Many of you will be of the opinion that fish and chips are only worth eating by the seaside, from greasy paper with the sound of seagulls ringing in the distance.
Meanwhile, cocktails and gin are the sort of fare you’d associate more with the bars of central London.
But, just a stone’s throw from Harrods, the Mayfair Chippy Knightsbridge – the sister establishment to the original restaurant which opened in the heart of Mayfair in 2015 – have decided these worlds can be combined.
A short walk from Knightsbridge station, the Mayfair Chippy offers a warm, welcoming but bustling environment, merging the vibes of restaurant and cocktail bar.
For the drink on arrival, there’s a fine selection of gins and cocktails to choose from. On this occasion, we went for a Sipsmith’s gin (£9.50) with Fever Tree Light Indian Tonic (£2.50), and a Classic Bloody Mary (£11.00) that packed a punch with the spice and came with celery garnish.
These are the parts you’d expect an establishment like this to nail. So what about the food from a largely seafood-based menu?
To start, we plumped for the Battered King Prawns (£13.25) and and Coronation Chicken Fritters (£9.95). The prawns were juicy and bang on the mark, served with a classic cocktail sauce and crunchy Romaine lettuce. Whilst this brought back memories of Christmas lunch prawn cocktail, these prawns were a level above what you might usually buy from the supermarket for home.
But it was the Coronation Chicken Fritters that stole the show. Sizeable balls of spicy, unctuous chicken served with a deliciously sweet mango chutney. If you’re after something that isn’t from the big blue, this is the perfect start.
On to the main, and realistically what would make or break the Mayfair Chippy – the fish and chips, where there is the option of fried cod or haddock, whilst a meat option of rare breed battered sausage was also available (all £24.95). The obvious concern in anywhere that tries to take a national favourite found on almost any high street to restaurant standard is that they start fiddling around with a classic to the extent that it becomes unrecognisable.
Fear not, these were chippy fish and chips.
A hefty portion of cod sat atop a healthy portion of chips. These were thick chips, not fries, and were up to scratch with any chip shop spuds I’ve ever had. Salty, fluffy, but never becoming too soggy.
And the fish was marvellous. Moist and flaky flesh encased in exactly the right amount of crispy batter.
Alongside the fish and chips came three pots of loveliness. A tartare sauce that cut through like a good tartare should, mushy peas of the perfect consistency – not too thick that it couldn’t work as a dip, not too runny that you’d need a spoon to eat them – and a beautiful curry sauce which was properly spiced, to the extent that I reckon it would genuinely work with a load of chicken in and some rice on the side.
There was the option to go for HP gravy instead of the curry sauce, which my dining partner went for. This was some of the beefiest gravy I’d ever had, but the curry sauce edged it for me (we’ll avoid the curry sauce vs gravy debate on this occasion).
Dessert was next, and the British classics theme continued. For the pair of us, it was the Sticky Date Pudding with toffee sauce and Madagascan vanilla gelato and the Valrhona Milk Chocolate Mousse with salt caramel and candied biscuits (both £9.25). As you’d hope with both of these, they were fantastically rich and luxurious.
We came away so full that every step on the short walk back to Knightsbridge tube felt like an unpleasant amount of effort.
The Mayfair Chippy lives up to the chippy name, but the prices fulfil the Mayfair brief. This is to be expected given its location, and with the standard of food on offer – crucially, the fish itself being of a fantastic quality – it’s probably on par in terms of value for money.
So, if you find yourself craving a chippy tea at the end of a busy day sightseeing or shopping in London, the Mayfair Chippy has you covered.
Fish n’ chips n’ cocktails – it’s as good as it sounds.
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