Restaurant: Porters Steakhouse & Sports Bar
Address: 590 Portland Street, Dartmouth
Date: March 13, 2010
Fish: Haddock
Cost: $11.00

Tonight we thought we’d check out Porters Steakhouse on Portland Street in Dartmouth. Some of us have been here previously and have enjoyed our orders, so let’s see how they handle fish and chips.

The ambiance of the restaurant was nice, but we felt the Porters Steakhouse fish and chips experience was only a tiny bit above average. When you look at the price ($11) it certainly wouldn’t be our first choice when searching for fish and chips in the Dartmouth area.

Fish and Chips Score: 72

FCP Review Crew

Rachel’s Thoughts

The fish itself had good flavor. The batter was tasty and crispy, but retained a lot of grease.

The fries were very good. For me the tarter sauce was delicious – homemade, creamy and garlicky (is that a word?). It would have been nice to have homemade coleslaw as well, but there was none, as in no coleslaw at all. :-(

The restaurant has a nice atmosphere, too.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Rachel’s Final Score: 76

Poochie’s Thoughts
The first thing I noticed is that the menu proclaimed the meal as Haddock and Fries, not Fish & Chips. I guess steakhouses are too fancy to offer fish and chips.

The fish tasted a tiny bit fishy, which is always a bit of a turn-off for me. I grew up in a household with a father who was a cook on the offshore fish draggers and I know that fishy fish means not so fresh fish. Other than that I felt it was just average.

The beer batter almost seemed over-cooked, with almost a burnt taste to it. It was very crunchy and was certainly not doughy inside. I also found it a little too greasy, squeezing out and looking shiny when you cut into it.

The fries seemed to be mass produced, but they tasted good, hot, fresh and cooked just right for me.

The tarter sauce was homemade and really tasty. A sort of dilly mayonnaise with a hint of garlic. Really nice. It was a bit disappointing that no coleslaw was included, which forced me to remove a point from the condiments score.

I also thought it wasn’t a large portion for the price, but I guess that is what you should expect when eating in a steakhouse.

All in all I would say Porters offers a decidedly average fish and chips meal with an above average tarter sauce.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Poochie’s Final Score: 71

Minnie’s Thoughts
I thought the fish was quite greasy and made a big grease spot on the plate.

I think the fries were home-cut and very good. I liked the tarter sauce… it had a little garlic or something in it which I liked. There was no coleslaw which was unfortunate because I like some coleslaw with my fish and chips.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Minnie’s Final Score: 71

Skippy’s Thoughts
Once I put ketchup on it the haddock had lots of flavor. The batter had a nice amount of crispness. It’s fish and chips, but slightly more grease than I expected.

The fries reminded me of what you’d get at a local fair… fair.

I always want my last bite of what I’m eating to be the best bite. In the case of this haddock, the last bite was tough and chewy, and against my better judgment… I swallowed it. Will I pay for that later? (Maybe I should give my final score tomorrow…)

The ketchup was good, and in a nice clean bottle.

For the price ($11) I felt it could have been a bigger portion of fish with more fries as well.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Skippy’s Final Score: 70