A Salt & Battery

Three Contenders for the Best Fish and Chips in Manhattan | Eater NY

"At the West Village counter-service spot A Salt & Battery, founded well over a decade ago, the shop is a facsimile of a British “chippy” with a high counter, a stainless-steel shelf seating eight, green tiles with a fish motif, and three massive bubbling vats of fat; the menu runs to cod, haddock, whiting, sole, shrimp, and scallops but traditional cod is the favorite. I ordered the large cod (large $14.95; small $8.95) with chips ($6 extra) and it arrived in a paper boat with the chips underneath and a cod filet so big it flopped across the top. The battered coating was of medium thickness (definitely thinner than pub style) and the fish had a slightly rubbery quality that made it a challenge to keep the coarse-grained, slippery white flesh inside its coat, yet it sported a briny flavor. The chips were some of the best in the West Village — runty, not greasy, and tasting slightly earthy; the shop sells 80 to 90 pounds of cod per day." - Robert Sietsema