Geales, Notting Hill, London

Being in London, I could just not leave there without having my fix of Fish & Chips...somewhat comfort food for me. I had a bad experience this trip, during the first day of my arrival in London. I went straight to a meeting from the Airport, somewhere near the Heathrow area. Our meeting was finished and since we were quite hungry, we decided to stop on the first Pub we saw. I ordered Fish & Chips and it was BAD...frozen breaded fish is what they served us..'nuff said' (as a friend of mine says) terrible. I was set on having another shot at this dish before the end of my trip.

A meeting that day brought us to the Notting Hill Area, so a quick visit to the Portobello Market was in order. Lots of street vendors and shops selling antiquities, souvenirs, novelty items, etc...Quite interesting and enough to open my appetite.

I then remembered that during one of my nights researching about food and restaurants around the world that there was place near Portobello Market that served good traditional Fish & Chips, so obviously we made our way there. The place is called Geales and it has been operationg since 1934, so I was assured of quality, traditional Fish and Chips.

As we got it, I noticed that the place was full, and full of locals, so of course this is a good sign in any place you go or in any country you are. We got the last table available fro two people. The menu was very simple, only 3 choices of fish (Pollock, Haddock or Cod) and a choice of a few sidings (Mushy Peas, Chips, Creamed Potatoes, Baby Spinach, etc..)

For starters though I asked for a Beer, London Pride. I have never heard of this since I am not really into beer but this Premium Ale is apparently Fuller's flagship wine (One of U.K.'s oldest Beer brands). It had a slight bitter taste but if i were to compares this to wine, I would say this is an Easy to drink medium bodied wine.

For my meal, I decided on Cod. I am not sure if Cod is traditionally the fish used for Fish and Chips but Cod is one of my favorite fish, so most of the times this is what I order. My colleague had Pollock, which is a commonly used fish in the U.K. Both had different Presentations, mine was more rounded looking like a Bell Pepper and the Pollock was longer and flatter.

Pollock

Cod

The Fish was delicious, perfectly cooked crispy batter, not oily at all. The fish inside was not overcooked (as many others I've tried), moist and tender as anything. I sprinkled it with Malt Vinegar, Tartar Sauce and an order of Mushy Peas. I got to try the chips ordered my my friend, which were thick cuts (not french Fries) of a type of sweetish Potato. Apparently, this is how real authentic fish and Chips should be.

One of the best Fish & Chips I've had. I look forward to coming back here on my next trip...BTW, you may notice the quality of my pictures is not the same - I was using a Sony-Ericsson Cellphone Camera that I use when I travel. I was actually very impressed with the quality as seen above. Not bad for a Cellphone camera.