FREEBIE ALERT
I wasn't going to blog about this, but then I thought that seemed a little unfair. I wrote about the handful of other free meals (declared as free of course) I was offered last year, so why not this one?
Tyler, the Chef at Mr Foley's, kindly invited me down to sample his fish and chips. He's been trying out different batter recipes and wanted an enthusiast to offer an opinion. So here it is.
Very good indeed. Crisp light batter, well browned on the exterior but encasing a nicely cooked piece of fish. Not the finest piece of haddock ever but the pub is restricted to certain suppliers by group management, so they can't just go down the market and choose what they like.
The chips, which are triple cooked, are fantastic. A good crunch giving way to lovely fluffy, creamy innards. They're extremely more-ish which is good as portions are generous. A lot of effort goes into triple cooked chips (slice, parboil, drain, cool, fry, drain, cool, fry again, all over the space of some hours) and I'd be surprised if you'll find them anywhere else in Leeds at this price point (this meal costs £7.50).
Also on the plate were garden peas and home-made tartare sauce. The sauce was spot on, delivering a good hit of acidity which is what you need to cut through the fattiness of the batter and chips. I often find home-made tartare sauces to be too creamy with not enough of the vinegary stuff, not so with this.
All in all this is really good pub food, priced reasonably, with all the key components made with care on the premises. You don't get that very often.
I wasn't going to blog about this, but then I thought that seemed a little unfair. I wrote about the handful of other free meals (declared as free of course) I was offered last year, so why not this one?
Tyler, the Chef at Mr Foley's, kindly invited me down to sample his fish and chips. He's been trying out different batter recipes and wanted an enthusiast to offer an opinion. So here it is.
Very good indeed. Crisp light batter, well browned on the exterior but encasing a nicely cooked piece of fish. Not the finest piece of haddock ever but the pub is restricted to certain suppliers by group management, so they can't just go down the market and choose what they like.
The chips, which are triple cooked, are fantastic. A good crunch giving way to lovely fluffy, creamy innards. They're extremely more-ish which is good as portions are generous. A lot of effort goes into triple cooked chips (slice, parboil, drain, cool, fry, drain, cool, fry again, all over the space of some hours) and I'd be surprised if you'll find them anywhere else in Leeds at this price point (this meal costs £7.50).
Also on the plate were garden peas and home-made tartare sauce. The sauce was spot on, delivering a good hit of acidity which is what you need to cut through the fattiness of the batter and chips. I often find home-made tartare sauces to be too creamy with not enough of the vinegary stuff, not so with this.
All in all this is really good pub food, priced reasonably, with all the key components made with care on the premises. You don't get that very often.
5 comments:
Great chips, can't argue with that....
One should never argue with great chips.
After your effusive praise, I visited visited earlier to sample the triple-cooked chips. Oh dear. Oh dear, dear, dear.
What I received was a plateful of flabby, soggy, bland, simultaneously under- and overcooked wedges of potato that bore absolutely zero resemblance to the "fantastic" specimens you describe herein.
I'm at a loss for words. Either you're a complete idiot or something was dreadfully amiss in their kitchen today. The former would be a terrible pill to swallow, the latter disappointingly familiar to those of us who eat out in Leeds.
Oli - you can clearly tell from the photo above that what I ate weren't 'soggy wedges'. I can spot a good chip when I'm eating one.
Tyler is no longer the chef at Foley's so I can only assume he hasn't been properly replaced and they've reverted to getting stuff out the freezer.
Ahhh, that'll explain it, then. You're not a numpty, after all. ;)
You've steered me good in the past. My faith is restored.
Post a Comment