Say the words ‘town’ and ‘fish and chips’ to Coventrians over a certain age and most will reminisce about Fishy Moores, the long-gone but still fondly remembered restaurant. The Fairfax Street eatery spent decades as one of Coventry’s most popular dining spots.
It relocated to another part of the city centre but the magic was never really recaptured and it went bust, closing finally in 2009. However, it left a sit-in restaurant specialising in fish and chips-shaped hole in Cov’s dining roster which has never really been filled.
Enter Salt and Vinegar Fish and Chips, a sit-in or takeaway cafe in West Orchards food court. Having heard about the new venture, the food on offer and its location, it immediately made me nostalgic for Fishy Moores, which become such a part of Saturday morning trips to Cov Baths, I can physically no longer get a whiff of chlorine without it leading to a craving for salty fish and chips. To this day I just have to go to a chippy after a swim.
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So I popped in to sample the food and see if it could stand up to a legendary Coventry restaurant. Hopefully without letting nostalgia cloud my judgement.
I arrived to find a celebratory balloon arch at the entrance and quite a few people sat eating and was glad to see business was going well already. The menu was surprisingly varied, including more traditional cafe items such as full English breakfasts, toasties and paninis. They also sell jacket potatoes, hot dogs and pork and stuffing batches.
However, I was here firmly for the fish and chips, so ordered large cod and chips, with a small mushy peas and a can of Rio. Altogether it came to £9.40 – a tad more than you might expect at the chippy, but as it’s central and I was sitting in to eat perhaps to be expected. The staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming.
Because of the cost I was a bit disappointed when it arrived as the fish looked quite small. The batter also didn’t curl up at points, and visually it reminded me a bit of a frozen Bird’s Eye portion of fish you’d cook at home in the oven.
However, I soon learned not to always trust your first impression – the cod tasted delicious and as it was thicker in depth than it looked it was deceptively bigger than I initially thought. The batter was crispy as you’d hope and was beautifully crunchy, with the fish white, soft and flaky within.
The chips looked the part and had the taste, shape and consistency that seems only attainable at the chippy, no matter how hard you try to replicate it at home. The mushy peas were tasty and added some moisture to the dish.
Overall the food was great – lovely and hot and with the excellent customer service it was a positive experience on the whole. My main qualms, asides from the fish being aesthetically underwhelming, would be there were no condiments on the tables, perhaps a hangover from Covid safety measures.
I personally like lots of salt and vinegar on my fish and chips, and the two sachets of each that came out with the food just wasn’t quite enough – ironic considering these items are in the actual title of the cafe.
But overall I’m nit-picking, especially considering when it comes to fish and chips, there are easy mistakes to make. Anaemic, undercooked chips and soggy batter will ruin a dish, but Salt and Vinegar Fish and Chips got most of the basics right – just let customers choose how much salt and vinegar they want on their fish and chips.
But it will prove popular among plenty of people, particularly those who prefer more traditional food when eating out, or those, like me, looking for a slice of Fishy Moores-inspired nostalgia.