Great Dining at go fish!
In Home-Thoughts, from Abroad, the poet Robert Browning wrote “Oh, to be in England.…” Well, now you can be. And you only have to travel a few feet from the boardwalk to get there!
go fish!, the brainchild of Londoner Alison Blyth, is the perfect place to grab a taste from across the ocean. From bangers and mushy peas, to its beer-battered fish and chips, go fish! makes you feel as if you’ve landed on the banks of the Thames River.
Alison owns and operates the 40-seat, full-service restaurant on the ocean block of Rehoboth Avenue. She says, “We specialise (that’s how the English spell it) in all the good stuff from across the pond, absolutely authentic, GREAT British Fish and Chips, and a nice menu of other British favs, and our own spin on some American dishes. Everything is homemade and delicious.”
Couldn’t say it better than this personable, passionate woman, so I’ll move on to the ambiance of this little gem by the ocean. It’s obvious that Blyth has a love affair with tradition. Union Jacks adorn the walls, along with road signs all the way from England. Cap it off with a Guinness, and you’ll think you’re in an English pub.
But the ambiance is only part of the story. There’s the food, of course. What a menu! On our recent evening there, my friend Linda and I were treated to a smorgasbord of samples, allowing us to try many of the dishes on the menu. Aside from being incredibly full at the end of the evening, we enjoyed every bite.
Many of the selections came with go fish!’s signature beer-battered coating. From jumbo shrimp to chicken to the savory Alaskan pollock, this light and crispy batter provided a delightful crunch to its nicely cooked insides. The shrimp appetizer with large shrimp and a perfect amount of batter was excellent, and the pollock…well, we’ll get to that in a minute!
We tried many menu items and were impressed with the consistent quality of the dishes. The clam chowder and the Maryland crab soup were both full of their respective seafood (the clam chowder is one of my local favorites). The crab dip was thick and tasty, and the tandoori chicken skewers were tender and served with garlic-mint yogurt.
Once we devoured our appetizers, we were met with assorted British and American dishes. go fish!’s crab cake has lots of crab and has a little bite to it. Another memorable dish is their bangers (sausages to us Americans), served with English brown sauce. You can even get bangers encrusted in that great beer batter. Definitely worth the try. There is shepherd’s pie to dine on, as well as a baked fisherman’s pie. All worth your while.
Well, we’ve been dancing around the subject throughout the article, so let’s talk about it…fish and chips!
First of all, the Alaskan pollock is tender and very tasty. It also comes in an ample size. And once you coat it in that beer batter, you have a real treat. The chips themselves have an amazing history before they come to your plate. Each day, these morsels evolve from fresh potatoes to the ones that wind up cradled next to your fish. go fish! uses anywhere from 400 to 600 pounds of potatoes every day! Alison’s great staff comes in at 4:00 in the morning. Two to three members take five to six hours to bring the potatoes from fresh spuds to delicious English-style chips.
Thus, one of the secrets to go fish’s tasty treats is that everything on the menu is homemade, down to the soups, even the tartar sauce. Also, the recipes are consistent and exactly followed. So, if you drive down Rehoboth Avenue to eat there one night and walk in off the beach a week later for a nice lunch, you’ll find your favorites remain the same. Not every restaurant can say that.
After all this food, we were so full that we had to turn down dessert. Sure. Linda had the key lime pie made with real lime juice and drizzled with raspberry sauce. I chose the House Dessert, a homemade English sticky toffee pudding served warm with a dollop of whipped cream. Remember when you stop by, you are NEVER too full to try these desserts.
Setting up shop in 2002, go fish! recently celebrated its 20-year anniversary, and its sister restaurant, go brit!, in Lewes, just hit 10 years. Either of these places is a sure go-to restaurant. As for that 20-year mark, I hope Alison and her loyal crew have 20 more.
Author Sir Thomas Browne, once wrote “I am in England, everywhere.…” While you aren’t necessarily in England while you’re splashing around in the Rehoboth surf, you’re only a few yards away from a real British experience. See you there! ▼
Michael Gilles is a playwright, actor, and director from Milton, and a regular contributor to Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.