Sai Kung’s Chip In has opened a second branch on Queen’s Road East, bc went along to check out the fish and chips.
Fish and chips a simple yet iconic meal and sadly it’s impossible to find a good ‘English style’ option in Hong Kong. The best iteration recently was a pop-up called The Chippy three years ago in Chater Garden. There were rumours they were going to open a restaurant here, but as yet it hasn’t materialised.
bc hasn’t visited the Sai Kung outlet, so our comments are limited to the Wanchai branch. Service is polite and efficient, at the moment it’s cash only, with all meals being cooked to order.
The European and Atlantic cod shoals were decimated in the 1980s through over fishing, careful management in the decades since has seen stocks rise and this lovely tasty fish is back on the menu. Chip In serves it’s cod in two sizes small ($48) and large ($75) with a fair sized portion of chips and a side of either ketchup or tartar sauce.
The Atlantic cod comes pre-battered and frozen. The photo below is of the large portion, inside the batter the fish was perhaps 8mm thick – not exactly a ‘large’ piece of fish. The cod was hard, didn’t flake well and lacked flavour. The batter was thin, crisp and evenly cooked.
The chips are also cooked from frozen, some of ours were a little cold in the centre but the real problem was they were so bland and tasteless.
The menu also features calamari, chicken nuggets, bacon or sausage butty all $48 and served with chips.
While Chip In is a take-away / delivery outlet only, there are numerous small seating areas nearby to sit down and eat.
If you’re wanting fish and chips Chip In offers it, and while there’s nothing particularly wrong or bad about what they offer. Sadly it’s bland and not a meal you’re going to shout about to your friends or say I’ll be back for another portion tomorrow – which is more than a little disappointing as good fish chips are delicious.
Chip In Fish and Chip
164 Queens Road East, Wanchai
www.chipin.com.hk
Open: Weekdays 9am-9pm
Weekends 11am-9pm