I can't remember the last time I had large order of fish and chips with vinegar on the chips and real tartar sauce on the side and that is a shame. A damn shame! And I plan to do something about it real soon but until I do I guess it will make a good topic for my blog. Today's topic - fish and chips, but mostly chips.
I guess if you grew up in Fredericton "in the day" the popular consensus would be that Blighty's was the best place in town for fish and chips. It was located down on the river front near what is now the fake lighthouse - where any self respecting fish and chip shop should be located. Blighty's was actually a little bit before my time but I have heard many testimonials as to their fare and I believe in the legend. Fish and chip shops lend themselves very well to legend. Personally I subscribe to the legend known as Frank's Fish and Chips - when Frank's was located on the Exhibition grounds not downtown near the library which, I am told by a reliable source, was their original location.
Frank's was a rough and ready sort of place - plywood construction, a couple of deep fryers and a cash box. But on any given night or weekend the counter was always lined up ten abreast and ten deep. And why not - where else could you get an order of fries for 15 cents, walk around eating them with a little wooden fork and them wash it all down with a Swamp water? Ah - Frank's was a treat.
A little further down the food chain was the Lucky Lunch - or if you prefer, the Rucky Runch. The Lucky Lunch is legendary for several reasons - not the least being the superior service offered to each and every customer by Rocky the owner. The food at the Lucky Lunch was good, not fancy but very good. But to me the main attraction was the special ambiance of the place. There was a protocol to being served at the Lucky Lunch - somewhat like the Soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld. You would line up at the back door of the store and enter respectfully to be "next" - that was the greeting given to each customer. NEXT! And once your order was given you were not dismissed until it had been determined if you wanted gravy or not. It was more than a mere suggestion that you should order the gravy. "GRAVY!?" - was it a question or an order? Difficult to tell, equally difficult to refuse and few did.
But the fries were things of legend - I know, I was there. The fries at the Lucky Lunch had to be seen and eaten to be believed. I took my whole family there one summer afternoon and we shared a large order of fries and the four of us could not finish them! We took them home and had the rest for supper! I took Steve Wood, a co-worker from out of town with me and told him he could not finish even a medium fries and he laughed at me. Steve thought he had seen it all - that was until he received his order of fries - with gravy. No one could finish a large fries from the Lucky Lunch - no one!
The other unique aspect of the Lucky Lunch was the processing of each order. You would give your order to Rocky who wrote it down on a pad and then hollered the order to his father who was the cook. Father would pick a potato out of 50 lb bag, carefully peel it, slice it into huge wedges by hand and lower the basket into the hot grease. Then he would sit down on his stool and wait. And this was during rush hour. Once the fries were done he would raise the basket and shake of the excess grease, then dump them into a cardboard serving tray lined with butcher paper. This process never varied - it would be repeated until each customer was served. The Lucky Lunch was consistent in its hours of operation too, 11:30 - 1 PM for lunch and 5:30 - 7 PM for supper. Most of the orders were takeout but there was a small dining area with stools for the truly dedicated. It was always quiet in there - serious eaters only.
An interesting aside... I had a friend, Jonathan Bayley who for some reason brought out the very worst in Rocky. I don't know what Jonathan ever did to him but if he so much as entered the store, Rocky would leave his counter and chase him down the street with a cleaver screaming what I can only assume were Chinese obscenities! I guess I will never know the reason but I have always suspected that maybe, just maybe he refused the gravy.
I guess if you grew up in Fredericton "in the day" the popular consensus would be that Blighty's was the best place in town for fish and chips. It was located down on the river front near what is now the fake lighthouse - where any self respecting fish and chip shop should be located. Blighty's was actually a little bit before my time but I have heard many testimonials as to their fare and I believe in the legend. Fish and chip shops lend themselves very well to legend. Personally I subscribe to the legend known as Frank's Fish and Chips - when Frank's was located on the Exhibition grounds not downtown near the library which, I am told by a reliable source, was their original location.
Frank's was a rough and ready sort of place - plywood construction, a couple of deep fryers and a cash box. But on any given night or weekend the counter was always lined up ten abreast and ten deep. And why not - where else could you get an order of fries for 15 cents, walk around eating them with a little wooden fork and them wash it all down with a Swamp water? Ah - Frank's was a treat.
A little further down the food chain was the Lucky Lunch - or if you prefer, the Rucky Runch. The Lucky Lunch is legendary for several reasons - not the least being the superior service offered to each and every customer by Rocky the owner. The food at the Lucky Lunch was good, not fancy but very good. But to me the main attraction was the special ambiance of the place. There was a protocol to being served at the Lucky Lunch - somewhat like the Soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld. You would line up at the back door of the store and enter respectfully to be "next" - that was the greeting given to each customer. NEXT! And once your order was given you were not dismissed until it had been determined if you wanted gravy or not. It was more than a mere suggestion that you should order the gravy. "GRAVY!?" - was it a question or an order? Difficult to tell, equally difficult to refuse and few did.
But the fries were things of legend - I know, I was there. The fries at the Lucky Lunch had to be seen and eaten to be believed. I took my whole family there one summer afternoon and we shared a large order of fries and the four of us could not finish them! We took them home and had the rest for supper! I took Steve Wood, a co-worker from out of town with me and told him he could not finish even a medium fries and he laughed at me. Steve thought he had seen it all - that was until he received his order of fries - with gravy. No one could finish a large fries from the Lucky Lunch - no one!
The other unique aspect of the Lucky Lunch was the processing of each order. You would give your order to Rocky who wrote it down on a pad and then hollered the order to his father who was the cook. Father would pick a potato out of 50 lb bag, carefully peel it, slice it into huge wedges by hand and lower the basket into the hot grease. Then he would sit down on his stool and wait. And this was during rush hour. Once the fries were done he would raise the basket and shake of the excess grease, then dump them into a cardboard serving tray lined with butcher paper. This process never varied - it would be repeated until each customer was served. The Lucky Lunch was consistent in its hours of operation too, 11:30 - 1 PM for lunch and 5:30 - 7 PM for supper. Most of the orders were takeout but there was a small dining area with stools for the truly dedicated. It was always quiet in there - serious eaters only.
An interesting aside... I had a friend, Jonathan Bayley who for some reason brought out the very worst in Rocky. I don't know what Jonathan ever did to him but if he so much as entered the store, Rocky would leave his counter and chase him down the street with a cleaver screaming what I can only assume were Chinese obscenities! I guess I will never know the reason but I have always suspected that maybe, just maybe he refused the gravy.
6 comments:
How do you do it? And by that I mean how do you out-do yourself each time you post something new!? And what a great memory you have!! All I could remember is that they had great fries (with gravy) ...but you have reminded me of things I didn't even know I knew??!!
Great work as always! And Thank You.
I would give anything for a small fries and gravy at the Lucky Lunch. I once went there with you and Lee and John. We shared an order and took the rest home. I can still taste that gravy kept hot in a large tin can with the label peeled off.
Sorry I had to leave out Bill's Lunch - that was a great place for fries and gravy too.
Yes, Bill's lunch ....fries and gravy in a plastic bowl.
You're right that LL's servings had to be seen to be believed. Here are a few other notables: Cedar Lunch (York St., still there), Bruce Lee (w/ the 35 cent eggrolls. The place was converted to Mei's, Regent St. Now it's a pub), Sam's Diner, King St had the best breakfast in town during the early '80's. Honorable mention to the old downtown Zellers for the most undercooked fries in the universe.
Hi Mac... I love your scriblings (posts)!!
Just in case you did not realize this, but 'Frank' of Frank's Fish & Chips is Frank Jardine. He actually worked at and developed the batter at Blighty's and continued working there until it 'floated away'. He built his first fish shack on the exhibition grounds with the expectation of having more parking and the prospect of the extra business during "FREX" week. Of course, that little building burnt down and he rebuilt with a bigger building (which still stands today, as William's Seafood). He took on a partner and opened a second location on Main Street (north side) and with the business booming there and the south side location declining, he shut down the spot on the exhibition grounds. With the urging of his partner, they changed (added) to the menu and continued to thrive on the north side. They decided to change the format, renovated and reopened as "Frank's Diner". This went over very well for a lot of years,and they decided to expand again. They built and opened "Frank's Finer Diner" on Two Nations Crossing, which is still there. Squabbles and with intentions to retire from the restaurant business, Frank sold out to his partner and concentrated on the Auction business. A few years ago, with large demand for a canteen on site during auction days, Frank opened up the vault and pulled out a very well worn and stained piece of paper... with the original batter recipe (by the way, the batter was changed when they changed to the diner format. Also, his partner never knew the original recipe). The Jardine's built a small counter and kitchen on the big building and "Jardine Fish and Chips" was born. You can relive the taste and times of the years of Blighty's (Frank's) incredible fish. Hours are very limited, I believe 11AM - 2PM M-F, and most of the day when there is an auction going on (or until they run out of fish... LOL!).
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