After a couple of visits to the West Midlands to sample the local delicacy of battered chips, the Chip Fiends have been drawn to chip shops beyond this locality to see if battered chips can make the grade elsewhere.
One of the Chip shops we heard about was St Michael's Fish Bar in Rugeley, Staffordshire.
On the day we visited we ordered small fish and chips, battered mushrooms and chips, plus some mushy peas and curry sauce. The fish and the chips were ready and we just had a few minutes to wait for the mushrooms to be fried.
The chips had that authentic orange appearance that the Black Country chips have, but were a bit dry.
The fish was reminiscent of the line in the film Last Resort (2000) where the young boy complains that his battered fish has no fish in it. This batter was of the decidedly spongy variety and looked indigestible. Once it was peeled away there wasn't much cod left in it.
The mushy peas were quite runny, but did have some small soft whole peas swimming around in the sauce. The curry was runny and insipid.
The mushrooms were nice but we’ve had better ones that were more plump and juicy.
The service at St Michael's was friendly and efficient. Other fish on the menu includes cod roe, fish cake, and scampi. Providing customers with bigger forks (or the old fashioned wooden ones) would be helpful.
Ratings out of 5:
Chips: 2
Fish: 1
Mushy peas: 2
Curry sauce: 2
Battered mushrooms: 3
Shop / service: 3
Over all: 2
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