Fish’n’chips is a British entrée — breaded and deep-fried fish served with french fries, or as the Brits call ’em, “chips.” It’s also a familiar dish in the Pacific Northwestern corner of the USA, where I grew up, but when I moved away for 30 years, it was a sad surprise to learn that in the rest of America, if you look for fish’n’chips on the menu at a restaurant, it’s likely not there.
Since moving back to Seattle a few years ago, me and fish’n’chips have been lovingly reunited. There are two local chains, Ivar’s and Skipper’s, I’ve done ’em both, and they’re both fine. But the best fish’n’chips I’ve found so far is at a little place called Emerald City Fish’n’Chips, at the complicated corner where Rainier Avenue meets 33rd Ave, Letitia Ave, and South Charlestown Street.
The building is nothing to look at from the outside, just part of a strip mall, but the magic is inside. They have other seafood options, but I came for the fish’n’chips, and they offer your choice of Alaskan cod, catfish, halibut, salmon, or (heretically) chicken’n’chips. I went with the cod, because it’s cheapest and I’m no connoisseur, probably wouldn’t be able to taste the difference anyway. Fish is fish.
At Emerald City, you order at the counter, then take a table and they bring the food to you. I also asked for a diet Coke, and the lady handed me a paper cup and pointed to the soda machine.
The restaurant has only a few tables — two inside, I think, and three outside. It was a nice Indian summer day, so I sat outside and read my book, but it wasn’t long before lunch came, and it was hot, so fresh from the grease vat that both fish and chips were still shiny. Pained my fingers, picking up a fry!
After giving it a minute to cool, the fish was splendidly fishy without being too fishy, and the fries had crunchy exteriors, mushy, luscious interiors, and were salted just right. Emerald City makes their own tartar sauce, and it’s slightly orange in color, a bit tangier than ordinary tarter, but a fine match for both fish and potatoes. And there was plenty of tartar.
Any order of fish’n’chips comes with coleslaw, but everyone has their own coleslaw preferences, so serving it almost guarantees you’ll displease a few people. I wasn’t displeased, but Emerald City’s slaw is a little light on the white liquidy stuff that binds it together, so it was dry to my tongue and taste. Otherwise, though, it’s a fine mix of cabbage, carrots, a few unknown spices, and small bits of sliced okra as an unexpected flourish. Very good.
My only complaint at Emerald City is that the portions are kinda skimpy. My basket of fish’n’chips was about the size of my hand, delicious from beginning to end, but when the end came I was still hungry. That might be just me, though; I’m a big man who eats big meals. Anyone with an ordinary appetite probably would’ve been content.
Emerald City Fish’n’Chips
3756 Rainier Avenue, Seattle (Rainier Valley)
Food & drink: excellent
Price: ordinary
Service: counter, but good
Transit: #7
Verdict: YES.
11/1/2024
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