A Salt & Battery — Restaurant in New York

Staff was friendly, if not a little neglectful. The waiter did not comeback at all after of he food was dropped off at the table. Would have loved to order another beer mid meal.

Food ingredients were of good quality and my wife had been there before over the summer. She had a much better experience on her previous visit.

The food was almost inedible. Like something was wrong with their fryer or something, but the batter on the fish had none of that light flakey crunch you expect in a good fried fish. For instance I would take a bite of fillet and all the fish would squish out the sides before I was able to get my teeth through the tough coating.

Also ordered onion rings and the coating was the same. Whomever prepared the food also misplaced the salt cause nothing was seasoned and it's so much easier to salt things right out of the fryer.

The chips were in a sad state as well. All but 1 or 2 of the smaller ones were completely limp and soggy. A generous portion was provided but sadly most of it went uneaten.

You know, I almost never complain, even when things are bad. When asked I typically nod and smile making do with whatever I was served. This time though, I think I might have but like I mentioned before, absolutely no one engaged us at all from the time the food was dropped at our table till the time someone came around with the check. It's not like it was busy either, there were only two other tables in the dining room with people (of about a dozen).

Sad too, cause my wife had raved about the meal she had gotten with a friend over the summer here. That and I was so desperate for a good fish and chips since our regular place the Chip Shoppe closed. I traveled over an hour...

I'm not a fish & chips devotee, but I do like me a tender fried cod from time to time. I believe I've only had it once in London (when in London) and once in Victoria (Canada, that is). I can't really compare this to any gold standard because I haven't had enough fried fish in my life to know what the gold standard is / if there is a gold standard...

That said, this place definitely satisfied a craving. But warning: it's teeny. There are about six or seven stools, one table and two counter tops. We came after browsing the Whitney, around 6pm on a Saturday. Luckily, there was just two other parties inside. Even so, it took about 10-15 minutes for our food to come out. I guess that means they fry everything right then and there. We split a large cod and chips with tartar sauce and mushy peas. The white cod meat pretty much slipped out of its fried casing (battery/shell) as soon as we cut it (with a plastic fork, mind you -- there was no real cutlery in sight, not a plastic knife -- is that a thing? -- are they trying to say their fish is so tender it needs no knife?). The fries weren't anything to write home about (in my humble opinion), but I suppose if you douse them in enough vinegar (like we did) or tartar sauce they taste pretty damn good.

Oh, and while we were there they had Queen playing and David Bowie.They really do represent their British heritage.

Next time I'm craving fish & chips in Manhattan, I'll know...

While America might have won the Revolutionary War, Great Britain and A Salt and Battery have won the war of fried food in the form of fish and chips.

A Salt and Battery serves up fish and chips, freshly fried and served piping hot by a delightful Brit behind the counter. The constant stream of Londoners coming in and ordering speaks to the authenticity of the establishment, a welcome relief for other cultural eateries which feel the need to "dumb down" or significantly change their menu for New Yorkers.

I ordered a half serving (4 ounces) of haddock and a side order of chips (fyi, the fish and chips do not come together and each must be ordered individually off the menu). After about 15 minutes, my order was ready, served in a cardboard basket with a side of tartar sauce. Although a bit pricey ($14 for both the fish and the side of chips), the portions were very generous and I ended up leaving a few chips in my basket as I was so full from the delicious fish. My haddock was coated in batter and deep fried canola oil, giving it a great flavor. The only difficulties in eating the fish are that the fish is hot (which makes enjoying the taste a bit hard) and that there are no knives to cut the fish into pieces.

Seating can be a bit of a challenge, especially if there are a lot of people eating and waiting to eat, as there are only about 8 seats...