Geales

Fish and chips is a national symbol. The reason I say so is because everybody has their own personal experience of it. If you ask someone where their favourite chippie is, you’ll get this long gaze (like he’s going down memory lane), with a lowered voice, they go ’i know this place…’. You can tell from their facial expressions how much they enjoy it.

The story usually ends with a polite nudge to pay a visit and proclamation that you wont be disappointed. Oh the joy of having found that dish.

my chippie story

I grew up in a really small town on the other side of the world and as far away from england as can be. But you know, I still remember my first brush with the old fish and chip combo. It was in a ‘western restaurant’, as they are call it in asia, that served steaks roast chicken and the like. I ordered a large haddock and chips.

The beauty is its simplicity. It can taste so good, when the batter is crispy, the steam gushing out on first cut and silky smooth fresh fish.

geales and tradition

As someone who doesnt have first hand experience with a real chippie, its all abit new to me, so I dont really have a stance over reinventions of this old tradition. But as you will read from AA Gill’s and Matt Norman’s reviews, its caused quite a stir. Both good and bad.

Established in 1939, according to esteemed crtics, it was a regular spot for old colleagues to unwind for a long, lazy lunch. Last year, this place was taken over by the genius team of mark fuller and andy taylor with gary hollihead applying his michelin starred skills in the kitchen. Geales is about a 5 minute walk from notting hill gate tube and is conveniently tucked away behind the cinema.

rise of the posh chippie

Hollihead &co will not be the first to reinvent the national symbol as many places, such as these in liverpool are attempting a similar thing. You can even find an excellent example at belgo’s in covent garden. Though, I think the main difference at geales is that fish and chips takes centre stage. This hardworking dish has seemingly been given a slick makeover, abit like how a nostalgic tv show gets the silver screen treatment. Think charlie’s angels, erm, mission impossible? Another great chef, Tom Aikens of chelsea attempted it in similar fashion at tom’s place, it would have been nice to try it, but sadly, the neighbours very recently brought about a shock closure.

Gasp.

Can our world weary heroes save the day?

fish, chips and mushy peas

Lets get straight to the point, this review is about the main event. If this doesnt work, everything else doesnt really matter. Although, if you prefer, you can jump to page 2 to read about the co stars and if its added sparkle to the mix. So on to the food. We order double portion chips, double mushy peas on the side. I had the cod and Nic went with the haddock.

We skipped the alcohol and only had an hour with the table, since we turned up sans booking. Me and nic, we go way back.

I believe the secret to getting really good chips is to double fry them, so they are crispy on the outside and use top quality spuds like maris piper to make them soft and fluffy on the inside. Just look at the chips, they are an absolute beauty and they taste great. But there’s the issue of price, that’s a double portion that costs £6. Its abit steep, granted they do taste good, but is it justifiable paying a £5 premium to get chips that taste marginally better than burger king?

Im no expert on mushy peas, but again its a double portion that costs £6…except this not very good. It was lumpy and rather bland; my canteen at work (yes, i have a real job) does this for free with the friday ‘fish of the day’ option. And that taste alot better than what geales had to offer.

So one out of two, how does the fish fare? It certainly photographs very well, served with sprinklings of sea salt on top, a slice of lemon and tartare sauce on the side.

It didnt work for me. I really wanted it to blow me away, but it just didnt. Where was the gushing steam? I found a measly portion, covered by a thick batter with large pockets of air. Gaps so large, I suspect the chef blew air in through a tiny hole while he was frying the fish. At first i questioned the seasalt, but my first bite confirmed my fears, the fish was bland. It really needed the salt.

The batter was not up to scratch. According to some of the critics, they say that because it wasnt fried in beef tallow, it’s not going to be great. Well, they were right. I was expecting the fish to be moist but it was a tad on the soggy side for me. I was sorely disappointed because it just looked so good. Im trying to convince myself that maybe mine was just a rare slip up and the next time I return it’ll be a much improved.

decor and service

The restaurant is really comfortable, the dark wooden floors, the black furniture and the retro portraits hanging on the wall, I liked the whole ambiance. I cant remember what music played in the background, but it certainy wasnt any intrusive club mix in a vain attempt to make things seem pretentious. It was just subtly cool and peaceful. The staff were warm and friendly, service was a little slow, but given the relaxed atmosphere, it was understandable. Top marks for actually looking like an attractive place to eat.

the other stuff on the menu

If my memory serves me right, I think grilled turbot was among the specials. The a la carte menu featured soft shell crab and prawn cocktails as starters, mains included steak and fishcakes. The puddings had classics like roly-poly, treacle tart and rice pudding. The sideshows do look and sound alot more interesting than the fish and chips, some critics have said they enjoyed the champers and fresh oysters too.

Another visit warranted?

Based on the fish and chips. definitely not. For £20 I can have a ribeye at gaucho’s with a glass of malbec and one satisfied man-stomach as opposed to soggy fish and perfect chips. If you want to try a ‘real’ chippie with pretentious intents then I suggest the one just outside gloucester road station. Its next to the nandos and all can be had for 6 quid. Times also compiled a top ten in the country.

But (oh yes but), the restaurant does feel really nice, you can take your favourite people here and have nice long chats, fitting the kind of laid back, dreamy notting hill feel. The rest of the menu looks really great (im still thinking about it after a week). This show isnt over yet, part one was a mixed bag, but I have a feeling the sequel is going to be alot better. Watch for my follow-up review.

Did I find ‘that’ dish?
Don’t go for the fish and chips, its expensive and you will be disappointed because its nothing really special. The chips, however, are perfect.

Should you bother?
The other stuff on the menu looks great, though I haven't tried it yet, atmosphere is comforting and relaxed. I do think this place deserves a try.

Kang's profile     Other reviews by Kang     Kang likes    

Geales was an old-fashioned fish and chip shop that had fallen into a rut, and in summer 2007 it had a change of ownership and a major makeover. Gary Hollihead is nominally the head chef here, though Gary is also head chef at Embassy, which makes him a busy boy. Tonight he was at neither restaurant.

The decor is simple and on this summer evening had several tables outside. Service was something of a shambles, with my order for a normal bottle of wine throwing the large brigade of waiters into a tizzy that took ages to resolve: "no wine yet?" was the sympathetic refrain of our waitress, yet it was surely her job to make sure it arrive rather than it being some sort of act of God. Eventually a bottle resembling ours arrived on the bar with two glasses and yet the waiters revolved around it for minutes as if it was invisible. Eventually I lent across and offered to pour it myself, which at least woke them up. The wine list itself was simple but appropriate to the fish menu that is on offer. The service did not improve later, with no idea who ordered what, the fish arriving out of synch with the accompaniments etc.

The menu is simple, with a few starters but emphasis on the fish and chips and a few other seafood dishes. A starter of "prawn cocktail" was really a dish of avocado prawns with mayonnaise, served in an absurd off-centre glass jar that some designer obviously thought a fine idea. The prawns themselves were cooked OK, the avocado ripe, but the mayonnaise was rather too rich, the dish too bland (1/10). Better was a soft shell crab, deep fried and served with a decent Thai sweet chilli sauce that was a suitable foil to the fattiness of the batter (2/10).

Haddock and chips (£9) was rather ordinary after all that, decent haddock in a batter that was not bad yet lacked seasoning and was paler than ideal (2/10). Chips were fairly good (3/10) but mushy peas had little taste (0/10). tartare sauce was merely pleasant. A simple mixed herb salad with a pleasant dressing was in some ways the best element of the meal.

There were a few token desserts but we skipped these. Overall it was an adequate experience, but you can get better fish and chips at the Fish Shop on St John Street or the Two Bothers or Toffs. They also need to sort out the circus that is the service here.

Andy's profile     Other reviews by Andy     Andy likes    

We went here in the second week of opening so although the review is quite old we believe the same points stand, i.e. the shocking decline in food and service from its previous incarnation.The old Geales was one of the first restaurants we visited in the area and returned regularly until its unfortunate closure. Although prices were relatively expensive for fish and chips the quality of ingredients, cooking and size of portions, coupled with the unpretentious atmosphere more than justified the bill.Unfortunately since refurbishment our worst fears were realised and it joins the ranks of so many overpriced, trend-obsessed, surly-serviced Notting Hill hellholes that give the area such a bad name for eating out.We had to wildly flag the waitress down for every single aspect of the meal, from getting menus, to ordering wine, to both receiving wine glasses, to ordering food and even down to receiving the bill. Now we are not like the worst impatient Americans who want everything done yesterday and exactly to their liking despite what the menu actually says; we left gaps of at least 10 minutes in between all the processes mentioned above, appreciating that there would be teething problems and the place was busy.It soon became apparent however that everyone else was being served just fine and we were the only table experiencing problems. Main courses arrived ten minutes apart! Other diners were even offering their condolences when they could see how long we waited for everything! The waitress seemed oblivious to this however and never offered a word of apology.The food itself was abysmal. Instead of the overflowing plates of chips, plate-sized pieces of crisply battered fish and bowlfuls of mushy peas of old it was reduced to small, slimy fillets of fish in limp batter with stupid glass cups containing about six chips. Nice presentation, but talk about style over substance!We were prepared to accept the service might be down to fawning over the d-list celebs (probably freeloading) in attendance which though not right could certainly be understood and of course initial teething problems but the decline in food was the worst and most unforgivable aspect of the whole sorry experience. Why did we not complain (more) at the time? Because when the essence of what makes a good local restaurant has been so irrevocably lost, it will never be regained.RIP Geales, you will be missed...

Went to Geales on wednesday for lunch. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.The manager was welcoming and friendly with good advice of the menu.My mother and me enjoyed dressed crab to start. Ii then had the roast plaice which was lovely and mum had the fishcake which she really enjoyed.All in all it was a great lunch and will definetly be going again and recommending to my friends.

eleanor's profile     Other reviews by eleanor     eleanor likes    

Superb as always. I took my parents there as a treat on their recent visit to London. They were amazed by the sublime food and superb service one has come to expect from this fantastic resturant.

karen's profile     Other reviews by karen     karen likes