A Salt and Battery

So, Mark and I are going on our belated honeymoon during the holidays. The plan is: Christmas in London, some time in Paris, and New Year's in Amsterdam. Of course in all of this excitement, I had to make a food plan. I love culture and all, but basically I vacation to eat. Seriously when I travel, I always wish I was more hungry so I can try more of the local flavor. Some people plan their trips thinking of the sights and sounds--I plan the restaurants or at the very least plan to be in the areas where there is a greater chance of good restaurants.

Aside from love and romance, on my honeymoon I plan to eat/drink the following (listed by country of course):


United Kingdom

• Fish and Chips at a proper pub with a pint of beer (imagine that said in a British accent. Nice right?)
• A full tea service (with the finger sandwiches,scones, and other goodness. I'll be having English Breakfast tea of course)
• Curry (every contemporary British novel or movie I have ever watched have people going for curry, so I am going to make it happen. I imagine it will be amazing--the best curry ever.) 

France

• Croissants (in plain and chocolate form, though this chocolate croissant business could be some American thing like the Boston roll at sushi restuarants)
• Escargot (I had a dream about them when I was 13 years old--seriously. In the dream, I ate them and thought they were delicious. I woke up wanting them, but in the midwest this was just not possible and although I have had opportunities since, it has not felt right. They may be right in Paris)
• Vietnamese Food (I just have a feeling that this is amazing in Paris, it did used to be a colony, so some amazing cooks must have immigrated at some point)
• Moroccan Food (ditto with above)  

The Netherlands

• Kraft Beer (apparently they are known for them)
• A brownie?? (haha!)

Anyway, Mark was off yesterday and I had the day to myself so I thought being two months away from our trip we could whet our appetites by going down to Greenwich Village and trying the highly recommended fish and chips joint, A Salt and Battery. 

Located in the cutest of neighborhoods, A Salt and Battery  is a tiny shop that caters to-go orders with limited pretty counter top seating along the window and wall.  Still, even upon arriving the smells already give me a clue as to why this place is so popular.

This is basically New York's only authentic British Fish and chips shop.  It offers locally grown sustainable produce doing things like using locally caught pollack instead of cod (cod has been overfished) using potatoes from Long Island and fish caught by local day-boat fishermen. All of this helps in making the fish fresher and tastier. Plus it brings me a little closer to that Deadliest Catch show on the Discovery Channel, which I never watched, but am strangely curious about.  

Check out the serious Union Jack action happening in the shop. The man who took our orders also had a delightful British accent that made me very happy. Mark and I were also pleased to hear an exchange between the counter guy and another customer. The customer kept insisting that he wanted fries and the counter guy says (again imagine a British accent), "Sir, we don't have fries, we only have chips". We really liked that. Of course the customer kept mumbling about fries, until everybody decided to ignore him. This chat really made our experience.

This is their fish menu and they offer a full selection beer too. I'm not sure if beer is a to-go item, but if it is, how awesome is that?

While we were waiting, I noticed this plaque on the wall. As I looked closely, I realized that this place has been featured on Bobby Flay's Throw Down. I got really excited then. As you can imagine, I am a huge Food Network fan. The most of exciting thing of all---it looked as the though A Salt and Battery won. Drool began to converge on my chin.

  
Finally the food arrives and it is magical. The batter looks crisp and it sits upon a salad of french fries---I mean chips. The counter is set with malt vinegar and an ice cold Stella Artois sits at my left. I grab extra napkins because I don't know how messy this is going to get.  I see that the homemade tartar sauce it mustardy in texture. I prepare to dig in.

Crunchiness is met by silkiness as the bits of fish tear apart in my mouth. It is delicious. No grease but pure goodness of flavorful batter and moist fish that has been cooked but not dried out. I ask myself to slow and down and savor it and alternate bites of fish with potatoey chips. Unlike some fries that are overcooked over fried, these chips are mini baked potatoes. Soft and carrying all the tastiness that can be packed into a potato. My only discontent? Lots of chips not enough fish. Next time I'm going for the 8oz serving. So yum. Now I really can't wait for Europe. Fish and chips--here I come!  xoxo happy nibbling!

http://www.asaltandbattery.com/