Long-established Fremont Fish and Chips joint in the Fremont Hub
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 9/7/2004
Rating: 9
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Im not sure if this H. Salt is the same one from the old fish and chips chain. They were popular in the 80s but slowly disappearing. I only know of 2 places in California and the other one is in Oxnard.
For a Fish and Chips chain, this is the best one out of the bunch, Long John Silvers and Captain Ds cant even touch this english style fish n chips establishment.
I consider myself a Fish n Chips connoisseur and ALWAYS looking. In what I look for
1. fish - doesnt have to be out of the ocean fresh but should have not any fishy slimey taste to it. My first choice is Halibut but i can eat snapper or cod. Its understandable that the fish is frozen, things would get expensive for both the seller and buyer.
Im not a fan of the slender cut but I like the long square cut. Inside tends to be more tender that way. Its rare that they serve giant servings but once in a blue moon it happens (take for instance Tam O Shanter in Glendale...hands down the best halibut fish and chips Ive had ever)
2. batter - I like it flakey and crunchy. Not to heavy on the batter where you can peel away. Batter needs to be good enough to where you find yourself eating the leftover batter chips in your tray. I like the dark brown colored batter as opposed to the lighter brown. English style batter tends to be more darker compared to the asian-english style. If its got beer in it..thats fine too, just make sure its an english ale and not a corona.
Seasoned batter is ok just as long as it doesnt overwhelm the taste of the fish.
3. oil - its deep fried, so I cant complain about the oil but i can complain about the wait time before they serve it to you. Some places take it straight from the fryer and directly to your plate. I had places melt my foam plate. Thats a no no. One of my biggest pet peeves is soggie batter, when you take the fish out of the fryer, place it standing upwards, that way, only 1 small section will be soggie.
4. chips - Im not too picky about my chips.
With all that said, H. Salt my favorite pick for English style fish and chips. What about the places at Fishermans Wharf and Half Moon Bay?
Fishermans Wharf - tourist trap from hell and you will hate yourself for parking there. Not worth the effort. Ive tried 2-3 places there, nothing spectular, sure the fish is fresh but their batter sucks ass. You will have better luck eating the fish n chips at Edinburgh Pub on Geary.
Half Moon Bay - whats up with $14 for 3 piece fish and chips with a medium coke. That is straightup robbery for a walk up window.
RETURN VISIT for Jason!10/4/2004 - 9 Rating: Was in Fremont visiting friends baby Kylie so we ended up picking up H.Salt for dinner. I got the 2 piece fish with a side of 3 shrimp. Fish was especially good tonight. Batter was crispy and fish was moist inside. As for the shrimps, I would skip that completely. Shrimps had no taste and were somewhat watery.
Have long passed by this Fish and Chips place in the Hub but never sampled it. So finally decided to stop by and get a half order. The place is run of the mill Fish and Chips as far as establishment goes. They are constantly making fish and chips so when you order, you don't need to wait 15 minutes for your order, they just pull up some from behind the counter. This is good and bad as you aren't sure how long they have been sitting back there.
Well my order was quickly retrieved and I tried it out. WOW. These are really good. I thought they would be soggy and bad tasting since they were already made. I was wrong. The fries were cut thick and had a lot of salt and vinegar (they ask you if you want these when you order, so these are not mandatory). The fish strip was also very tasty. A bit greasy, but not overly so, surprisingly. Since they weren't super fresh, they also didn't burn my tongue when I hastily bit into them.
The downside is that they didn't have tartar sauce anywhere to be found. The upside is the flavor. These are among the best I've had. The menu says they've been in the hub since 1967 and I can see why. Give em a try, you will not be disappointed. It was my sons first foray into fish n chips and he ate half of my half-order so I had to order another half-order (which we also split). Mmmmm. Another fan joins the fold.
RETURN VISIT for Terry!5/22/2005 - 7 Rating: Went here again with my son over the weekend. I was MUCH less impressed with H. Salt. I should have left when I walked in. It smelled lke grease and strong cleaning detergent. Why do fish n chips places tend to have a cleaning detergent smell? You would think they would want to leave a window open for ventilation. It was closed up tight and after placing my order I found it uncomfortable in there.
The food arrived and it looked alright. Fries, as usual, were amazing. I was VERY pleased with their fries. The fish, though, was ultra-greasy. I couldn't finish my 2 piece order of fish as it was too much grease, and I was starting to feel nauseous.
Since its located somewhat near home, I'll probably go again and will be sure to post updated reviews if the experience improves for me.
Reviewer: Grace
Total Reviews: 42
Reviewed: 11/3/2005
Rating: 8
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I ate here about 6 months ago since my boyfriend was craving fish and chips. I haven't been too exposed to fish and chips other than eating at long john sliver's once a long time ago. Anyways, I got some random combo of fish and chips, I think it was 2 pieces. It didn't look like a lot of food but it really filled me up.
I liked the vinegar that I could sprinkle on, and I added some salt and pepper to my chips, and they went well with ketchup. The fish itself was pretty good. I just had really good fish and chips on Sunday, so in comparison this place doesn't seem as good in my memory, but I remember at the time it was good. The batter was crispy and the fish was fresh and somewhat tender.
I'm sensitive to really greasy food, and the fish and chips was a bit oily for my taste, but I wasn't expecting healthy south beach diet approved food anyways.
Overall, I liked the place, and as my habit I ate there after I went to the dentist (next door), so I had soda dribbling down my face as my lips were numb. How humiliating.
“Obviously, this place has changed A LOT since it was favorably reviewed in '04! The food is VERY greasy (oil was not hot enough when frying)and the fish is overcooked! It was disgusting & terrible. H. Salt Corp. should be told about poor franchisee”
4/1/2009 1:06:00 AM
DebE ate...
Fish & Chips
“Taste wasn't awful... but there must have been too much grease ... didn't well for a couple of days. Disappointed :(”
11/17/2008 11:03:33 PM
DebE ate...
Fish & Chips
“Taste wasn't awful... but there must have been too much grease ... didn't well for a couple of days. Disappointed :(”
11/17/2008 11:03:31 PM
aristo ate...
What dish did you eat?
“What did you think? Lousy,very rude and to cheap to honer coupons. Said I can't honor national entertainment book coupon. Don't eat here.”
2/27/2008 4:29:09 PM
gumbysiufu ate...
Fish & Chips
“Came during my break for lunch. Batter was OK but the fish inside was dry, like jerky and had shrank inside the batter shell. the chips were chips, nothing unexpected. I don't think I'd give them another try.”
