Fish ‘n’ Frites

The fried fish here was great. They don’t batter the fish until you order it! The line was long and we had to wait a while for our food but this was during President’s Day weekend so it was understandable. Also the service here is very friendly.

I went for the beer battered cod with chips (fries). Beautiful crispy batter and white flakey cod. Perfect! Fries were nice and thick cut. Lash on the Salt and Malt Vinegar and it’s perfect. You could be in a British or Irish Fish ‘n’ Chip shop! I’ll definitely be back the next time I’m in Half Moon Bay!

One of my favorite places in Half Moon Bay Downtown. Although place doesn’t look very clean, the food tastes great and prices are friendly. Their sandwiches are huge, but takes them long to prepare.

The Clam Chowder was gross, fish & chip save your money pricey and not pleasing bland. I’ve had way better.

I’m a huge fan of the fish & chips from the fish trap but I’ve heard good things about this place. It’s also located really close to my moms house so I thought I would give it a try.
I gave them two stars based on a all around experience. I came on a weekday and I believe was their first customer.
I wasn’t to impressed by the décor and the interior of the restaurant itself. It’s kind of dingy inside. Over in the corner they have a self serve tarter sauce bar. Communal tarter sauce just shouldn’t be a thing.
I ordered the fish & chips, with cod fish and their traditional batter, and a side of fries.
When you get fried fish, if the batter comes out dark after it’s been fried, that generally means the oil is old and has been used often.
This is how my fish came to me. I was one of the first customers so it shouldn’t have looked like that.
The taste of the fish was average. I was hoping it would be more moist and flavorful but it was just lacking.
It was just a very lackluster experience and I can’t imagine going there again. Sorry!

The fish size is great for it’s price. It not like the usual fish and chips that you order at well known restaurants. This place makes it fresh and not out of a frozen pack. The Salmon fish and chip is like an «orgasm in my mouth», the coleslaw is balanced. The lobster bisque soup was delicious! It was creamy and every spoonful left me wanting more. If you get a chance, drop by and give it a taste.

When in Downtown Half Moon Bay, and sandwiches are too boring and pricey pasta is not calling your name, perhaps a plate of fish and chips would hit the spot!
Don’t let the apparent lack of fish and chips on the large menu fool you. The fish and chips options are printed on a small sign on the counter where you order.
Let’s break it down:
7 fish options: cod, tilapia, catfish, salmon, tiger shrimp, mahi-​mahi, snapper
5 batter options: house, beer, tempura, panko, rice
2 oil options: canola, peanut
Fries and cole slaw are included. You can pay $ 2 to upgrade to garlic or sweet potato fries. This place is ALL about options, yo!
Three of the four of us ordered fish and chips and got the same thing: cod with house batter in canola oil. In retrospect we could’ve each ordered differently so that we’d have different variations to try.
Regardless, everybody enjoyed their fish and chips. The batter was medium-​light and not too oily, and the fish was tasty though just a tiny bit dry. It was definitely worth the extra two bucks to upgrade the fries. I liked the taste of the sweet potato fries but I liked that the garlic fries came with a good helping of garlic. Maybe next time I’ll see if they can make me garlic sweet potato fries!
Finally, there’s a condiment bar where you can help yourself to lemons, ketchup, tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. Nice! Told you this place was all about options!

Two stars. We ordered fish and chips and it took about 25 minutes to get our order and we were the only customers. The place is filthy and customer service is non existent. They were unfriendly and unkempt. (Dirty clothes) I will not be returning.

Starving after a hike in the Purisima Creek area, my friends found this place in Half Moon Bay. They seemed to be popular and had a lot of traffic in of people eating there and getting takeout despite being set back from the street, located in a small plaza. It seems like they also have two names or used to be called something else. Because they have sandwiches and a logo that is called Gherkin’s sandwich shop or something like that. I ordered the cod fish and chips with the house batter and cooked in peanut oil. Food took a little while to come out but they make it to order. So that means it’s somewhat fresh and comes out piping hot. I also swapped a piece of fish with my friend who also got the cod siah and chips but with beer batter fried in canola oil. Her’s was definitely crispier and crunchier. Mine had more herbs and seasoning in the batter and skin. But I probably would do beer batter if I’m back. The fries were thick cut steak fries and a few were underdone, almost frozen still so they could be more consistent. But I love steak fries. Also use the yellow sauce — it’s not mustard. And my fish and chips came with a small cup of light coleslaw. Nice balance to the meal. And our other friend had the cod sandwich, which is huge. She only ate a full half of it and just the fish of the second half. But overall a delicious and filling meal. We were starving so that helped our judgment. Haha. Got sodas and fyi, there’s free refills. Outside and indoor seating. Oh and one group ordered fish and chips after us and the food got dropped. So the staff apologized for the delay and offered them a free drink on the house. That’s good service.

My husband and I ordered the fish/​cod sandwich. First the great was huge but a little over toasted. They put mustard on the sandwich without asking. My husband HATES mustard but since he didn’t expect it on a fish sandwich, he didn’t ask for it to be left off.
The main issue we had however was the amount of fish on the sandwich is almost invisible. The sandwich also comes with a lot of slaw and onions and you can’t see or taste the fish at all. Second, the garlic fries were soggy with the amount of garlic the applied. They were not cooked to order and for the amount of time we waited they should be. We ate outside to get away from the loud music and also the inside didn’t have a clean table and employees were just standing around. The guy at the register was not very quick on his feet and did not smile the entire time he waited on us.
Overall, not a great experience. I wouldn’t go back. But in fairness my daughter got the BLT which is $ 10 and at first I thought it was overpriced but then when they brought it to the table, it was huge. So the best thing we had at this fish house was a BLT.

I love fish and chips, but not this place. We were not greeted at all when we entered, and the guy at the register was dry — really dry.
Ordered Fish and Chips with Cod. The fish tasted fresh and was good, but the portions were extremely small. For $ 15, it was definitely not worth it.
The restaurant was dirty and the employees were just standing around.
Won’t be back.

This is a very quaint little resto. My friends and I came by to eat lunch after finishing a hike in Purisima Creek Redwoods. We all like the food because it tasted fresh and very tasty. We all felt like the food was cooked as you order it and it really tasted fresh. One ordered mahi-​mahi dip with cornbread crumbs and regular fries. She said hers was great. My other friend ordered a shrimp po’boy sandwich with sweet potato fries. She said it was yummy! I ordered the catfish sandwich with a side order of fried artichokes. We can all say our orders were all delicious. Oh by the way, they have this super mini pickles and it was awesome.
It was a casual dining. Minimal noise since the dining area is medium size but if you want more open space, it’s good to seat outside with view of the quaint downtown. It’s still
good for group or family. The price is amicable. The service is really great. Street parking.

They take first at being the slowest place in town! Friendly staff. Good food. It took 20 minutes to make my sandwich! I called it in and still had to wait!
I got the bronchitis. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

By far the freshest fish and chips that I’ve ever eaten. I came here with my parents to treat them for once. We ordered the fish platter which had a variety of different types of seafood. They ran out of tilapia so they were able to switch it out for salmon — which was such a yummy choice! The chips or fries were thick cut and super filling. I would have liked to see more fries but we still didn’t finish them among the three of us. I ordered the shrimp po boy and my goodness the happiness in my mouth. There was a hint of spicy was from the chipotle seasoning in the batter I think, but I also love spicy foods so if you can’t handle it maybe stay away. The po boy was simple and fresh so I didn’t feel greasy afterwards. The beer battered and fried fish that my parents ordered on the other hand… I forget which dish it came with but we also got a side of coleslaw which wasn’t super heavy like other places.
They had a little station in the corner for sauces (cocktail and tartar) and for lemons or small pickles.
Our order took about 15 minutes which wasn’t too bad but they don’t have many people working there so be wary if you come with a big, hungry group.
They have a $ 5 minimum credit card charge which is fine because most items are more than $ 5 unless you get a side or fries. They have outdoor seating which is great if it isn’t too sunny but indoors always works. They also have a restroom for customers which was a blessing because I didn’t want to have to stop at a port a potty by the beach.
I would warn that parking may be hard to find near by but you can always park at the little plaza about a block away and walk the 4 minutes. We did happen to find a spot luckily and it was free up to 2 hours.
If you’re feeling that seaside fish and chips craving, and you’re around the area, I would definitely recommend you to try here.

Best fish and chips I’ve tasted –the fish (I got the cod, but they offer several types) was very fresh, and the fries were home made and tasted great. –This place is better than anything I tasted at Fisherman’s Warf.

Fantastic fresh fish and chips, straight from the display case to your table, with a stop off at the batter pool and hot (oil) tub… The chips are also top notch.
We found this place while scouting out the beaches and shoreline and driving through HMB.

The concept I like. Choose a type of fish, Tilapia, cod, mahi mahi. Choose a type of batter, traditional, beer, tempura. Choose the type of oil it’s fried in, canola, vegetable, peanut. I love a good fish n chips and Fish n frites made a pretty darn tasty one!
I went with a mahi mahi with beer batter fried in peanut oil. The fish was taken right from the ice at the counter. Now that’s fresh!
The batter was nice and light and didn’t over power the fish. The mahi mahi was moist and flaky. Very good! Combine that with fresh cut fries or (chips) as you Brits may call it, and made for a great lunch.
The freshness of the fish really makes it what it is. The price was descent, about $ 11 or so. It’s not a big huge portion, but you get three pieces of fish about the size of say a Twinkie. It’s just the right size. I still got full and I’m a eating fool!

Not terrible, just not as great as I wanted to expect.
I ordered the scallops in beer batter, fried in coconut oil. The scallops were very good on their own — fresh and slightly sweet the way they should be. They really didn’t need the batter at all, which is good anyway because it was soggy and fell off the scallops immediately. I’m not a big fan of fries, so I asked them to substitute extra cole slaw for it instead and that was not a problem. I didn’t think the slaw was all that bad actually — needed salt, but that’s an easy fix.
Service was alright albeit a little apathetic, the wait wasn’t very long, and the restaurant was clean and orderly.
For the price, I’d rather go somewhere else (for me and my husband, a simple take-​out meal was about $ 40).
**edit 1÷28÷14: Some weirdo keeps messaging me whining, «THEY DON’T HAVE COCONUT OIL ERMAHGERD HERP DERP!!1!» Uhh okay, maybe I remembered wrong, but really how fucking important is that one little detail anyway? No matter what kind of oil is used, the food here is still mediocre and overpriced. Jesus fucking Christ, get off my nuts and get a hobby or something.

Two Fridays ago I took a day off from work to go boogie boarding. After boogie boarding I drove down town Half Moon Bay to walk around. As I was walking down the street I noticed this place hidden from the street view. I decided to check this place out.
One of my guilty pleasures is fish and chips. What makes this place distinguish from the rest? First you pick your own fish. Other places usually only have cod. Here they have different varieties of fish — salmon, catfish, tilapia, etc. In addition there are several types of breading — house, beer, tempura, panko, etc. Last you can choose one of the following three oils you want your fish to be fried in — rice bran, canola, and peanut oil. The one thing I am impressed with this place is the fish are displaced like a supermarket — fish covered in ice. You can tell a really fresh fish by how the meat is moist and not overly flakey.
I decided to get the catfish with a house breading to be cooked in peanut oil. The catfish is moistest I ever had. It melted like butter. You can tell this fish had not been out of the water for a long time because if it did it would not be moist but dry.
I thought this place would be a typically tourist trap with high prices. The price is not cheap like most touristy places but it is worth the price. If you had to go to a touristy fish and chip places between those near Pier 39/​Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco or this place I recommend this place. The fish and chip places near Pier 39/​Fisherman’s Wharf are pricey yet limited to one type of fish. The prices at Fish ‘n’ Frites are pricier but you have more varieties of fish. In addition this place has more relaxed atmosphere then the hectic Pier 39/​Fisherman’s Wharf.

Interesting concept but very pricey for a casual restaurant.
And half of my frites were overcooked.
You get to choose the type of fish you want (all laid out in front of you when you walk into the restaurant), choose your batter and even the oil you fry it in!
I had tilapia (which is their cheapest option at $ 10 for two tilapia) in beer batter fried in rice bran oil. This type of oil is getting a lot of press right now for its health benefits. The cod was a much better choice but at 3 pieces for $ 14.99, that’s expensive.
Save your $ 1.50 and skip the unappetizing truffle wild mushroom sauce for the frites. It’s just meh!