On a freezing cold winter’s night, for some bizarre reason still unknown to myself, I decided to battle my way through the Milton Road roadworks, the ice and snow, and the cyclists flying out of the dark with no lights on like some Atari computer game, all with the purpose of finally visiting Pimp My Fish.
Luckily, I was able to order on their website before arriving, so I was able to turn up and pick up without too much waiting in the cold. I thoroughly recommend doing this, especially if you are driving into Cambridge.
The menu was small but had a really good and diverse selection of options. Obviously, you had fish and chips but also tacos, burritos, burger and chips, and large sausages. All the things you’d expect from a fish and chips place. You even got your mushy peas and curry sauce, as well as home made desserts.
As it was my first time, I decided to order their signature dish, the aptly named ‘Signature Fish & Chips’. The first thing I noticed was that it was priced at £10.50. This was quite surprising as a large cod at Rumbles was only £9.50 during my last visit. Keeping in mind that all the fish at Pimp My Fish are responsibly sourced from sustainable fish stocks and the chips are double fried, in terms of value and quality, it seems to be winning already. Rumbles can make no such claim on sustainability and also did not come with chips with their price.
The curry sauce was immense. A completely different league compared to the usual fish and chips curry sauces we are all used to. This feels like it was made at an authentic Indian/Bangladeshi restaurant. I got a real zesty note from the sauce which really complimented the fish. This came to £2.50 which is getting quite high for a sauce but the quality was on another level. I highly recommend this.
A thing of beauty. Their sustainably sourced cod and double fried chips with curry sauce poured all over from head to tail.
Fellow Cambridge Foodies admin, Sean, joined me for dinner and ordered the B.I.G Burger and chips. This consisted of crispy panko cod with wasabi tarte sauce, spicy peppers, candied lemons, and a toasted brioche bun. He also had a pot of the curry sauce.
I had the B.I.G. Burger with Chips and Curry Sauce, and was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. It was like a fish finger sandwich pepperred with little bursts of flavour, the highlight undoubtedly being the candied lemon. The lemon took me a little by surprise, having ordered the day before. I wasn’t sure after the first bite, but as I went on I realised it balanced the sandwich quite well and offset the heat from the roquito peppers nicely.
Chips are always a contentious topic, and I have to say, I thought they were excellent. A little crunchy for my taste, as I tend to prefer a floppier chip shop chip. I can imagine them being absolutely amazing with a nice steak, and using them to mop up the juices. They were served with Sriracha Mayo, which I did enjoy, but I would have perhaps preferred a high quality plain mayonnaise as the meal was already hitting hard with punchy flavours. This was even before factoring in the curry sauce, which SLAPPED so hard I don’t think I’ll look at chipshop curry sauce in the same way ever again. Resulting in me putting something from a chippy in the fridge to enjoy the next day for the first time in my life, and I’ve had my fair share of chippy teas!
They’ve not reinvented the wheel here, but they’ve definitely put some bells and whistles on the cart. All the while maintaining a price point comparible with a regular mid-range chip shop.
I was not sure what to expect from Pimp My Fish before coming here. Is it gourmet? Is it just a bog standard fish and chips? Was there a gimmick? The answer, I feel, is neither. It’s just good quality, ethically sourced fish, with double fried chips with some of the best fish and chip shop curry sauce I’ve ever had. Everything is done very well but is also reasonably priced for what you get. You are looking at slightly more than your standard fish and chips but certainly getting that (and more) in quality.
Is it worth a battle through the ice heart of Cambridge rush hour? Probably not, with so many other fish and chips between but if Pimp My Fish is ever in the area, this will be my first choice every time.
Thanks for reading!
The Cambridge Foodies 