bowlful, because I'm a bit weird.

So, that really is it until the wedding now, unless anyone else has a fried-food offer I just can't refuse...