Fresco’s Fish & Chips

Must Try: Fish and Chips! Halibut is my personal preference, but the cod is great too. If you’re adventurous, try the version with Miss Vickey extra crisp batter.
Rating: (¹⁰⁄₁₀) Food, (¹⁰⁄₁₀) Service, (⁹⁄₁₀) Value, (⁸⁄₁₀) Ambience, (⁸⁄₁₀) Presentation, (⁹⁄₁₀) Cleanliness
My Experience:
Been coming here for years, and I don’t think I’ll stop anytime soon. I don’t often give five stars, but when I do, it’s for the Best of Toronto. A lot of times, there’s more hype than substance behind highly rated restaurants, but Fresco lives up to the hype. Plus the non-​stop Beatles hits are a great touch.
The fish is always fresh, and has the perfect balance of batter each and every time. Everything is made to order, so it does require a wait, but the wait is worth it. If they have a special soup of the day, and it’s Clam Chowder, get that too.
Hidden away in Kensington Market, where there are a great handful of amazing joints, this is hands down the best fish and chips in the city. Note that there isn’t much seating room inside, although there is a patio for seating in the warming months of the year. Overall, great service, and delicious food.

Awesome food here. Pure natural goodness. Bruce Wayne should buy this place! The lady with tattoos has an awesome attitude and spirit. Keep up the great work. People like to eat in happy place. Oh yea and the guy with the goatee and cap is a cool guy too.
Solid food. Great price. You’ll enjoy this. No regrets. L

Called for a delivery, minimum $ 30 with a $ 5 delivery fee. Expressed exasperation about inability to generate an order this large from a fast food restaurant. I was told by the lady on the phone that «it’s not her business» and «you don’t need to be such a jackass».
Thanks Fresco for trying to work with the local community. Sorry I tried ordering a delivery. I will never visit your operation again. Ridiculous.

Came here on a quest for my first poutine experience. It was good, but eventually the gravy made the fries really soggy to the point where everything just tasted mushy. Also, I’m not a fan of the unmelted cheese, but hey at least I can say I had poutine fries!
Great service here as we were able to substitute the regular fries with poutine fries in our fish and chips order. The fish wasn’t greasy and was perfectly cooked and flaky. This was our first fish and chips experience; unfortunately, we weren’t sold on the love for fish and chips. However, the shrimp that we ordered was good.

If you’re a fan of poutine then I would recommend coming here. This is the only place I’ve been to in Toronto thus far that puts a decent amount of cheese on poutine. And I am a fan of cheese. If you agree that there’s never enough cheese on your poutine without you having to pay extra– and even then it’s still not enough cheese– then this might be your place.
I’ve also tried their fish and chips and they weren’t bad. I wasn’t particularly fond of the wings I tried but my friends liked it so it’s a matter of preference and flavour.
My 4 Factors:
Food: ³⁵⁄₅₀
Service: ¹⁵⁄₂₀
Timeliness: ¹⁵⁄₂₀
Good Vibes: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Total: 75÷100− B
Tips:
If you’d like to eat in then go to the one on St. Clair, the Kensington location doesn’t have much seating and a lot of it is outside.
Favourite Dish: Poutine
Rating System:
A– Excellent (80+)
B– Good (70 – 79)
C– Tolerable (60 – 69)
D– Something but not good (50 – 59)
F– Not even if I was starving (49-​)
4 Factors:
Food (50%) — How does it taste?
Service (20%) — How was I treated?
Timeliness (20%) — Did my food get there before I expired?
Good Vibes (10%) — Could I relax and eat my food/​atmosphere/​space?

Fresco’s is an institution! It’s been so long that I don’t even recall the number of years they’ve been here. To say this place probably serves the best fish and chips in town is not far from the truth.
Hot and fresh fried seafood that won’t break the bank. You pretty much cannot go wrong with anything you order from crab cakes to the plain old haddock and chips. Their fish is always juicy and tender with perfectly crispy batter. Fries are always fresh and delicious. If you are in the area you definitely owe it to yourself to stop by.

Haddock fish and chips and a small clam chowder on a cold December day.
Great stop for lunch.

I went here on a whim after a searching online for a nearby restaurant. I definitely don’t regret it, the food is good. I don’t think it’s the best fish and chips, and I don’t think it’s the worse. Its a mid-​level fish and chips joint.
I will definitely go back as it’s one of the only fish and chips places near my work. As for recommendation, go ahead, try it out and see for yourself.

Seriously AMAZING food! Came to Toronto for only a weekend but am super glad this was one of our stops! Ordered the poutine and lobster bites (I had actually seen a picture on Unilocal where someone had put the lobster bites on top of the poutine and I HAD to do the same thing). Honestly, could there be a more PERFECT combination? The lobster bites were perfectly crisp on the outside and soft, crumbly and FLAVORFUL on the inside. The poutine was heavily loaded with cheese and gravy and each and every bite was a blast of flavor. Drooling as I write this review and really wish I could have some more…
On a side note, we stopped by on an extremely rainy Saturday night and the place was empty. Small, cozy interior that could seat maybe 10 – 15 people. Also, the service here is very friendly. We were getting our food to go and the woman working there was kind enough to separate all our items so they wouldn’t get soggy. (Still recommend eating the food fresh — we ended up having everything in the car because it smelled way too good!) Unfortunately, I did not get to try their fish & chips :(Looking forward to my next trip to Toronto so I can come back here and get my hands on more of their food!

Boyfriend and I stopped by on our vacation in Toronto. We took a cab into the neighborhood because we didn’t feel like walking or driving from our hotel, which turned out to be smart because it was a pretty crowded street. Lots of interesting, lively shops and fun people. We grabbed a table outside at first because there was no available seating inside (it’s a pretty tiny shop so it fills up fast), but as soon as a table inside cleared up, we went in. The sun was glaring in our faces outside and there were a ton of bees.
The service was super friendly. I don’t know what possessed us to order so much food, but we ordered a large poutine and fish and chips. The fish was delicious, although I wish they had malt vinegar available. The fries were delicious, but I wasn’t crazy about the gravy on the poutine. It wasn’t bad or anything, I just feel as though I’ve had better.
Prices were good, and it was a nice experience. I’ll probably try a different spot for poutine next time I find myself in Toronto though.

Came here with my boyfriend a while back the past summer. It’s a great little place for fish and chips with a small front patio with wooden benches facing the Kensington park; perfect for the warm weather (while we still had it) .
My boyfriend absolutely loves fish and chips so of course he’s a bit biased.
Perhaps it was the atmosphere or that we had a nice time there, but the fish and chips were really bomb. Not too oily and served on newspaper with the perfect amount of crunchiness.
Now I’m hearing that’s poutine and that’s totally my thing (hey I can indulge!). Definitely interested in trying the poutine next time around.

This is by far the best fish & chips in Toronto! I been to nearly 15 fish and chips joints in Toronto and was on a mission to find the best. Well this was the 15^th fish & chips joint and I don’t need to even bother looking for any others.
You can just go here for the fries and you’ll be floored by just that alone, but put the fish in and well you’ll be wanting seconds.
The batter on the fish really separated it from others.

Food was quite pricey, but it was also delicious.
Can I say that this was the best fish and chips place i’ve ever been to? No.
But was it good? Heck ya!
I had two pieces of halibut and some coleslaw. Nothing really to expand on except the fact that it was really good.

This place is über delish!
All the comments were bang on, had the lobster po boy AND cod fish & chips. Yes that’s 2 meals for just one person but couldn’t just pick one! The cod had been battered in both styles, one regular and other extra crispy (they’re cool like that there). Loved the mild-​medium spicy mayo zip on the po boy, the fresh cut fries are legit and still taste really good after they’re cold. Better fries than many chip trucks found up north to camping trips!
Place inside is small though, 4×2 seater tables and bench at window. Outside patio is bigger than inside and NO washroom
Would eat here again and recommend to friends for sure

Fresco’s has some of the best fish and chips that I’ve had in the world. I can only think of a couple places in London where I enjoy the fare more.
The portions are huge and probably best suited for a hungry individual or pair. I opted for the cod. It was fresh, and I could still taste the fish (rather than some places where the fried batter overpowers the fish). I had mine with vinegar and the Indian chili spice blend which was provided. The blend wasn’t spicy. The fries were crispy and freshly made.
I’d recommend Frescos as a stop at Kensington market. I’d rate it 4.5 stars.

Funny enough, on my first visit here I didn’t go for their renown fish and chips, but went for the crab cake Po’boy.
The crab cake was quite good. I almost wonder if it would be better on its own however since it’s breaded and battered, and when put on the bun it’s a little too starchy. It was still a good sandwich, but I just wasn’t floored by it.
The fries are fresh cut (and cooked) and very good.
The fish is very reasonably priced. A one piece (cod or haddock) with fries is only $ 8 or so, and a two piece about $ 12.50 — and the pieces are a good size. That’s cheaper than virtually another place I’ve seen (of quality).
I should’ve tried my friend’s fish for a taste and perhaps factor that in my review. It just means I’ll have to head back. No complaints here.

I am a pig and I love practicing gluttony here. Large poutine + fish po’boy + ginger beer = heaven (oddly, I thought glutton was a sin). I usually hate coleslaw but the stuff they make is out of this world! In any case, I’ve tried most things on the menu and can recommend all but the mozza sticks. For the poutine, they offer Daiya and mushroom gravy to make it vegan.
I don’t eat here enough, but for good reasons. I am always bursting full and happy after.

Nice place with nice food served by nice girls.
I didn’t expect how good the food will be but it really surprised me. I ordered the mini fish& chips and extra Miss Vickie’s (to make it crispier). The haddock and fries were not greasy at all and the Miss Vickie’s made the potato amazing!
The original sauce they provided was seasoned mayonnaise and it taste very good but even better while mixed with ketchup (it’s just my choice). The fish was really tender too.
The stuff was very friendly and nice to explain with patience if you first come to have it.
I really wanted to change the fries into mushroom gravy poutine because it looks so delicious and I noticed that the gravy was cooked after ordering and served with hot. It was so great. You know some restaurants just reheat the freezing gravy and pour the dis-​fresh one onto the fries…
I would like to go for poutine again! You can try it if you are around the Kensington.

It was worth the trip down to Kensington. My aunt wanted to go out for fish and chips so I thought that this was the perfect opportunity to check out Fresco’s. Consider taking the subway down here as finding parking on a Saturday afternoon is harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Anyway, I digress. The place is tiny so there aren’t too many tables. In fact, there are literally two tables so you might have to share your area with strangers.
We ordered a few things to share between the two of us.
* Quebec Style Poutine — as other Unilocal’ers have mentioned, you get a generous portion of cheese curds and gravy on a bed of greasy fried goodness. We ordered the ‘small’ size, which came with a can of pop for $ 5.
* Haddock and Chips — we tried the unique Miss Vickie’s salt & vinegar chip batter. We got two large pieces of haddock with a little cup of coleslaw and a french fries.
* Fried Pickles — I ordered these just because; Saturday’s are my cheat days and I wanted fried pickles so I just ordered it. For $ 5, you get 4 pickles. They were okay.
I can’t come here everyday, but I’m looking forward to returning to Fresco’s once the weather is nice. With your Unilocal App, check in and you get a can of pop or bottled water.
Good for: fish and chips, poutine, cheap eats, cheat eats

Why haven’t I tried this place earlier? It was excellent! I LOVE that they have all kinds of alternative choices if you don’t want fries/​chips. I had the haddock and fried mushrooms, turns out you get mushrooms AND some fries as well.
The food wasn’t too greasy considering it was all fried.
It comes in a little box with some printed paper. There’s only a couple of seats inside and the patio is quite small. If you come here in the winter, plan to take it home.
Price wasn’t too bad considering how much food you get.