Chef John's Fish & Chips (Lemon Grove)

After finishing up my cold brew at Lemon Grove Coffee and deciding to have lunch in the area, I headed back out to Broadway and strolled a couple blocks to Chef John's Fish & Chips. This place has been recommended to me by a patron at the Poseidon Project several years ago. According to him, it was the best "Fish and Chips" he's had outside of London! Well, that's quite a recommendation!

The shop is located on Broadway. You can tell that it' had been some sort of fast-food location in the past.

Cathy wrote about this location way back in 2006 when it was part of the Tugboat Fish & Chips chain. I think she'll be glad to know that it's still a fish and chips shop 18 years later.

It's a simple set-up; you order at the counter; I got the fish and shrimp combo ($18.49). The owners are an older Korean couple; I heard them conversing in that language. They were the only two folks working on this day. I felt kind of bad for the gentleman as he seems to have some mobility problems, but still worked to fill the ice in the soda dispenser and cook the food.

I was told that my order would take about 20 minutes. A good thing as this means it's made to order. I went and had a seat.

This is what my plate looked like when ready.

I brought the fish to the forefront. Based on the size of the faux newspaper tray liner, I'd say that the filet of whitefish was around 8 inches long.

    The fries were nice and crisp, the type that was dusted to add to the texture. It was decently seasoned.

The fish was moist, very tender, the batter crisp and light. In terms of seasoning; it was very mild, I really needed he malt vinegar and would probably get some tartar sauce if I ordered this in the future. It was a nice generous portion. No off flavors.

  There were four shrimp which used the same batter, quite crisp. The rather larger shrimp were on the tougher side; like it had been cooked too long. The flavor was quite assertive, not overly sweet, but savory, I believe this was farmed shrimp as it lacked the oceany sweetness. Still, pretty big shrimp if you're into these things.

The folks running the place were professional, though based on how I saw the gentleman moving, unless they have additional staff I'm wondering if they can keep the business running much longer. This was a pretty good meal and had me wondering how Mr. Fish and Chips was doing. I need to do a revisit; though I'll need to recover from that fry-o-lated goodness.

Knowing that the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster had been solved was a great bonus! (jjk)

Chef John's Fish & Chips
8047 Broadway
Lemon Grove, CA 91945
Hours:
Mon - Sat 11am - 7pm
Closed on Sundays

This was a fun foray into an area I hadn't been to in more than a couple of years. I need to get out more often, right?

Comments

[Kathy Q]

We have been fans of Chef John’s for many years. We try to go mid afternoon to miss traffic from Kearny Mesa and the dinner rush. And we always show up and order, then wait. We wouldn’t want the fish and fries waiting on us. We always want to stop for a milkshake down the road (Charlie’s burgers?) but are too full and just keep going.

[Kirk]

Well, that says a lot Kathy! Especially since Mr Fish and Chips is a lot closer! It's great to hear from you and hope all is well!

[kat]

hoping they can stay open, the fish & chips looked delicious

[Soo]

I like Chef John's. Taste much like Mr. Fish and Chips. :-)

[Kirk]

I hope so too Kat!

Hi Soo - It's been a while since I've been to Mr Fish and Chips, I need to revisit soon.