Fish & Wish — Restaurant in England

I visited on Friday 13th October with my family and partner. I have to say after eating here I left with a bad stomach and feeling angry because it was supposed to be my Fathers birthday dinner. We sat down and the tables had not been cleaned (in an empty restaurant). The waiter quickly rushed to our table and started cleaning when we were already seated. He rushed whilst cleaning and proceeded to only clean half the table. Already this was a red flag and not a good introduction to our experience here. We were also hesitant to put our bags on the floor due to the dirt and the lack of cleanliness.

My Mother wanted the wifi password. We asked and the employee shook his head and said ‘You should have asked if we could use the wifi first’ Then he proceeded to say that we could get it after we finished eating. I’ve never heard a response like this and my family, boyfriend and I did think it was strange and it created an uncomfortable atmosphere. After this we received our food and I have to say the one thing that I couldn’t enjoy were their chips. By just looking at them, they were clearly not fresh cut and they were nothing like the chips you would usually get at a Fish and Chip shop.

When I got home I read a few of the other reviews for this restaurant and I don’t seem to be the only one with this opinion. Many people have commented about their dislike of ‘Fish and Wish’ chips. They have also received responses from ‘Fish and Wish’ saying that they are “incorrect” and they “disagree” with people's opinions. I don’t think in any way that this business is professional and that the staff have any skill in speaking to customers.

I don’t expect a hospitable response. Especially from people that clearly cannot take criticism. I am simply writing this review hoping to warn any potential/future customers reading that the staff here are very peculiar and have no clue how to speak to their customers inside their restaurant and online, and that they are in denial of the quality of their chips at their “Fish...

We Googled loads of fish and chip shops in Southend as our previous place had closed down. Now, as sad as this is, the positive is that it threw us into the path of Alberto and the Fish & Wish, right at the beginning of the main pier. With various health and mobility issues between us we struggled to get to the restaurant on the first day (due to taxis, no fault of Alberto, he even offered to stay open till we managed to get there!). On the second day we got there and Oh. My. Gosh. Was it ever worth the wait?!! The owner is just a pure delight; kind, generous, talented, thoughtful, funny- he anticipated our needs before we even opened our mouths! But the FOOD, my goodness. We ordered rock, skate and cod and chips. We were given complimentary salad (delish) and the chips are HEAVENLY, to say nothing of the fish, which my partner and I agree is the best we’ve ever eaten! Unbeknownst to us my brother had visited the day before and described the chips as the best he’s ever had. High praise indeed but having had the chance to sample them ourselves I would say a more accurate description is HEAVENLY! Crisp, fluffy, hot, abundant. This review is so full of superlatives that it probably sounds like AI. My advice? Try it. Then you’ll understand. The food is incredible but somehow Alberto manages to surpass it with hospitality very rarely experienced. Five stars doesn’t do this...

I was with my friends on a trip to Southend and saw the reviews on Google for Crosby’s Fish & Chips and we had to try it out!

I will mention first, the staff were amazing. Second to none. They were all awesome.

The food however left a little to be desired. The chips were nice but nothing special. There were other places in Southend we tried the chips of that tasted better in my opinion.

The side salad was very uninspired. Some lettuce, tomato and cucumber. I would maybe recommend adding a little dressing for the salad or leave it off the side as the quality of the lettuce tasted like it had been left out and dried up. I personally did not try the chicken burger but was told it was very nice, if only a little dry.

The fish was something I was really looking forward too. The fish tasted okay at best. The batter was very light which is something people may enjoy more than I did but I was not a fan of the plain and thin batter. The quality of the fish was good.

It is hard for me to justify the price we spent for the quality of food we received. Even the menu had a different name to the actual store we were in which was confusing. The table we sat in at the back was not cleaned properly and the ketchup bottle on the table was empty. I hope in the future the menu might change a little and quality improves and take a little more pride in the...