Fish Central

Very good place, great staff, good food and a favourite of the family. Does get busy though but it is a big place so you don’t have to wait long. I’m gluten free so I have my fish grilled which is tasty and fresh.

Been here about 3 times. I’ve always reserved, so I’d recommend that, but it hasn’t seemed full to capacity and I’ve never seen a queue. It’s well lit, unpretentious, and at a reasonable price point. Bonus points for fish cakes on the house (more than once I’ve had this!).
Pluses: I like how the focus is on the fish and seafood. The halibut, cod, plaice, skate, are all nicely done. Batter crispy, and at least one of my friends couldn’t get enough of it. I do find that, usually about halfway through, the oil tends to overwhelm me (though maybe I’m not cut out for fish and chips).
This is a good place to take others who want to try «London fish and chips».

Saturday around 1 pm we had reservations for 4. We definitely did not need reservations for lunch time as there were only a few other tables full. The restaurant is mostly white — white walls, white table clothes, servers dressed in white and has an open feeling. But it’s not fancy, it’s a bit dated actually. Very simple and could probably use a bit of a modernization.
We were seating at a round table next to the window and given very long paper menus. There are tons of fish choices and you can have them prepared however you’d like — deep fried, grilled, or coated in matzo meal. We choice four different fish — Haddock, Halibut, Hake, and the Roasted Cod with Mediterranean vegetables. The Haddock and Roasted Cod were from their daily menu, but the Halibut and hake were specials. Most dishes from their every day menu are served without sides — you must order them in addition. The Roasted Cod came with vegetables and that was clearly stated on the menu. The specials sometimes include sides and sometimes don’t. The Halibut was served as is, but the Hake included chips.
We ordered all four grilled and I love that they are prepared very simply. No seasonings or spices. Just fish. We also ordered the arugula, tomato, and parmeasan salad as well as the tomato and onion salad. One of the dishes came with chips and another dish came with veggies, so we had four sides in total.
The Haddock and the Hake were quite similar to one another. The Hake was a bit more flavorful in my opinion and also softer — almost mushy, but in a good way. It was my favourite. The Haddock was probably my second favorite — it’s a very safe fish, not much flavor, so quite a good choice if anyone is skeptical of eating fish. The Halibut was a huge portion (and I say this as someone who thinks portions are always too small). One person would honestly have a difficult time finishing it, but then again it was a pricier dish. We had to fillet it ourselves, but it was really very easy to do. It came out in one piece and there were no strays little pieces. I wasn’t crazy about the Halibut and I think that’s largely because it was a bit overcooked, which is quite a big faux pas. This is a fish restaurant! You cannot mess up in the cooking of your fish. The texture was quite firm and chewy, but the person who ordered it said it was his favorite of the four, so it worked out well. The Roasted Cod was hard to judge because it was cooked with Mediterranean vegetables and heavily flavored. I didn’t love the flavor of the spices, but others did. It actually turned out that The person who ordered the cod liked it the best, the person who ordered the Halibut liked that the best, and I happened to like the Hake more than the Haddock and the Hake recipient liked the Haddock more, so we switched. It was perfect and I would highly highly recommend ordering different fish if you’re going with a group of people. One of the best parts is getting to try several different fish all at once so you can really taste the difference in flavor and texture with fish.
The sides were nothing to write home about. The tomato and onion salad was a large plate of just tomato and red onion. The arugula salad was just a pile of arugula with tomatoes and parmesan slices on top. The chips were mediocre. But I still love the concept of the restaurant, the variety in both fish choices and preparations, and I would definitely recommend it overall.
We were also given complimentary salmon cakes (no one could taste the salmon and we actually had to confirm that we heard correctly that it was a salmon cake). Good, though.
Service was very good — everyone was friendly, attentive, and answered questions patiently.

fantastic food, fantastic dining experience and best value for money in London.
Definitely the best batter fried fish in london, onion rings and chips are also fantastic.
Service is great, they always give a complimentary starter and they pace the food just right — long enough for a nice meal but short enough to keep you eating.
Fish portions are HUGE. great value and taste!
They also do a fantastic job of accommodating large (20+) groups

Been to this plaice (get it? Yeah, I know) many times before and always have good food. As a pescatarian this place should be ideal for me, but not so. Unfortunately they deep fry all the battered fish, fish cakes and chips in the same oil that they use for meat so I can’t eat any of that, so the options are limited, but if you are not bothered by this sort of thing then get your laughing gear round this place and tuck in.
Service was lacking this time and there was some confusion between order and table, but this is the first time this has happened in all of my visits. Definitely try the apple pie :)

We were looking for a fresh seafood fix and looked up this place close by. When we arrived, the service was very warm and friendly. The acoustics aren’t great so it was a little loud. I wouldn’t recommend it for a quiet romantic evening, but there did seem to be a lot of larger tables with families or friends to which it was well suited. We shared the sea bass special for our main, along with the squid, scallops, and a Greek salad. Portions were generous and everything was cooked perfectly. Usually, restaurant food is too salty for me, so it’s funny for me to say, but I feel that our food could have used just a bit more salt. But, this was easily remedied with some salt on the table. And finally, the bill wasn’t too bad! It’s definitely one of the better value spots we’ve been to in London. We’ll be back again!

We just had a delightful lunch. The pan fried scallops on the starter list were to die for! The battered fried fish was the best I have ever had. They go to market several times a week and purchase the whole fish then bring it back and filet it themselves. Of course, you can get it prepared any way you prefer. Everything we ordered was delicious and beautifully presented. The restaurant is extremely clean, staff very attentive, and it was a wonderful ecperience.

I was really hungry and this restaurant is right across from my hotel so I decided to give it a try. The food is very reasonably priced for London and the space is very nice. I ordered the scallops for my appetizer and the roasted cod with vegetables as my entrée. All of the seafood tasted really fresh and perfectly cooked. The appetizer and entrée were generously sized and I was stuffed after finishing both. My only complaint is that the dishes needed a bit of extra salt which is an easy fix since there’s a salt shaker at the table.
I would definitely come back and try the fish and chips next time since that is their specialty.

Loved the staff, not so much the food.
5 stars for the friendly staff. Everyone was super nice and welcoming.
The food did not impress. Had the fish and chips supper which was 13 pounds for three courses. They give a complimentary fried salmon ball, which was not bad — crispy on the outside, but the filling wasn’t very good. The shrimp cocktail appetizer came with the prix fixe, and it wasn’t big shrimps with cocktail sauce (which is what I was expecting), it was tiny shrimps covered in a mayo-​ketchup sauce — not that appetizing.
The portion of fish and chips was huge. I had the cod — crispy on the outside, but kind of mushy texture on the inside.
For dessert, I had the special tiramisu — not great and I think it should have been colder.
They also gave a free shot at the end (vodka, oj, and blue curacao) — yum!
Overall, great, friendly service, but the food left something to be desired.

It’s been about 3 years since I was last here (I think) but after I ordered my starter (ravioli) I remembered I’d had that before, and it was as tasty as I remembered it. They give you a complementary fish cake while you wait, and the food is really good. I opted for whole lobster salad as a main and it didn’t disappoint. The only things I would change is having proper pepper mills on the table, and not to put the brown edged salad on the plates but other than that, the service was good, and to be offered a free hot chocolate while I waited to pay the bill was a really lovely touch.

Fantastic meal from start to finish.
Everything comes together here. The food is wonderful and the value is very good. The staff was very attentive, friendly. One thing I loved was that it didn’t matter which server we asked, they always helped us out (I’ve been to many places where if you ask a server who is not your own, they respond with, «Let me get your server.» That always annoys me.). The place itself is clean and fairly modern.
The whole time we were here we got the impression that the staff really wanted to ensure we had a great meal — and we did.
Highly recommended.

The service is super attentive, the oysters fab. The specials are good value and portions are large. Love it!

Fantastic place. Enjoyed my grilled John Dory special and snuck a bit of mum’s sole. Really well prepared — definitely not a regular fish & chip! Also the prices are a bargain for London.

Fish and chips is one of those things that some people think is all the same but, No, it’s not, at all.
The location, on a 1960s council estate shopping precinct a few minutes south of Angel means that it’s not about a hipster, trendoid place of the moment but it is all about good food and for me that’s what I want.
There’s a full seafood restaurant which looks great and look forward to visiting next time but this visit was take away fish and chips. There’s a separate take away counter on the side with a separate entrance which overlooks the restaurant kitchen so you can see the action. Our fish was freshly fried from what looked like diagonally cut thick sections of cod as we watched them being dipped in batter.
The guys working the fryers were clearly at the top of their game and gave us some mini fish cake bites to snack on while we hungrily waited which were much appreciated.
On eating: the batter was crisp, tasty and light and the encapsulated cod was perfectly cooked (fresh, snow white, steaming, tender flakes). The chips were great too. Just right.
Portion size: generous as it should be.
Mushy peas were the proper kind, not the crushed garden peas that some other places are dishing up.
…and the price was right.

I do not say this lightly, but we may have taken the first step toward getting over our Royal (defunct pub in Wales) fixation. Spot on fried fish in all its glorious permutations: hake, haddock, plaice, cod, etc. Fries were also excellent. Service was friendly and speedy. Luckily the prices were extremely reasonable, so they offset the cost of the taxi.

Probably the nicest restaurant in England situated in the courtyard of a council estate, though having spent minimal time in council estate courtyards I couldn’t be sure.
I ordered a haddock and chips. Fish was excellent, perfectly firm with a crispy batter of good flavour (seeing as the batter is, at least, 50% of the allure of fried fish it must rest on it’s own laurels, rather than act as a mere crispy blanket for the fish).
Chips were less good; not crispy, oily and some undercooked.
The complimentary fish cakes were really delicious, though I’d probably refer to them as potato croquettes with a bit of fish inside.
Service was very efficient and the staff were lovely.
I didn’t feel very healthy after the meal, but rock’n’fucking’roll.

To finnish my current set of reviews after my visit to London I went to this busy and great no frills restaurant.
It is terrific and great value. The mussels and cod are the best I have had in many a year and the service fast and unfussy. Well superb.

Very good and reasonable prices. I had the roasted cod over mediterranean veggies and it was excellent. Service was spot on as well.

Been going with family & friends to Fish Central for years — always good fresh fish beautifully cooked in friendly atmosphere. Never been dissapointed
Son & family over from Oz in May & they JUST Had to go to Rick Steins in Padstow whilst in UK. Got a text from them on leaving ’ Pretty good but not nearly as good as Fish Central’.

Dinner here last was wonderful! I am so happy to have found such a delicious, affordable, and easily accessible seafood restaurant. It is a bit out of the way, but worth going if you are in the area.
Fish central’s menu has starters, main course fishes cooked in one of three ways (deep fried, grilled, and with mazo meal, I believe), and a number of side dishes to have with the fish. There are meat dishes as well, but no one in our group ordered one and I cannot attest to it.
We ordered 2 starters to share: mussels and baby octopus (which was one of the specials of the day). The mussels were a yummy mess and we thankfully used the wet towel provided to wash our hands. For main courses we ordered the cod with chips. Huge pieces of cod, plenty of chips, and over all very good.
I’d recommend making reservations beforehand. When we arrived the first thing the host asked was whether we had reservations (we did not). We waited about 15 minutes for a table which wasn’t too long for a Saturday night, but for a party of 4 or more I imagine the wait would have been longer as this is not a large restaurant.
Finally, a note on the staff – so courteous and professional! Truly excellent service and on a caliber in which I have not experienced in many London restaurants.

Manger sympa
Pour ceux qui veulent manger vite et pas cher les fish n chips sont le compromis idéal. Ils sont de plus à emporter chez soi dans ce restaurant.