Scottish Saturday - Fish & Chips

Last night was the Gourmet Girls Pop Up Restaurant at Fanny's of Hanover, a little cafe on Islingword Road. I love the pop up restaurants and this was a theme that I just couldn't miss. The theme was Fish & Chip night and in true Gourmet Girls style they made it fancy.

How does this tie in with Scottish Saturday I hear you ask, well, when I was growing up the only take away we ever got (EVER) was Fish & Chips! We lived in the countryside so nowhere would deliver our take away food but the fish & chip shop was only a 10 minute drive away.

This starter of Crumbed Garlic Mushrooms never featured in our Friday night take aways but breaded & fried garlic mushrooms have always been a favourite of mine; to the extent that the people running the vegetarian fast food place opposite my old workplace actually nicknamed me Breaded Mushroom because I ordered them so regularly. I swear the worst day ever in that job was the day I went across the street to make my regular order only to find out that the supplier had added milk to my favourite lunch, sad times.

These breaded mushrooms were perfect, almost exactly as I remembered them only with a touch more garlic and a little less grease - neither of these are bad things!!

The main was this beautifully plated beer battered tofu cod atop a pile of hand-cut chips.

The plate also included a tomato sauce, salad, tartar sauce, mushy peas and a pickled onion. The fish was unbelievably good, I haven't eaten fish for a really long time but the texture of both the tofu and the batter were spot on. The tartar sauce blew my mind - it was ridiculous, I'd quite like to slather it on everything every day! I have to admit to having never been a fan of either mushy peas or pickled onions though. I did try both (before accidentally throwing my pickled onion across the room at someone but the less said about that the better!) but in the end Nick ate all of the mushy peas. He'd never tried them before but he loved them, given that they're a vegetable this is kinda a big deal!

Dessert was a little apple crumble tart which we both loved. I photographed Nick's because I had mine without the custard (ewww!).

As well as being really pretty this tasted gooooood! Not too sweet which is perfect especially if it's to be served with custard and there was just the right fruit to crumble ratio.

I can't wait to go to another Gourmet Girls Pop Up, I love them and it's really nice to be able to go to dinner at a cosy candlelit cafe on a Friday night, they've gotten the mix of fancy food and a nice but also relaxed atmosphere just right. The pop ups happen every Friday with revolving themes and you can find full details & upcoming menus on their website.