Fishing for change

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Posted at 10:02AM, 28 January 2008 by Andrea McGinniss - Acting editor, bbcgoodfood.com

Just as we begin to get used to the notion that buying cheap chicken is about as socially acceptable as lighting up a cigarette on an airplane comes the buzz about the new fish and chipper set to sell a piece of humble battered cod for £12. That's not including chips. Ouch.

Admittedly, this is not going to be just another corner takeaway selling pre-frozen fish squirted with vinegar and wrapped in newspaper. Oh no. Tom's Place is the latest venture of Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens. It will be in Chelsea. The 'cook' is a carefully selected French chef, and customers will get to choose if they want their precious portion of chips cooked in rapeseed oil or beef fat. So far, so posh. But the main message that Tom is trying to get across is that good fish, sustainable fish, and the kind that we should be feasting on, costs money (as do, I suspect, good French chefs). Because of this, over-fished favourites like haddock won't regularly appear on his menu. Less loved ones like gurnard, megrim sole and pollock will.

Politically correct or not, it could be tough convincing customers that the fried food their favourite chipper already cooks perfectly tastily, and for a quarter of the price, is worth emptying the piggy bank for. The recent attention bought to the sad plight of battery chickens so vividly on prime time television by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver did result in higher sales of free-range chickens, but ironically, sales of standard chickens rose even higher. No such thing as bad publicity? Apparently not!

Whether Tom Aikens can succeed in his noble quest to increase awareness about eating sustainable fish remains to be seen. There probably are a lot of London diners happy to pay £3.50 for a chip butty, or £2.50 for posh mushy peas to go with their £12 cod, but in all honesty, well meaning as I like to think I am, I can't afford to be one of them.

How much would you be prepared to pay for top-notch, sustainable fish and chips?

Comments

Chris Brack

28 January 2008, 10:50AM
Chris Brack

There is something a bit fishy about your tale of expensive battered fish. So its not ok to have battery chickens but it is ok to have battered fish-this is all sooooo confusing. Maybe he is using the most expensive beer in the world (posh Carlsberg 10 year old beer being sold in some scandanavian restraunts for close to 300 euro at the moment) in his batter. The flour might be hand ground using a tweezers, who knows. Is this place a takeaway or a sit down place? Anyhooos Jamie Oliver has a recipie for a fish finger butty (I know and I actually bought the book-come on who needs a recipe for that) so I think I will be sticking to that.

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Holly

28 January 2008, 11:07AM
Holly

Does sustainable fish really cost that much more to buy? Fish and chips is an expensive take-away now, even a portion of chips at some places seems grotesquely over-priced. There's a company called Seacow near my house, (http://www.theseacow.co.uk) which has a similar concept to Tom Aitken's new place (it's been around for a few years and does very well). Prices start at £8 for your average fish and chips and rise to £9 for the most expensive fish, with £2.50 for chips so £11.50. I walk past all the time and think how nice it looks but can't bring myself to spend the money on just fish and chips, however, in the name of research I may have to pop along and see what all the fuss is about. Maybe its just a London thing, does everywhere else have a decent local chippy?

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Chris Brack

28 January 2008, 2:08PM
Chris Brack

I know what you mean regarding fish and chips not being a cheap option anymore, even from your local chippy. But the portions of chips in chippers around Ireland have increased an awful lot the past few years. One large portion of chips easily does two people. So on the face of it it looks like the prices have increased alot but in reality if you can buy one portion of large fish and chips with a friend or that someone fecial (trying to combine special and fish-think I have failed miserably there) the cost is not too bad, so go on SPLASH out (I think that works a bit better than fecial).

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squizita

29 January 2008, 9:54AM
squizita

My local chippie is a good quality local one and fish and chips for two costs £15! It is no longer a cheap option. I notice older people and student types opt for pies, pasties and sausages rather than fish because it is just too costly. They do use sustainable fish and it is delicious, which is why I go there. But this seems to show that this 'new' place is overpriced and claiming to be a new concept when it isn't. A bit like sushi uptown when everyone knows Sushi-Hiro and so on in Ealing/Acton have been run by japanese ex-pats for generations, and give better food at half the price. I wonder what they'll 'discover' next? Caribbean food, Indian, Irish stew ... or something else that's been around forever!?

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Kirsten

1 February 2008, 11:14AM
Kirsten

It's all about posh nosh! If people want to pay to eat somewhere trendy surely it is up to them it is just the same as saying 'you can buy tesco's jeans for £3 why would you buy Levis, or designer?' Because I want to!!! The ethical debate is important and maybe that is really the issue not the cost! RANT OVER!!

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Jules

2 February 2008, 11:40AM
Jules

Its so easy to make your own fish (with a beer batter) and chips. Living in France we dont have the luxuries of the local fish and chip shop, so I often make my own, the problem is my husband would eat them every day if he could - and he hates to find a bone in his fish, if he does he wont eat it, so all bones are removed first. We do have fantastic fish counters in our supermarkets over here. My husband used to only eat cod, but now he eats lots of different kinds of fish, I just dont tell him what sort it is the first time he eats it and if he says it is lovely without me asking he gets it again. Fish and Chips yummy.

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Gregg

3 February 2008, 2:50PM
Gregg

Is it OK if I advertise my mates cafe ?

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EASYTEAS

5 February 2008, 10:54PM
EASYTEAS

bought a piece of cod today £3-50 & a piece of pollack £1-70. cut both fish into 2 made beer batter chips mushy peas bread & butter. if £15 fish tasted better than mine i'll eat my shirt.

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shez

7 February 2008, 8:46PM
shez

Can't beat a good bit of cod and a few chips on a tray and wrapped in paper at the sea side and can't imagine no posh nosh chippies opening on the east coast! Bags of chips at chippies near me feed our family of four from one portion - its a con to get us to buy more.

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chicken123

13 March 2008, 5:53PM
chicken123

Our local Chippie is an excellent one. A medium cod and chips is Â£3.20 a bargin compared to others. Always fresh fish and cooked well.Although I do agree nothing tastes nicer than fish and chips on the beach eaten out of the paperc cant wait for our holiday in Whitby!

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