In Search of ... Fish and Chips

Whip Tavern owner K.C. Kulp says the beer batter drowning the fish and chips at most stateside English pubs is an American bastardization of the real deal. At the Whip, there’s plenty of beer, just not on the fish — two cod filets, lightly battered and fried till golden, served with thick-cut, skin-on, brined steak fries.


We can’t say we have much reason to venture to 9th and Susquehanna, in the heart of North Philly — except for 70-year-old Kurth’s Seafood. The cracker-crusted fried flounder, served with hand-cut fries and homemade cole slaw on a paper plate in a brown paper bag, is a delicious steal at $5, as evidenced by the long line you’ll face every time you go.


Rouge’s chef, 27-year-old Matt Zagorski, isn’t content with just a piece of fish and a handful of potatoes. No, he has to do fish and chips three ways. There are small portions of beer-­battered and fried striper, fluke and halibut, served atop three variations of potatoes, and surrounded by all the pretty people you can handle.