One of Changkat Bkt Bintang's best outlets for a Friday post-work supper.
The menu is vast, with eight kinds of fish for the fish & chips, as well as a battery of other offerings ranging from Welsh Rarebit to Cornish fish pasties. A well-stocked bar with enough booze to slay an elephant.
Cumberland fish pie with mushy peas. Comfort food at its absolute best.
King George Whiting fish and chips. I could eat this everyday.
Mussels in white wine sauce. Not bad, but not the reason to come here.
Torres Vino Sol. The wines by the bottle are very reasonably priced.
For dessert, we had some warm apple crumble served with custard, and not ice cream like we're usually used to. That meant that the apple crumble stayed warm throughout. The crumble topping was lovely - buttery & crispy enough, and tasted awesome with the custard and warm apples. My only gripe was that the apples they used were the powdery type, I prefer using the crisper apples even for apple crumbles.
To even out the heaps of fried stuff, we ordered some grilled calamari to share. The serving was rather small for RM 26 - 7 to 8 pieces of calamari with some well-welcomed greens. However, the calamari came as a nice change to complement the fry-up. The grilled hint and the springy freshness of the calamari mingled perfectly with the butter sauce with a dash of lemon.
We were both served with a large slice of battered butterfish golden-fried to perfection. The fish was accompanied with lovely thick chips and a generous serving of tartar sauce. The golden batter was nice and crispy and did not overpower the lovely fresh taste of the fish. I also love how it's served wrapped in a piece of paper; it makes me feel nostalgic thinking of all the times I frequented fish & chipperies in Melbourne / Sydney, especially by the beach.
Fish & Chips is the obligatory order since that is their signature food here. Presentation wise it seems pretty much like the real deal and looks authentically English enough, but that is all about it.
While the golden brown fillet is undeniably crispy, the coating falls off too easily when you cut into it. So you will end up eating the coating and the fish separately. That aside, the fish has an annoying muddy smell to it as well despite tasting fresh. My verdict Not so magnificient after all. Overpriced by a long way too.
Chirpy Big Breakfast @ RM28. The portion looks big alright mainly because of the huge amount of bread given. But at least it tasted as expected as expected for a breakfast – nothing worth a ‘wow’ nor bad. Can’t blame me for feeling this way though because Engka Portobello was dishing up a much better version for less than half the value, with coffee included some more.
If you are getting this and bent on finishing everything on the plate, you better have an appetite big enough to do so. Else I suggest you just share it between you and your partner.
Another complaint I have is that they do not have a proper menu. You have to walk into the bar area to read the menu which is written on the chalkboard. This is very troublesome and does the owner honestly expect every customer to stand there and read through the list Imagine the hassle for customers who come in group.
Frankly speaking there won’t be any revisit from me as far as I am concerned. The price is so high I think it is borderline unreasonable and the food is not all that great, not even near ‘magnificent’.
