Among the things I miss most about England are its Fish and Chips, and Cod Roe and Chips. While the former is the more famous export of England, the latter is not very well known in England itself. Apparently, some English friends of Wifey never knew that they serve pressed cod roe (cod roe cakes) with chips at the local chippy. Then again, they hail from the south of England, by the coast, where the ordinary working class flock; while I lived where the bourgeoisie and the nobility live – around Buckingham (in Bucks) and Watford (Herts). Therefore, all the good food from the sea get shipped inland whilst the crap remain on the shoreline.
Anyway, I have been in constant craving for a good old English Fish and Chips. I still remember those days when I’d stand outside the chip shop in the cold with friends like Stuart Tinson whacking steaming fish and chips, or fish and cod roe and chips, with lots of vinegar, wrapped in good, educational newspapers like The Sun’s Page 3 or something.
Anywhere else outside of England, the fish and chips is crap. The batter isn’t the same (I love those beer batter – the ratio of flour to beer is 2:3) and they don’t use those traditional fish such as cod, haddock or flounder. And they use french fries instead of good old slab-cut potato chips (they call them Steak Fries in the US).
So, last year, my craving took me to the closest and reportedly the best chip shop in Malaysia. No breadcrumbs used as they would in most hotels and restaurants here in Malaysia. It’s a joint along Changkat Bukit Bintang called The Magnificent Fish and Chips Bar. I think it’s more Australian than it is English but anyway, here goes:
The Venue
The Menu: mainly Australian
Now, this is what you eat with real fish and chips…not chili sauce or ketchup!
I had Barramundi and Chips…not quite the same as the good old English fish and chips, but the best there is in KL
As for Pressed Cod Roe Cakes, I found that Hock Choon on Jalan Ampang and also Cold Storage outlets have the John West’s Pressed Cod Roe (NOT the soft cod roe). To satisfy my cravings, Wifey fried me some using her homemade breadcrumbs. Maybe next time I’ll tell her to make the other English batter replacing beer with milk using the same ratio. No, English batter does not have water in it.
Pressed Cod Roe cakes in Breadcrumbs – Wifey’s recipe
SeaDemon Says 
dont eat butterfish. it’s not good for you. butterfish can be any oily fish actually. thee was a show on tv here a couple of months back and they revealed what butterfish really is. yuck i tell ya… but barramundi is good. 🙂
http://www.wwfsassi.co.za/home.asp?m=7&s=2&idkey=905
Eishhh…. lucky la I was in the States :p
i wanna try those pressed cod roe cakes 🙂
Eddy…I don’t eat Butterfish. It’s a freshwater fish. Other than the Salmon, I don’t like freshwater fish.
Sayang…orang US tak reti sebut nama food. Spageddhi and Meat-bhall etc…macam Jowo.
Razlin…we’ll have some pressed cod roe soon before I go off for two weeks.
okay i just started my no oily stuff week and let’s just pretend i didn’t see this.