Review of 'Kerridge's Fish & Chips'

We have always been fans of Tom Kerridge with his jovial personality yet utter commitment to providing simple, quality food as witnessed by his yearly “Pub in the Park” events that bring together good food and good music in a calm, park setting (see my review of his 2019 version here). As a reviewer for Hardens when we were given an offer of a free glass of champagne and dessert when purchasing a main at “Kerridge's Fish & Chips” restaurant in the dining hall at Harrods, we could not resist. Mind you, looking at the menu you quickly realize this is not your standard fish & chips with mains in the “Deep-Fried” section of the menu starting at £32 for the “Line-Caught British Squid” and ramping up to £55 for the “Native Lobster”, though, not so bad (!) if you consider these come with “chips, Matson curry sauce, tartare sauce and pease pudding”. Despite the cost we both agreed we would give it a go.

Dining Hall

Kerridge's is located in the dining hall of Harrods in the middle of the ground floor towards the back. The “Dining Hall” is also home to five other restaurants: “The Grill”, “Pasta Evangelists”, “Caviar House & Prunier”, “The Sushi Bar”, and “Kama by Vineet” (Vineet Bhatia, first Indian chef to helm a Michelin starred restaurant). Each are found in a small section of the magnificent dining hall which is lined throughout with tiles though this does mean it can get quite noisy. Despite being in the middle of Harrods these restaurants are open outside of store hours, accessed by the entrance in the middle of the storefront.

We were seated at bar-style seating looking into the small cooking area, allowing us to see our food being prepared and, occasionally, chatting to the chefs about what they were doing despite being behind a glass shield. The simple A4-sized food menu is divided into “Snacks”, “Deep-Fried”, “Simply Grilled with Herb Butter”, “Sides” and “Desserts” (with only two options) with the opposite side of the sheet devoted to drinks. We decided, somewhat naively, to use the “snacks” as a starter before choosing from the “deep-fried” items.

Cockles

I stared with the “Cockle popcorn and malted beer batter” (£12) which turned out to be a very popular choice with other diners. Served in a small tin the cockle's were lightly battered and incredibly tasty with only a slight “fishy” taste. Topped with the provided malt vinegar they really came alive and were gone in no time though the cocktail stick used to eat them with did slow me down a little. The cockles were in no way greasy and were incredibly fresh, and slightly sweet.

Pea Fritter

My companion chose the “Pea fritter and traditional mint sauce” (£9) which was quite a small portion but packed with curry flavour though it did not have the wow of the cockles, though perfectly fine. She particularly enjoyed the mint sauce which packed another hit of flavour.

Plaice

We had to order fish and chips. The “Market Day Fish” (£35) on the day we visited was plaice which I picked for my main. The entire fish and chips experience here is really the star attraction.

Sauces

Each selection from the fried menu comes with a collection of three delicious sauces: Curry (great for the chips), “pease pudding” and “tartar sauce” as well as incredible chips that look, I swear to God, like Churros arranged vertically in a tin container but most definitely do not taste like it with a fantastically crispy exterior and perfectly fluffy inside. If anything the portion size was a bit large particularly when you were served the fish: A large fillet coated in a crunchy (though not bubbly) firm batter that made it easy to eat and did not get soggy when covered in lemon and/or vinegar. Of course, it goes without saying that the fish is incredibly fresh and my plaice texture was perhaps only ever so slightly overcooked with it's delicate fibrous flesh.

Brill

My companion went with the “Cornish Brill” (£39) with its bigger flaky texture that she found slightly fishy but delicious. Again, the fish's batter was firm and crunchy, perfectly sealing in the flesh so it was moist and delicious. Not at all greasy.

Chocolate Almond Cake

At this point, despite being quite full we had to avail ourselves of our “free” dessert. I had the “Flourless chocolate almond cake, salted caramel and vanilla chantilly” (£10.75) which was incredibly rich and overwhelmingly chocolatey to the point I could taste neither the almond nor salted caramel.

Elderflower Syllabub

My companion made the wiser choice with the “Elderflower syllabub, summer-fruit compete and ginger-nut biscuits” (£10.75) which was by far and away, much lighter and full of distinctive flavours.

As far as drinks are concerned, my companion was very happy with the champagne, “Harrods, Premier Cru Champagne Brut, France NV 1” (£19/glass) which was offered to her (well, she had mine as well since I don't drink!) which was quite light and fresh without being too dry, which she does not like. We shared a bottle of sparkling (Harrods own brand) water (£6.50 for large) which was perfectly fine and not too bubbly, a good accompaniment for the fried food.

Throughout our visit the staff were very happy to talk about the food and answer our questions, providing the level of service you would expect at this price point. The bill came to £114.19 including a 12.5% tip added automatically but would have been much more if we had paid for the champagne and dessert (worth £59.50).

One of the unusual things about our experience here was that despite it being high-end dining we were actually full after eating. Not only full but almost uncomfortably slow. Learning from this I would suggest to any visitors that you perhaps stick to a main and snack or a main and dessert rather than attempting the three courses we had. Better yet, go with several people and share the snacks which are served perfectly for this purpose (definitely try the cockles).

All in all, one of the best fish and chips we have ever though at quite a high cost. “Kerridge's Fish & Chips” is best suited for two courses (or less) but really, really good though best to avoid the chocolate dessert unless you are hungry.

Harrods Main Entrance

Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”

Review Date: 2021-07-08


Cuisine: American/British

Address: The Restaurants - Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Rd, London SW1X 7XL

Public Transport: TUBE Knightsbridge

Location: London (England) - Knightsbridge

Map:

 

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Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7225 6800

URL: https://www.harrods.com/en-gb/restaurants/kerridges-fish-chips