Restaurant: Fries & Co.
Address: 2603 Connolly Street
Date: July 2, 2010
Fish: Haddock
Cost: $8.49

We have been inundated with requests from our readers to review Fries & Co. in Halifax. It always seems to finish in the top three in the Coast’s reader’s poll for best fish and chips in Halifax. However, if you’ve read our review of Phil’s Seafood on Quinpool you’ll know we don’t consider that poll overly accurate in terms of actual quality (think of it more as a popularity contest).

Amongst the comments we’ve received about Fries & Co., about 60% rave about them, while 40% think they’re highly overrated. A sample includes:

How could you have missed them? Their F & C are outstanding and Clams and Chips are the best we have ever tasted. – Barbara

Fries and Co. is overrated in my opinion. We have been there a couple of times and weren’t impressed at all. – Deb

Fries and Co. on Chebucto Road, very good serving size, fries are
O.K. I don’t care much for fries. – Deloris

…every time I have a fish and chip craving, I head right for Fries and Company. That is the BEST Fish and Chips I ever had. Their home fries are So So Good, and the fish is to Die for!!! – Wendy

Looking forward to reading it (your review). My one visit to Fries & Co. was a disappointment. – @thetriviadiary

Needless to say… we weren’t sure what to expect when going here.

Well… now that we’ve dined at Fries & Co. I have to say, all four reviewers were less than impressed.

It took quite awhile for our food to arrive… close to 20 minutes. When we opened the wrapped up bundles (we ordered take-out and ate on the picnic tables in their patio area), we were all shocked at how small the fish was. Wow… probably the smallest pieces we’ve encountered on our journey so far.

Plus, it was VERY evident the fries had been done long before the fish. The fish was hot and fresh, while the fries were lukewarm and sorta dried out. There is no doubt some of our fries had been sitting around waiting until the fish was ready to be added to the order.

We’re sure some of our readers will be shocked and mad at our findings, while others will feel support for their own tepid opinion of what is considered a fish & chips mecca in the Halifax area. The only thing we can say is… we call ‘em like we see ‘em. And this wasn’t very impressive at all.

Fish and Chips Score: 69

FCP Review Crew

Rachel’s Thoughts

My expectation was high as I looked at the plaques on the wall stating “Best of Fish & Chips in HRM” in 2001-2007.

The portion size was very disappointing, as it was the smallest we’ve had yet (out of 17 locations). Based on what we received, if you want to be full you’ll need to order 3 pieces, at least!

I liked the taste of the batter – but it was quite thick… making the actual fish portion even smaller!

The fries were good, but needed salt, & no salt came in my take-out bag, so I ate them salt free.

Overall the taste was good for me, but the quantity was too small, and the fries were harder to enjoy with no salt. Many people have recommended this spot as the absolute best, but that wasn’t quite my experience on this visit.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Rachel’s Final Score: 71

Poochie’s Thoughts
What a disappointing experience! It seemed to take forever getting our food, and when I finally finished unwrapping the take-out bundle… the small portion sitting in front of my eyes was almost overwhelming.

The pieces of fish were so very small… and when I took my fork to break off a taste… the batter simply collapsed like an empty puff pastry. I looked up and asked Skippy, “Did you see that??!!??”… which he did.

I mean… come on… the pieces were small enough without the large air pockets in the batter. I felt like I was eating those rip-off chicken balls you get at some Chinese restaurants… you know, where it’s the size of a pregnant golf ball, but when you bite into it the actual size of the meat (is it chicken or pigeon?) inside is smaller than your pinkie nail.

I will give this to Fries & Co. – the taste of their batter and fish was quite good, what little there was.

Now… the fries – full disclosure here. This is not the first time I’ve eaten at Fries & Co. A couple weeks ago my wife and I stopped in on the way back from the Farmer’s market. We weren’t quite full after sharing one of Mary’s famous cinnamon rolls and a serving of Cheeling’s noodles, so we thought we’d try a bag of fries from Fries & Co. (I didn’t dare order the fish before we reviewed the place as a group… that would have felt like cheating on a spouse.)

We got a bag of fries, and they were GREAT! Fresh, hot, tasty. I would sprinkle salt and a bit of ketchup on them and start forking them home. So, when we arrived again to review the place, I was confident of what I would find for fries.

Was I ever wrong!

I picked up a fry and ate it. I’m not exaggerating when I say I had to muster up some extra saliva to help swallow it – it was that dry.

What the??!!??

This was so unlike my previous experience! They were dry, dull, lukewarm, and pathetic, and I had to slather on a bunch of ketchup so they could get down my throat.

I didn’t understand, but then Rachel hit on the answer. She suggested that during the long wait for our food, some of our fries were sitting there waiting and waiting for the fish to be added to the order.

This is totally unacceptable!

I know… I know… some of you readers might howl and state explicitly that you have eaten here dozens (nay, hundreds) of times and that has never happened to you. What can I say? I’m not doubting you… but the day we arrived to review the place, this is exactly what we encountered.

Restaurants have to remember to treat EVERY customer as if this is their first visit, and any future business from them will depend on the quality of that very meal. Consistency is VERY important.

I’m sure had we announced that we were going to review our order and post it on a site read by thousands… Fries & Co. would have made sure everything was fresh and generous. What they neglected to remember is that EVERY customer is a food critic.

Oh, yeah… and the tartar sauce was Kraft and it came with no coleslaw.

Whatever.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Poochie’s Final Score: 67

Minnie’s Thoughts
What small pieces of fish! Shockingly small. The batter kinda tastes like KFC a little (at least to me), and there was a high batter to fish ratio, making the size of the fish even smaller. :-(

The home cut fries were certainly not fresh, and they needed salt (which, inexplicably did not come with my take-out order).

No coleslaw, and the tartar sauce was little packets of Kraft.

I was really unimpressed. I don’t know what all the hype is about with this place.

For what it’s worth, I found it interesting to see a photo of the former Governor General, Adrienne Clarkson, and her husband John Ralston Saul, on the wall at Fries & Co. They obviously like fish and chips since there is a picture of them on the wall at John’s Lunch as well. I know I will see the John’s Lunch photo many more times in the future, but I can’t say the same for the pic at Fries & Co.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Minnie’s Final Score: 68

Skippy’s Thoughts

Wow.

And not a great wow.

A busy Friday night at a place we’ve heard quite a bit about (I’d never been here before), and this is what I encountered: Good tasting fish (small portion), with tasteless batter, and (here’s the part that hurts, given the name of the place) tasteless… lukewarm… fries.

Some of you may not agree with me on this one, but I expected so much more, especially where the fries were concerned. Maybe, like Rachel said, the fries were ready long before the fish. Maybe I got the last remnants of a batch of fries. Whatever the case, what’s the first word in their name? You might want to get this right every time.

Maybe some of you will say I should give these guys another chance. But we’ve talked about this before: every customer is a food critic. What if it was your first visit and it wasn’t great – would you go back? Restaurants always need to be on their “A” game, and you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.

And like Poochie says, we’ve got far too many other F&C joints to check out before we start giving out second chances.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Skippy’s Final Score: 71