The best fish and chips I have had in my life

Tailend Restaurant and Fish Bar, Edinburgh

Tailend Restaurant and Fish Bar was our last meal in Edinburgh; they served the best fish and chips I’ve had as well as other seafoody goodies. It was a great experience.

We walked in via the fish bar, the kitchen seemed large and busy. The fish bar was suffused with a meaty smell thanks to their use of beef dripping to fry the food in; unlike most such establishment it did not smell rancid. On going through to the restaurant we were pleased to see it was full and we got one of the last couple of tables.

The menu was packed full of fishy wonders, and they were willing to grill fish as well as fry it in batter or breadcrumbs, which suited Leena as she was a bit worried about having fried food. When our battered delights came Daniel and I thought she was missing out.

The wine list was short and uninteresting, as were the beer and cider offerings. I soon moved on from boring, boring Magner’s cider to Irn-Bru (check out [link2post id=”746″]elitistreview.com[/link2post] for an examination of this odd drink).

For a chippie the menu was unusually extensive. Leena started off with a couple of scallops grilled in their shells, they looked a bit too small for us to ask for a taste, they also looked a bit over cooked. She said she liked them. Daniel had dressed crab. The white meat was quite tasty, and we were surprised by how much we enjoyed the brown meat which is normally not such a thrill. My fork kept straying into the crab shell so I could have a bit more. My starter was also a great success, battered fresh water tiger prawns. I loved them! Dense and meaty with quite wonderful batter.

Leena chose grilled monkfish tail for her main course, it was well-prepared and very fresh. My haddock was quite delicious, although a tad over-cooked. Fish from a chippie is usually over-cooked, so I didn’t mind in the slightest. It tasted wonderful, the batter was brilliantly light and crispy and not grease-soaked. The mushy peas that came with it were a treat. Daniel ordered what must be the single greatest thing I have ever eaten from a chip shop: battered langoustine tails. The batter was prefect, crisp and crunchy, but the langoustine tails themselves were just on the edge of being cooked. They were soft and yieldingly tender in your mouth. Super top bunny! We had a vat of the chips to eat, which had been fried in beef dripping so had a pleasing meaty character.

We didn’t bother with dessert as we were completely stuffed. On our way out I felt I had to lean into the kitchen and say how much we enjoyed the food; they looked pleased to have some feedback.

Maybe there are better chippies in the UK, but I doubt it. It was a great experience, if you like this kind of food you’d be a fool to avoid Tailend on a trip to Edinburgh.

Contact details on their website.

And so our reports from Edinburgh draw to a close. It was a great city to visit, with interesting architecture and some lovely places to eat and drink.