We were around the Times Square area, and this new fast food fish and chips restaurant just opened from Gordon Ramsay. The restaurant also has locations in Las Vegas, Orlando, DC, and now New York City. Gordon Ramsay used to have restaurants opened in NYC, but they have all been closed for quite some time. This is the only restaurant that he now has in NYC. So how was it?
Ambiance
The interior has some splash of UK colors and badging smeared over the wall. It does feel a lot like a typical fast food restaurant. What is interesting about this place is they have a station in the cooking line that intentionally tries to soak out the oil from the fried fish. The space is fairly small, and it’s pretty populated by tourists. Seating can be a problem during prime time, and it does feel a little greasy at the tables and seats.
Because this is fast food and because there are a lot of tourists, that means table turnover is fairly slow. Many tourists will eat very slow, so it may be a while to get a table.
Food
The Fish Combo ($17.99) came with 3 pieces of crispy cod, natural sea salt chips, and two sauces (tartar and curry & mango). The fish was not as greasy as I thought, and the batter was quite crispy yet thin. There were very thick chunks of cod. The fries were ok and rather salty. The tartar sauce did not have any wow factor to it, and I definitely did not care much for the mango curry since I prefer more bite and less sweet and tangy.
My partner also ordered the Crafted Lemonade ($5.99). This was not worth the money if you’re looking for something balanced, and it tasted like artificial sweetened lemonade that you would find in a carnival machine.
The Fish & Shrimp Combo ($18.99) came with 2 pieces of crispy cod and ~4 pieces of shrimp. The shrimp was surprisingly fairly large, but it wasn’t nothing out of the ordinary. I also ordered the Dirty Chips #3 (+$3) which added bacon, cheddar cheese, green onion, and sour cream to the fries. This sounded better than it tasted.
Final Verdict
In all, there really is nothing special about this fish & chips place. There are better places in Manhattan (such as A Salt & Battery) if you really are interested in getting better fish & chips. If you are in the Midtown area and absolutely craving for it, them this place is acceptable. I do think it’s a little pricey for what you get and fairly mediocre at best.
Yelp Jabs
I did sample the peach lemonade and it was PERFECT, just couldn’t justify the lemonade price to get half of that mixed with sweet tea!
There are a ton of restaurants around the entire NYC area that do a better peach lemonade. If you’re into that super artificial taste like this Elitist of superfluously sweetened lemonade, then I suppose that could be perceived perfect. Mind as well just throw sugar into water and drink that.
Prior to today, I’d say the best fish and chips I’ve ever had was in a restaurant in Dublin that I had about 7 years ago… then Gordon Ramsay stepped up to the plate… The sauce was so good that it made me consider that this may be the best fish and chips combo in the world.
If you’re like me and you prefer more citrus and tart contrasts, then you won’t like the mango & curry sauce. Regardless of that, this Elitist has a palette only made for fast food, so take that for what it’s worth.
Revisions
- Dec 17, 2022 - Initial revision.