I Moved From The UK & Tried What Canadians Call 'Fish & Chips' For The First Time

The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.

Compared to other European countries, the U.K. isn't often held in high regard for its food. There's a full English breakfast and roast dinners but perhaps the most well-known of all is fish and chips.

There's nothing that summarizes the British experience more than sitting on a beach with a bag of chips while the biggest seagulls you've ever seen in your life try and wrestle the bag from your hands.

Occasionally when I'm feeling homesick, I'll crave a classic chip shop dinner. While fish and chips are on the menu at a lot of Canadian bars and restaurants, I've never ended up ordering it in the whole two years I've lived here because honestly, I was pretty sure it was never going to live up to what I was used to.

First of all, whenever I've seen it on a menu, it nearly always says it comes with fries, and let me just clear up now: Fries are not chips!

However, I decided to see whether I was completely wrong about Canadians being way off with fish and chips and ordered some at a local bar and honestly, it was still wrong but not in the way I'd expected.

Fish and chips in Canada.Charlie Hart | Narcity

The sides are so important

One thing I personally think will make or break fish and chips is the sides. It's such a regionally divisive thing in the U.K., with some regions preferring gravy, while I'm a curry sauce girl for life.

I wasn't convinced that either would be on the cards when I ordered, but to my complete surprise, they did offer both which was already impressive.

I was already a lot more hyped for my meal at that point but when the food came out, one thing that threw me off was the side of coleslaw also stacked on the plate with the fish and chips.

I have nothing against coleslaw but fish and chips should firmly be a vegetable-free meal. If there is going to be something that resembles a vegetable, it's mushy peas only. Regular peas at an absolute push. Anything else feels wrong.

The chips didn't actually disappoint

I was convinced that the "chip" portion of the meal would be the biggest disappointment again to my surprise, these were the closest I've had to an actual chip shop version in Canada.

The chips were chunkier than the standard fries you're usually served up in Canada for sure, but chip shop chips often have this kind of soggy and anemic quality that was missing.

They also should be doused in so much salt and vinegar that it makes your mouth hurt (I don't know why but it's just better). While I tried my best to recreate the magic with what I had, it definitely wasn’t the same.

The fish was underwhelming

The fish surprisingly was the most different part of it. Usually, if you order a piece of fish in the U.K. from a chip shop, you’ll end up with the biggest piece you’ve seen in your life with so much batter. The Canadian version was definitely more minimal. It wasn't bad, just different.