Restaurant: IWK Health Centre Dial for Dining
Address: 5850 University Avenue, Halifax
Date: January 14, 2010
Fish: Haddock
Cost: $7.00 (taxes included)

I know… I know… what in the world are we doing reviewing a meal from a Hospital? After all, isn’t the term hospital food synonymous with bad dining?

Well, one of our intrepid reviewers <*cough, cough, Rachel, cough, cough*> came down with a serious case of BEING PREGNANT, which required an extended stay at the IWK, so we decided to check out the fish and chips boldly promoted by fliers in the elevator.

Before we could sink our teeth into the meal there was quite a process which had to be endured… it wasn’t as simple as just placing an order. First we had to go down to a lower level office and purchase a meal debit card with enough money on it for our order. Once that was done we went back to the room and ordered the meal with the newly purchased card. Then, 30 minutes later, the fish and chips arrived.

We had a fear the meal might not be the freshest, having been schlepped around for a while on a food cart, and our fears were somewhat justified.

This meal caused a bit of division amongst the four of us, with two being quite impressed and two being less than pleased. We’re not suggesting you make plans to take the entire family to the hospital for dinner, however, if the twists and turns of life do find you there during meal time, you could do much worse than eating their fish and chips.

Fish and Chips Score: 66

FCP Review Crew

Rachel’s Thoughts

I found this meal very fast-food like. It wasn’t very hot, which didn’t surprise me because of the delivery process.

The fish and batter were just ok.  It seemed very deep-fried – a few times, perhaps? The fries were just like at the exhibition.

I hope not to eat this again.

Fish
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Rachel’s Final Score: 60

Poochie’s Thoughts
We thought this would be almost a joke review… hospital food… seriously. But I gotta be honest, the fish was quite fresh and tasty.  The menu said it was a two piece, but what arrived was three pieces of haddock. I’m guessing they included three instead of two because of the smaller sizes of the fish.

I did find the batter a bit over-cooked… a bit too crunchy for my liking. However the batter didn’t seem greasy at all, which surprised me.

What wasn’t surprising was that the fries were not home-cooked but mass-produced, and just so-so. In fact I would say they were a bit below average. Certainly the worst part of the meal.

The fish came with Kraft tarter sauce and the accompanying coleslaw was decent.

All in all I thought this was a real good meal considering it was hospital food. In fact, to be honest, the meal was not only better than I dared hope for, it was also better than some of the restaurants we have frequented.

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Poochie’s Final Score: 65

Minnie’s Thoughts
Surprisingly not too bad… I was expecting much worse. The fish wasn’t too greasy, but the fries were lukewarm at best, which brought the score down.

I thought the coleslaw was good.

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Minnie’s Final Score: 62

Skippy’s Thoughts
You can’t go wrong with Heinz ketchup straight from the packet.

Okay, you have to keep in mind we’re in a hospital here; but we’re here to judge the food, not the restaurant. And now we know there are apparently no limits to what lengths we will go to ensure you, dear reader, will experience only the best (or avoid the worst) F&C places around.

The menu said two piece -  we got three. Bonus! I liked the crunchy batter… but a little doughiness inside brought the score down a bit.

The fries were not bad, all things considering, and although warm enough initially, they didn’t hold up well once they reached lukewarm temperature.

Overall, a pleasant surprise. We definitely won’t forget this one. (And where else are you going to find a deal like this for seven bucks?)

Fish
Batter
Fries
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Skippy’s Final Score: 73