I first heard about south Denver's GB (Get Battered) Fish & Chips from local grocer Pete Marczyk of Marczyk Fine Foods, who left me a garbled cellphone message from what sounded like his car, and from which I could discern only a few words: "new," "fish and chips," "best" and "South Broadway."
Now, I love fish and chips. Always have. But it's a complicated love, because with so many dry, mealy, overbattered fish-and-chips platters so heartlessly served in so many soulless restaurant chains across the land, it's a dish that's tested my adoration, perhaps more than any other.
So even though it was Pete, who's as trusted a restaurant source as I have, it took a few days of heart-wrangling before working up the nerve
I soon found myself sputtering to a stop in front of the big, blue, Union-Jack-logo'd GB Fish & Chips building just south of Louisiana Avenue. It was almost too easy to find.
Vulnerable but determined, I drew a deep breath and entered.
I knew what I wanted even before I looked at the short menu board. Basket of cod and chips, side of baked beans. I placed my order at the counter, forked over about 10 bucks, and set up shop (beer, newspaper) at one of the long picnic-like tables that bolster the dining area.
Half a Newcastle Brown later, some dude shouted my (fake) name from the pickup counter off the shiny kitchen and slid across it a red plastic basket lined with faux newspaper-print paper.
In the basket: a golden mound of "chips" (a.k.a. fries) topped with four pickle-sized strips of battered cod. I paused for a moment, a melancholy James Blunt "You're Beautiful" moment, sweetly pessimistic.
"Hold on," said the dude. "Tartar sauce." He handed me a small paper ramekin. I retook my seat.
Years of fish-and-chips consumption has taught me, Pavlov- style, to wait
After a couple of shots on goal, I drew a deep breath and steeled myself. I was here to climb back on the horse. I carefully plucked a chip from the basket and wedged it between my front teeth, biting it in half. Chew. Swallow. Exhale. Potato-ey, just-crispy-enough and appropriately hot. Slightly underseasoned. I dashed salt on the basket, upping the ante. I had another. Better. So far, so good.
A dozen chips later, the moment had come for a taste of fish. I picked up a strip, drizzled it with a few drops from the bottle of malt vinegar, and, eschewing the tartar sauce for the moment, gobbled down the tip.
Relief. Joy. Butterflies. Pete was right. This was the good stuff. Staccato-hot, the light coat of batter crumbled on my tongue, revealing the succulent flesh within - rich with the captivating deep- ocean brininess (never fishiness) that proper deep-frying enhances rather than slays.
World-class good? Maybe not. But until my next trip to the U.K., a fine placeholder indeed.
After polishing off two fish strips barely dipped in tartar sauce, I was dangerously close to outright giddiness (not cool when you're alone in a restaurant). I dug my plastic fork into the side of baked beans, which brought me back to Earth - if not ethereal, they were sweet and homey.
I picked up my Newkie Brown and silently toasted Pete.
GB also fries tilapia, prawns (shrimp), oysters, squid and scallops, to varying degrees of success. But for my money, the meaty-buttery cod is the way to go.
Subsequent visits revealed one other home-run Brit-dish on GB's small menu: The individual pork pie, faintly spicy sausage meat encased in a buttery-brown pastry that was a fine example of egalitarian British pub grub.
Pasties (meat-and-vegetable-filled pastries) were also serviceable, with a flaky crust and flavorful fillings. (Rather eat them at home? GB will sell you three frozen ones to take away and bake yourself.)
Here's a treat: super-salty Walkers potato crisps, imported straight from the old country. And another: surprisingly good New England style clam chowder, creamy and clam-packed. Not amazing, but not bad.
Less inspiring was the shepherd's pie, a layered dish of beef, vegetables and mashed potatoes, which weren't fluffy as advertised, but tepid and sallow and not very hot. And the bangers (English sausage) were too bland to blow up my kilt.
Watch for these dishes to improve as GB - just two months into its infancy - begins to settle in.
There's no table service at GB. Paper napkins and plastic forks. The vibe is solidly informal, and the staff is friendly and quick. Nothing happens terribly fast here, but the fish is fried to order, and everything good is worth waiting for.
It's official: I have a crush on GB Fish & Chips. Even if it's not as magical as England's finest (or New England's finest) fish-and-chips shops, it's a worthy Denver stand-in, and an excellent lunch.
If the planets line up right, GB could win over neighborhood families and hipsters and secure a spot as a lasting South Broadway hit.
And if not, it'll always have me.
GB Fish & Chips
English | 1311 S. Broadway, 720-570-5103 | ** | Very Good
Atmosphere: Bare-bones but charming dining room decorated with soccer jerseys and Brit-kitsch. Darts in the back.
Service: Order at the counter, and pick up your order when your name is called.
Wine: A few beers to choose from, plus fountain sodas.
Plates: Fish and chips $7.50-$15.50. Pork pie $4.50. Pasty $6.50.
Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. seven days.
Details: Parking lot. Counter service. Great for families with kids.
Three visits.
Chowhound.com DENVER: GB Fish & Chips
I had a couple of inexpensive meals in Denver last weekend, both pretty decent.
GB Fish & Chips--Hole-in-the-wall on south Broadway run by Brits from, I think, around Newcastle. Had the cod(best by far), shrimp(good), and scallops(fair). I'll stick with the fish next time and probably give the tilapia a try along with some cod. The chips came perfectly cooked and unsalted(dunno if that's authentic manner but there was salt available at the table.) The place was very busy, but the service was efficient and quick. Bare-bones decor which was pretty much as it should be for this type of joint.
washingtonparkprofile.com
Alex Stokeld grew up “a Washington Park kid” but “fell in love with fish” visiting his father’s family in Middlesbrough, England. He uses a closely guarded recipe for his handmade batter, producing a “light and very flavorful filet,” according to his fans. For the namesake fish and chips, choose from tilapia or cod, or sample a “swimmers” combo with prawns, oysters, squid and scallops, also slathered in the good batter and fried to near-
perfection.
Fortunately for lovers of British cuisine, the GB menu goes quite a bit past ocean dwellers. Traditional favorites like Bangers (spiced English pork sausage) and Mash, Shepherd’s Pie, Pork Pie, and Pasties (a variety of fillings wrapped in a flaky pastry) add to your culinary choices as well as the overall ambiance.
Wash down your meal with your favorite domestic and imported beers and wines. While you should feel free to pick up an order to go, add to your dining experience with a spirited game of darts, or kick back and take in the ever-present soccer or rugby games occupying the GB TV screens throughout the day.
GB Fish & Chips is open daily 11a.m.-9p.m. Parking is allowed in the Winchell’s lot next door. For more information, call 720-570-5103 or visit www.gbfishandchips.com.
denverdinnergirls.blogspot.com
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Marie's Pick!
GB Fish & Chips -- Get Battered!
1311 S. Broadway
Denver, CO
11.00am - 9.00pm Daily
Attendees: Ang., Carol M., Carol G., Katie, Jen, Lara, Marie
After driving past this new fish & chips joint on Broadway for a couple of months now, dreams became reality when Marie chose GB's for our August dinner. Not sure what to expect - the seven of us met up on the back patio and called the picnic tables our home. It was a pleasant evening, not too hot and the tables in the alley we shaded and other than the squawking birds living in the billboard overhead, it was quite nice.
The menu at GB is extensive for a fish & chips joint. In addition to your choice of fried "swimmers" & chips, (Cod, Tilapia, Oysters, Prawns, Squid, and scallops), GB's also offers Bangers, Pork Pie, Shepherd's Pie and several kinds of pasties.
This is how it works at GB, you view the menu - either at the counter or at a table and walk up and place your order with a friendly and cute server-gal. This is also where you order your beer. You take your drinks and grab some condiments and sit at a table. Your meal is made to order by a casual kitchen - full of handsome and friendly college-age looking guys and then delivered to your table. The inside has booths along the walls and tables in the middle but plenty of room to walk around and seemingly well-laid out.
We decided to order a basket of Fish & Chips and combination "Swimmers" & Chips along with a Pasty to split between the seven girls. I think we may have had some sides of chips too - I can't quite remember how it worked out. At any rate, we hung out drinking our Stella's & beers at happy hour prices and in no time at all our meal was delivered to our tables on the patio.
Lucky for me, I was at the end of the table so I got first pick through at the selection of combination "Swimmers" and pulled out what I was guessing to be a scallop, a shrimp, and what turned out to be a strip of squid. Then I chose a piece of tilapia from the fish basket, squeezed the plate with lemon and doused my pickin's and my handful of chips with malt vinegar, picked up a chip and took my first bite.
The chip was pretty much perfect -- the flattened rectangle-y kind, a few inches in length -- perfect for dipping in tartar or your favorite sauce -- fried crispy on the outside and soft on the inside -- but not too mushy. I sprinkled on salt, dipped ate a few more and picked up my first non-chip item -- the scallop. I dipped my scallop into the tiny little cup of tartar sauce and took a half-a-bite, not sure how hot it would be. It was pretty hot, but tender, and juicy, perfectly battered, and perfectly cooked -- delicious. I dipped the other half in the sauce and popped it in - a perfect bite.
It was at this time that I realized that there was no way the tiny little cup of tartar sauce I got from the basket, was ever going to be enough for dipping my selections of fish & chips. So I got up and walked inside and asked for more. I shared them amongst the girls and moved on to item number two: the shrimp.
The shrimp is large, a large shrimp that looked like it needed some more vinegar. I sprinkled some on the end and took my first bite - just like the scallop, it was perfect - if not even a little large - for me at least. I sprinkled on the vinegar for another bite or two, ate a few chips and selected the next item saving the fish for last, the squid. It was a long strip and upon first bite I found that it was tender and not at all chewy - a treasure to behold, but not my very favorite, which so far, was the scallop, or maybe the shrimp. Hmm. Not sure.
My last swimmer was a small piece of tilapia, a nice little triangle piece, calling out for tartar sauce. By now, we've all eaten pretty much all of the tartar sauce in the little tiny cups. Fortunately, some nice girl had a some left and passed it over -- and now for the fish. I broke the piece in half, sprinkled it with vinegar and stuck it in the tartar -- just like the pieces before it. I took a bite and to my delight it was as super as you'd expect, cooked flaky but not overdone with a crispiness that is just right. And to my curiosity, not served with skin-on as they did everywhere in London when I was once there.
Stella. More stella.
Perfectly timed - as I remember it - it was at this time a guy came out and asked us if we wanted any more beer and took away some of our empty plates. Not having had enough, we also threw on another order of combination fish. A few minutes later, we were splitting it up again, and even though I was dying for a piece of cod, they were very big and I was feeling full - and I didn't want to take all of the good stuff because I already had so much! Katie shared a bite of hers however, so I felt totally satisfied by my crispy, battered, totally fried, dinner.
This is a long blog. Sorry. But there is more -- and it is so interesting! I must continue...
It is now that the good looking gentleman we saw earlier came out again to steal away for a smoke. I asked him his name (Alex) and then I asked him a bunch more questions. Turns out, Alex is the owner and they had been open for about 3 or 4 months - I think. Alex was inspired for the restaurant from spending summers and time in England where his father is from while he was growing up. His father actually came out back too and we discussed the pasty dough recipe that he insists is the best - the cold kind -- I did not try the pasty myself so I cannot say how it was but as I recall, other girls found it quite agreeable. Anyway, Alex told us that the business is doing well and they are even considering expanding into the upstairs one day -- with perhaps a bar and maybe a pool table. We eagerly urged him on.
After the fellas went back inside, the rest of us hung out on the picnic tables to finish our beers and head out as they close at 9:00. Another employee came out back, the cute gal at the counter whose name now escapes me -- but she chatted it up, expressed that she really enjoyed her job and hung out with the girls for few before heading in to close up. We finished our beers, climbed in our cars and headed out our separate ways, in anticipation of our next dinner!
Now we have eaten at a variety of restaurants in every kind of cuisine, but it seems that sometimes the simplest dinners are the best. I give GB Fish & Chips five out five stars -- my only complaint being the teeny-tiny tartars. Otherwise, it has been one of my favorites and I already can't wait to go back!
azcuy-lepicure.blogspot.com
There is a Cod!
Living most of your life on the West Coast will make you take certain things for granted. Your'e never far from a major body of water, thus, finding decent seafood is not hard and not expensive.
Then there's Denver. Studying the map makes it look good: Platte River, Cherry Creek, Highline Canal, Cherry Creek Reservoir, Sloan's Lake. A veritable Water World! Oh and all those Coors commercials we saw back in Oregon, "It's all about the water", yeah right. More like a land of ditches and ponds. If only to have the sun of Colorado and the water of Oregon. "Come Global Warming, Come!"
So, with no chance to jump on a deep-sea fishing boat in Newport and be back home frying my lingcod the same evening, I've been missing the catch. Sure you can find some nice sushi around here or go to Emma's or Vega for some nice halibut (oh, sorry, not anymore), but for the day-to-day fish and chips, sorry. For the love of all that's holy, we've even been in a deep funk because Arby's stopped serving fish sandwiches! I tell you, something's got to give here folks.
Just in the nick of time my "deep-fry spy" calls me up with the dope on a place that has it all, so he says. Great fish and chips, good beer and football. Dang, all the hooligans are going to crowd this joint now (cue: "Before you was famous"). We just had to go check it out. The joy-mobile pulls up and whisks your 'umble servant, his lady and her sister off to the land of ale and vinegar.
You can't miss the Union Jack on the big blue wall of GB Fish and Chips as you drive south on Broadway. Inside you have the requisite flat screens with football on high-rotation; jerseys on the ceiling and picnic tables for the crew (check the website below for who's going to be playing). The place is great, unpretentious and friendly. Place your order and within minutes, golden, crispy, flakey, (no, not some frizzed-out retriever) perfectly-battered-and-deep-fried-COD awaits you at the counter. The menu is elegantly simple; swimmers on top (that would be the battered and fried ones) and some specialties like pasties and bangers. But you know what? It's about the fish, and the fish rocks!
Ok, only if you are not a hooligan or a drunkard of any other stripe are you allowed to read what follows....Choose one: [enter] [sign me out]
They have a happy our with 75-cent PBR. Yeah, liked I'd tell you WHEN happy hour occurs, go find out for yourself!
GB Fish and Chips makes my life here that much better. It should be featured on all of those stupid "tips for out-of-towners". "If you're coming from sea-level: 1) drink plenty of fluid; 2) be careful with your alcohol consumption; 3) wear layers for changing temperatures; 4) don't eat fish out of Cherry Creek, they're all drunk blind; 5) go to GB Fish and Chips."
