Restaurant: Swiss Chalet
Address: 16 Foulis Row, Dartmouth Crossing, Dartmouth
Date: March 28, 2010
Fish: Haddock
Cost: $11.99

Recently we all received a fancy flier in our mailboxes proclaiming Swiss Chalet was now serving fish and chips. Well, that news, combined with the fact that Swiss Chalet has some of the best home cut fries around, pretty much made it a given we would be giving their offering a try.

And to further entice us they had a special promotion of all-you-can-eat-fries with the purchase of any entree. You had us at fish & chips, Swiss Chalet, you had us at fish and chips.

We chose to visit the newer Dartmouth Crossing location, but it should be noted that Swiss Chalet also has additional locations in Dartmouth, Halifax and Lower Sackville.

Well, when all was said and done, Swiss Chalet had managed to do something no other restaurant has been able to do… create almost 100% unanimity amongst all the reviewers. We all agreed that if you’re looking for a good feed of fish and chips, don’t bother checking out Fish Chalet. While the fries drew good reviews, the fish, portion and service were all MUCH less than average.

Not even remotely worth the $12 they are charging for this culinary experience.

Fish and Chips Score: 63

FCP Review Crew

Rachel’s Thoughts

I call this experience Fast Food Fish & Chips. The fish part of the meal seemed thrown together in a fast food manner. Not really impressive.

The fries are home cut and always good. Coleslaw was ok… not very creamy. Tarter sauce was good…. probably Kraft. The portion was not great.

Overall, not a great impression or taste. I would not order it again.

Stick to chicken, Swiss Chalet!

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Rachel’s Final Score: 64

Poochie’s Thoughts
I have to start by saying that I haven’t eaten at a Swiss Chalet in over 10 years. The main reason being that my wife has never had what she would deem a good experience eating there. However, I have heard numerous people rave about their home cut fries, so when they introduced the fish and chips meal I thought it was time to give Swiss Chalet another chance.

My first impression when the food arrived was… I’m paying $12 for THAT?! It was not impressive looking at all. My first bite of the fish took me back to when I was a kid eating Captain Highliner fish sticks; hardly a ringing endorsement for restaurant. Seriously… the taste was just like a fish stick… and upon further inspection the actual fish pieces were suspiciously similar to each in size and shape. $12 for a couple pimped up fish sticks… not cool… not cool at all.

The batter was was thin, very thin, and not crunchy at all. It was far more rubbery than crisp. There wasn’t a lot of grease but the fish itself was almost dry to eat. Not a whole lot of moisture.

The coleslaw was a tiny little serving and just ok, while the tarter sauce was most certainly Kraft.

As mentioned above, I was looking forward to the fries, and they were quite good. No mass produced fry can compete with a well cooked home cut fry, and these were well cooked. I did find them a bit too fresh, having to toss on some salt, but I guess that works better than other people finding them too salty and trying to scrape it off. :-) With a squirt of ketchup these fries were the highlight of the meal… by far!

Finally, to make the evening that much more dreadful, the service was SLOW! It took forever for the waitress to come take our order… and even then we had to remind her about drinks. Then it took a long time for the food to arrive. All told we were there 2 hours… 2 long hours.

Overall it was a lackluster experience… one I plan never to repeat.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Poochie’s Final Score: 63

Minnie’s Thoughts
The fish kinda tasted like fish sticks I had when I was little, and it tasted a bit fishy. The batter seemed a bit greasy on the outside and wet on the inside. The coleslaw was bland.

My fries were barely warm which was disappointing. I sampled some fries on the others plates and found them hot and fresh, so obviously I got what was leftover from a previous batch. If my fries had been hot I would have given them a 10 but, alas, those on my plate are only getting an 8/10 from me.

Also, we waited quite a while for everything. :-(

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
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Minnie’s Final Score: 63

Skippy’s Thoughts
Not much grease to speak of, but it seemed too watery for my liking. Yes, fish comes from the sea, but it shouldn’t taste like it. Light, but salty wet.

The batter was unevenly cooked, which tells me too much batter in some spots and not enough in others (too crunchy in those areas).

Fries are the major redeeming factor here – home cut, and dee-lish. Not so the fish.

When you’re known for one particular type of food (chicken) you shouldn’t mess with a good thing. Plus, Fish Chalet is not appealing.

Honestly, this fish tasted like it came from a box, not the ocean.

Fish
Batter
Fries
Grease
Portion/Value
Condiments

Skippy’s Final Score: 62