Cook it: Seasons Eatings

Andrew Kay finds much to like at Fish + Liquor

When I first came to Brighton some thirty years ago one of the things I loved was the seafront in the winter months. Back then things were shuttered and boarded up at the end of summer until the tourists returned at the start of the next season, which was always Easter whether it fell early or late.

The advent of a year round tourism scene has no doubt benefitted the city’s prosperity, but I still miss my blustery winter walks along the lower promenade and up onto Madeira Drive. Brighton’s sea views are far less exciting in the calmer summer months than they are when the winds howl across the beach and the sea crashes onto the pebbles. You can still enjoy that of course but it now comes served with a host of fashionable bars and eateries. Nice as that is, I miss the odd off season thing.
Last week I took a wintery walk along Madeira Drive to Fish + Liquor. The venue has long served fish and chips but the new owner has given it a thorough make-over, giving it a mid-century modern vibe and adding a good selection of drinks too.

I admit to being apprehensive. I am a lover of traditional fish and chips and a great fan of Bardsley’s in Baker Street. Fish + Liquor could quite easily have become one of those mad deconstructed fish and chip jobbies, you know the kind, where the chef decides that the great British classic needs re-inventing when to my mind it does not. What do you think?
I was joined by my friend Mr G, a pescatarian, who occasionally indulges in a bratwurst. Odd, I know. We settled at a comic page covered table and I had a heart starting double espresso to knock the sharp corners off what had been a very long day. Followed of course by a pint each of very good craft IPA, an excellent start to what turned out to be a rather good fish supper.
Mr G chose the cod and chips with a side of mayonnaise. He is part German and chips in his home-land require mayo it would seem. I prefer haddock, a bit meatier and fuller in flavour than cod.

At this point I will reveal my guilty secret. Since childhood I have been a fan of chip shop curry sauce. So I was delighted to find it on the menu and ordered it. We waited what I can only describe as the appropriate amount of time for our fish to have been cooked fresh to order.
Our meals arrived on wooden boards. Now I know this offends some ­– I personally find meals on a roof tile rather annoying – but wooden boards? Well I can live with them, especially when the food is good, and this was very good!
Point one, the chips were crisp outside and fluffy inside, they came in a bucket which is a bit of a fashion silliness but being confined did keep them hot. Point two, the batter was stunning, crisp as a very crisp thing, not flabby or floury and cooked through. It was very well done and in being well done it meant that the fish inside was steamed to perfection rather than being greasy. It’s all about the right temperature, fat or oil, and clearly it was. Point three, the tartare sauce was home made and very well made at that. I despair of bottled tartare sauce which is a characterless vinegary slop. And don’t get me on to plastic sachets of sauce which make my blood boil.

Oh I nearly forgot, the curry sauce, well to be honest it was exactly as I wanted it, good old fashioned curry sauce, a sweet and mildly spicy gloop into which I could pop the chips. I liked the seared lemon half too, the singed flesh does give the citrus an interesting edge.
Price wise it was surprisingly inexpensive, especially to be sat inside. Portion wise it was more than generous, I could not finish my chips. That of course could have been because we tried the fishcakes.

I like a fishcake but to be honest there are some bad ones around, made with too much potato and not good potato at that. These however were very meaty with flaked fish, well seasoned with a hint of lemon zest, and coated in crisp panko crumbs. In short I liked it a lot and was sad to have to forego a slice of home-made Victoria sandwich cake – another time, as I am sure there will be one.
Fish + Liquor, 15 Madeira Drive, Brighton,
01273 604462