Page’s Fish & Chips

The irony of this review is that Page’s Fish & Chips is supposedly award winning. To be fair, the establishment that received all these commendations was the Pontypool branch — this Cwmbran restaurant is an expansion from the success of shop number 1. I haven’t personally been to the Pontypool shop, but I can’t say that I’m too impressed with Page’s.
Atmosphere:
There’s 2 entrances: 1 to the restaurant itself and another entrance for purely the takeaway service. Slightly confusing when I’ve never been here before because the takeaway entrance is the first thing you see and the restaurant entrance is around the corner, but I eventually made it to the right place. The décor of Page’s is simple, but very lovely and clean. A huge step up from the typical grimy chippy.
Customer Service:
Pretty decent. We were immediately greeted and shown to our table. The food took a bit longer than I thought it would for a chippy, but I assume it’s just because everything is cooked fresh to order, so that isn’t too big of a deal.
Food:
— What we ordered:
~ Seafood Platter for Two (£7.95)
Calamari rings, king prawns, cod croquettes, and fried battered whitebait. Came with sweet chili and tartar sauces.
Really delicious. The calamari rings, king prawns, and croquettes were all cooked perfectly. The whitebait was alright, but too fishy for my taste. Cooked well I think I just didn’t like it personally. The starter was really delicious, but I do think that it was really expensive for what it was worth.
~ Cod & Chips w/​Garden Peas (£7.25)
~ Gravy on the side (£1.50)
Nice, but overpriced. The worst part of the meal was the gravy. Was really bland and absolutely tasted, and was a tiny portion for how much I paid as well. To get any flavour into the gravy, I just ended up splashing in some vinegar and lemon juice.
The cod was very lovely and cooked well. Succulent and juicy, with thin and crispy batter that complemented the fish rather than overwhelming it. I’ll never understand why some restaurants leave on the skin though!
Unfortunately I wasn’t too fond of the chips. They were slightly too hard for me. The garden peas were… well they were peas.
—
Overall, Page’s Fish & Chips really know their way around cooking seafood. The seafood platter starter and also the cod were cooked immaculately. However, everything else fell a bit flat on its face — especially the gravy! Judging from the food alone, I wouldn’t mind returning. However, with the hefty pricetag along with it, it might be a while until my next visit.