Building on its success in Barcelona, The Fish & Chips Shop has just opened its first restaurant in Madrid’s Chueca neighborhood, and aren’t we lucky! The Alam brothers, Mani and Majid, decided to open their first location in Barcelona in February 2015, after searching the city for a fish and chips antidote to a long night of partying, to no avail.
Since then, they’ve opened eight Fish & Chip Shops in Barcelona, and now their first in the capital.
Situated on Calle Campoamor 2, their Madrid location is a lovely, small eatery with an open kitchen, modern decor and international magazines dispersed throughout.
The menu features an updated version of the traditional British comfort food, made with top-quality, locally-sourced ingredients. It’ll cure your hangover—as it should—but without leaving you regretting a single bite.
All the dishes here are made with prime ingredients from across Spain. For example, the potatoes and hake fish come straight from Galicia; the highly refined extra virgin olive oil that they fry with, Olis Bargallo, comes from Barcelona; the bread comes from Panic, an organic bread shop in Madrid’s Conde Duque area; the probiotic drinks come from Rudo, also based in the capital. Just to give you an idea.
What we ate and drank
I ordered a natural white wine, and James chose an IPA. The manager, Gonzalo, told us they’ll soon be serving beer from Oso Brew, a local brewery that we’ve written about on several occasions, with a bar in La Latina. Next time I want to try their kombuchas and homemade lemonade.
Accompanying our drinks were delicious edamame, cooked in extra virgin olive oil and topped with maldon salt.
As for the food, Gonzalo recommended we order a few menu highlights. To start, we had the artichoke flowers coated and sauteed in extra virgin olive oil. They were so tender and flavorful.
We also had the “bravas de pulpo rebozadas” which I’d roughly translate as fried octopus balls! Gonzalo told us it’s made with battered octopus that’s fried in tempura with panko breadcrumbs, dressed with a spicy sauce of rocoto pepper, ají and chipotle; and topped with Kimchi, mint and citric mayonnaise. Plus perfectly cooked French fries with paprika. This dish was amazing.
For the main dishes, we went with the two stars: The Fish & Chips (the photo features a medium-sized portion) and The Lobster Roll.
Their version of fish and chips is made with fresh fish from Galícia, battered in tempura, with cereal to give a bit of crunch. It comes with a side of French fries made with fish masala spices, plus a homemade tartar and mango chutney sauce. So satisfying.
The lobster roll is made with fresh lobster sautéed in smoked butter, drizzled with a lobster head, celery and mayonnaise sauce, heaped on a buttered brioche with lamb’s lettuce. Served with a side of authentic coleslaw and addictive sweet potato fries. Heaven.
For dessert we had the chocolate ganache, typical of Cataluña. The portion was the perfect compliment to our meal.
All in all I’d say this was one of the tastiest meals I’ve had in a long time, and I’m happy that this restaurant is supporting local producers while giving a quality spin to the UK’s most traditional fast food dish, as well as many other menu items that I can’t wait to try.
