Palladium
Restaurant: Palladium
Address: 942 Cole Harbour Road, Dartmouth
Date: July 4, 2010
Fish: Haddock
Cost: $8.89
It was a bit of a strange night for us intrepid fish and chips reviewers. As you may already know, we take turns choosing where we’ll review next. It was Skippy’s turn to choose, but the first couple suggestions he made were nixed by Rachel.
Finally Skippy picked a restaurant which Rachel could agree with somewhere in the Dartmouth area. We drove over… went in… sat down… looked at the menu… saw that fish & chips were $17.99… and got up and left.
Unless we are going to some seriously swanky spot, there is NO WAY we’re paying 18 bucks for fish and chips! No way! We’re just average folks out there reviewing fish and chips so other average folks can enjoy a great deal on great fish and chips.
So… not that we’re going to say which restaurant it was *cough-cough* [The Vines] *cough-cough*, but your pricing for fish and chips is shocking! We’ve eaten there numerous times before and quite enjoyed everything else, so maybe we’ll come back to give the F&C a try… once we’re rich and famous.
So there we were, driving out of the parking lot trying to figure out a plan B (actually for Skippy it was like Plan D), which is why we ended up settling for Palladium.
And settling for is probably an accurate term for tonight’s fish and chips experience. While there was nothing wrong with our meal… there was nothing excitingly right with it either. It was just there.
The Palladium is a family style restaurant with a Greek emphasis… a perfect place to take your Granny when she’s in town. In fact while all us reviewers are nearing middle age… we felt like spring chickens at the Palladium among the row upon row of blue-tinged silver haired folks enjoying their food.
Our best suggestion for eating fish and chips at the Palladium? Get back in your car and drive one kilometer down the road to Jamieson’s… one of the top places we’ve reviewed so far.
Fish and Chips Score: 68
FCP Review Crew
Rachel’s Thoughts
The fish was dry and the batter tasted just so-so. I found it quite greasy.
The fries were not home-cut and were also quite greasy.
This restaurant’s menu is mainly Greek, which I hear is good, but the fish & chips are not their specialty.
Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments
Rachel’s Final Score: 63
Poochie’s Thoughts
The fish was decent… not wow… just decent. The batter was a bit pasty on the inside but the flavour was nice. The fries were not home-cut and were average… some were quite tasty and others were limp and dull.
The coleslaw was tasty and they used Kraft tartar sauce.
When I review a restaurant’s fish & chips, it is so much more fun if there is something amazingly great to write about… or if it’s so horrible you just have to share some venom in the review. But with the Palladium there was absolutely nothing remarkable to write about.
The epitome of average… and that’s not a ringing endorsement.
Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments
Poochie’s Final Score: 69
Minnie’s Thoughts
The fish was not bad. The batter on it was a little doughy on the inside, but it was about average for grease.
The others were quite confident that the fries weren’t home-cut, but I wasn’t so sure. But regardless, they weren’t anything special.
Their coleslaw tasted a bit like KFC’s.
The whole experience was just average. Other than that I don’t know what else to write.
Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments
Minnie’s Final Score: 70
Skippy’s Thoughts
In a word… average.
And now my clothes smell like grammie’s place.
Although it doesn’t factor into the score, the service here is excellent, and the staff are very friendly, accommodating, and great at what they do.
Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments
Skippy’s Final Score: 70
Ryan… sorry you didn’t like Jamieson’s… however, we did warn you in our review about the strong seasoning on their fries, and suggested for you to get them to tone it down if you didn’t want it. Personally, while everybody in our group absolutely LOVED their fries.
I just didn’t find anything about Jamieson’s praise-worthy, that’s all. My girlfriend and I found the fries to be overly salted or seasoned; whichever it was, it was too much. The fish was fine, but that’s it; fine. There was nothing that we found made it a step above anywhere else.
The second time I ate from there was for take-out, and the fries were brown and cold, even while we were still there. I thought this would be Jamieson’s second chance, but they did even more poorly than my first experience there.
Ryan… everybody is entitled to their own opinions. If everybody liked the same restaurant it would be pretty well impossible to get in to eat.
I am surprised that you didn’t enjoy Jamieson’s though… we really enjoyed it, and have heard the same from a lot of other people. What exactly didn’t you like about it?
As for John’s… other than for the website review, I never order their fish and chips… choosing rather to enjoy their haddock tips (sans fries). In fact, my wife and I were there last night… great people and great food.
Not sure about your group’s opinions on fish and chips, but with you raving about Jamieson’s, I tried them. Well, nothing to write home about, there. John’s Lunch is still the king, so I’m not really sure if your opinion of the fish and chips here is any more valid.
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