Mon 6pm–10:30pm; Tue–Fri midday–2:30pm; Sat 9am–10:30pm; Sun 9am–9:30pm
Fish and chips used to entail heavily battered cod and over oiled chips stuck to yesterday’s newspaper eaten on a windswept beach, but over the last few years the typically British dish has been given a new lease of life and now perches proudly at the menus of some of the capital’s best restaurants. But is this fiercely traditional dish best left to the chippies?
Located away from the buzz of King’s Road, in the heart of upmarket Chelsea Green, Geales serves up top-notch ‘posh’ fish and chips among other coastal-inspired dishes. The new branch builds on the success of the original Notting Hill restaurant and having been open only a few months already has a loyal neighbourhood following with every table taken on our visit.
The restaurant has an elegant, understated feel; tables are set with blue gingham table cloths and candles. They’re surrounded by calming slatey-green coloured walls and nostalgic black and white photographs of fishing scenes from a bygone era. The staff are friendly and attentive waltzing round the busy dining room to the background hum of the Queen’s English and clinking glasses.
For starters, we ordered the taramasalata and bread (£2) followed by the pot of large prawns with lemon aioli. The taramasalata was nothing special but perfectly fine, while the prawns proved a little messy but divine. The best starter however was the mussel’s mariniere (£7), the generous portion of steaming muscles released and intoxicating aroma of garlic and cream.
For mains, one of us was clearly going to have to sample some posh fish and chips so my friend Annika chose the classic cod (£11.75) to compare with our local chippy. The chips were perfect and the fish’s delicate light and crispy batter encased moist, flaky cod fit for the poshest of palates: Geales 1 – Chippy 0. I ordered the plaice from the specials menu to make sure we weren’t dealing with a one-trick pony; the fish was succulent and deliciously garlicky – not one to order on a date! Both portions were well presented and very generous.
Stuffed to the brim, we decided to share a sticky toffee pudding with caramelised banana (£5.50) and a chocolate brownie with orange icecream (£5.50). The sticky toffee pudding was a good texture and had not dried out as they often are. However the winner was the chocolate brownie which was devilishly rich and totally over indulgent following the enormous mains.
If fish is your dish then abandon your chippy and head to Geales… Early!
