Canadian Living: Best Fish and Chips in Canada

You may have read a recent Canadian Living article about the best fish and chips in Canada, or heard about it on the news. I saw the story on the local CBC evening news and then everyone started telling me about it. I waited for the article to appear on the Canadian Living website before sharing it here.

Where to find the best fish and chips in Canada

There are only eight places across Canada listed in the article. It would have been nice if they had a found a fish and chips restaurant for every province and territory, though maybe that is a stretch. I think everyone has their favourite place anyway, right?

I'm not sure I agree that John's Lunch is the best in Canada, or even the province. Certainly they are a popular spot, but also known for their fried clams (I haven't tried them). Personally my favourite place in HRM is Willman's in the North End. I know there are more places I need to try, but I just can't get out much without a car (we all know public transit here isn't the greatest). 

What did you think of the article? Share your thoughts in the comments!

I haven't posted in a while

I kind of forgot about this blog for a while. My apologies! Thankfully Wendy has posted a few reviews for you.. I haven't even had fish and chips much over the last couple of years, or I've been eating fish and chips but not taking good notes. I thought it might be useful for you to have the photos anyway, so I am going to post some pics.

I hope to get back into reviewing soon, and maybe post some other non-review content as well. Cheers!

Long John Silver's

Where: Long John Silver's, Lee's Summit, MO

When: August 1st, 2012

What: super sampler, 8-piece panko shrimp platter & crab cakes, $20.65 for everything including tax

I know that this isn't an official fish & chip shop but they sell fried fish and fries.

I was rather impressed by the quality of their food for a fast food chain. And look! No after food tummy ache!

I got a Super Sampler ($7.99), an 8-piece panko shrimp platter ($7.99) and 2 crab cakes ($1.58). The Super Sampler includes a piece of chicken, a piece of fish, 3 butterfly shrimps, popcorn shrimps, hush puppies, coleslaw and fries. The 8-piece panko shrimp platter includes 8 pieces of panko breaded shrimp, a piece of fish, hush puppies, coleslaw and fries.

8-piece panko shrimp platter

Super Sampler Platter

Crab cakes

The assortment of fried shrimps were rather good. I preferred the panko breaded shrimps the most. I was most impressed with their crab cakes. My previous experiences with crab cakes have been mediocre. These were probably the most tasty crab cakes. I've found other crab cakes to be under seasoned. For a fast food chain, I was rather impressed to find real pieces of crab meat in them.

The fish wasn't as crunchy as the other items in the platters. I think it has to do with the fact that I got it all to go and they got less crunchy in transit. The fish was labelled as "whitefish". It was bland, tasteless fast food chain fish. Probably frozen.

As you can see, the fries are pretty run of the mill fast food chain fries. I had 1 and decided that they were best left alone.

I didn't think their tartar sauce was very good but better than ones I've had before. The mayo is not as sweet. The PC Condiments tartar sauce has a Miracle Whip sort of taste. This stuff tasted more like Hellman's. There's a little bitterness to the tartar sauce.

Long John Silver's was surprisingly good for a fast food chain and if I couldn't locate a fish & chips shop, I'd definitely get my fish fix here rather than the fish offered at other fast food chains. It might be one up from a Filet-O-Fish but it's still miles away from a mom and pop fish & chips shop.

I give Long John Silver's a 2 out of 5 wee fishies.

Milton Fish & Chips

Where: Milton Fish & Chips
When: July 27th, 2012
What: Lunch special - haddock and chips

My dad and I took my brother out for lunch at Milton Fish & Chips. (My little brother is doing a summer co-op at a local computer store.)

We all got the lunch special ($6.85) which was haddock with chips. It's not a big place like Heritage Fish & Chips but I would say that their fish and chips are better. The vibe of this place is "hole in the wall".

It seems to be a popular lunch place 'cause when we got there (around 1 o'clock), nearly all the tables were occupied and the chef was frying away.

Melissa says that the piece of fish could be a country. I agree.

The fish was really nice. It tasted really fresh and the batter was crisp and not too thick (pictured below). I like it when the batter isn't too thick. I used to "unbatter" my fish half way 'cause I have a grease "threshold". The chips were standard chips. They were more done than those at Heritage. I was happy that they had the PC Condiments tartar sauce.

I would like to go back and have their halibut and chips in the near future. There's one more fish & chips shop in Milton that I haven't gone to. If I were to choose between this place and Heritage Fish & Chips for lunch, I would pick this place.

I give the lunch special at Milton Fish & Chips 4 wee fishies out of 5.

Heritage Fish & Chips

Where: Heritage Fish & Chips, 840 Main St E, Milton, ON

When: First week of January, 2012

What: Haddock and chips lunch special and fried clams (forgot the price)

After moving to Lees Summit, Missouri, my parents moved back to Canada and settled in Milton, Ontario which is sort of next to Mississauga, where I grew up. I once talked about Heritage Fish & Chips with my friend Denise who said, "I hear they have tea cozies on their teapots."

I have eaten at Heritage Fish & Chips before. It's true that they have tea cozies on their teapots when you order tea. I didn't order tea this time though.

Fredrik and I each had the haddock and chips lunch special and shared an order of fried clams.

The fried clams were pretty good. I don't think I've had enough fried clams to really pass a proper judgement on what is good fried clams. I just know that they're like batter covered elastic bands when they're bad.

It's been a while since I had haddock and chips. It was a pretty good portion for a lunch special. I actually didn't end up finishing it. I've learned that haddock is a bit fishier than halibut. That'll teach me to stray from the usual.

The fish is beer battered but with not too much batter, which I like. The chips are crispy.

The only "downside" is the tartar sauce.

I don't know about you but I have a tartar sauce preference. In fact, I have had conversations about the best tartar sauce. My friends and I find ourselves going back to the ketchup packet packaged tartar sauce (pictured on the right). It doesn't taste like "real" mayo. It's got the right amount of sweetness and tartness. It's just much better than any "homemade" tartar sauce. Heritage Fish & Chips does not have PC Condiments tartar sauce. Most fish and chips places I've eaten at has PC Condiments tartar sauce.

Useless info:

After some research, I found out that my favourite tartar sauce is made by a company that started out making Chinese noodles. The company that makes it is the same company that makes Wing's fortune cookies.

I give the lunch special at Heritage Fish & Chips 3 wee fishies out of 5.