I MISS H. SALT FISH N CHIPS
I love fish and other seafood’s and its interesting how fast food fish places don’t seem to do as well as fast food chicken places. Through out the decades we’ve only had 3 popular fish places; they were H. Salt Fish N Chips which later became Captain Kids Galley and we also have Long John Silvers. Captain Kids Galley folded years ago, but Long John Silvers still exist. I was glad to see Captain Kids go because their fish didn’t nearly taste as good as H. Salt. With Long John Silvers, when they first opened the fish was good and they gave you big pieces. I visited Long John Silvers about a year ago and was very disappointed; the pieces were thin, flat and small with a lot of batter.
I love my Southern roots of the way fried fish is prepared; we fry it in yellow corn meal, but I also love the way the English prepare fried fish and the malt vinegar with tarter sauce, ummm. The English fry their fish in a batter made with milk, eggs, flour and sometimes beer sort of like tempura, but has a different texture and taste to it. Tempura has a lighter texture then batter and for those of you that don’t know this, Chips is an English term for French Fries. I like their chips because they are steak cut french fries and not shoestring french fries.
I remember all the various fast food chicken places that existed at one time in San Diego. There was Picnic-n-Chicken and the theme song for their commercial:
Pic - nick - n - chic - ken
It’s
The pick of the chick
I didn’t care for Picnic n Chicken, their chicken sucked!
There was also Pioneer Chicken; I like their batter; it had a golden orange color and was crispy and flavorful.
Still going strong are Church’s, Popeye’s and KFC. Church’s at one time folded in San Diego and then they came back. Their chicken is always oily and the batter is not seasoned unless you order it spicy.
Growing up, I recall lunches at H. Salt with my family when we were out running errands on the weekends and I’ll also never forget their hush puppies and Sarsaparilla drinks; Sarsaparilla is Root Beer. Several years ago Screg and I were in the L.A. area and came across an H. Salt and I just had to try them again. Apparently, they still have a large chain of them going strong in the L.A. & Long Beach area.
I was in the east county area buying plants at a nursery and discovered a fish n chips place call Tugboat. I decided to give them a try and I must say that they weren’t bad, no H. Salt though, but, they tasted pretty good. Their batter is lighter because they use and fry their seafood in tempura.
Regarding trademarks, I’ve always wondered what the “esq” meant with H. Salt. I knew it stood for ‘Esquire’, but I never knew why it was added to their name until now. I visited their website and ‘esq’ was added to their name for an “English touch”. Esquire in the dictionary defines: Formerly an attendant on a knight; In England, a member of the gentry ranking just below a knight; title of courtesy placed after a man’s surname.
One other trademark I’ve always wondered about “Why was Dennis the Menace affiliated with Diary Queen?” Well, I went to their website and it looks like when the first DQ opened in Japan in 1972 Dennis the Menace became a Spokescharacter for DQ.
I love my Southern roots of the way fried fish is prepared; we fry it in yellow corn meal, but I also love the way the English prepare fried fish and the malt vinegar with tarter sauce, ummm. The English fry their fish in a batter made with milk, eggs, flour and sometimes beer sort of like tempura, but has a different texture and taste to it. Tempura has a lighter texture then batter and for those of you that don’t know this, Chips is an English term for French Fries. I like their chips because they are steak cut french fries and not shoestring french fries.
I remember all the various fast food chicken places that existed at one time in San Diego. There was Picnic-n-Chicken and the theme song for their commercial:
Pic - nick - n - chic - ken
It’s
The pick of the chick
I didn’t care for Picnic n Chicken, their chicken sucked!
There was also Pioneer Chicken; I like their batter; it had a golden orange color and was crispy and flavorful.
Still going strong are Church’s, Popeye’s and KFC. Church’s at one time folded in San Diego and then they came back. Their chicken is always oily and the batter is not seasoned unless you order it spicy.
Growing up, I recall lunches at H. Salt with my family when we were out running errands on the weekends and I’ll also never forget their hush puppies and Sarsaparilla drinks; Sarsaparilla is Root Beer. Several years ago Screg and I were in the L.A. area and came across an H. Salt and I just had to try them again. Apparently, they still have a large chain of them going strong in the L.A. & Long Beach area.
I was in the east county area buying plants at a nursery and discovered a fish n chips place call Tugboat. I decided to give them a try and I must say that they weren’t bad, no H. Salt though, but, they tasted pretty good. Their batter is lighter because they use and fry their seafood in tempura.
Regarding trademarks, I’ve always wondered what the “esq” meant with H. Salt. I knew it stood for ‘Esquire’, but I never knew why it was added to their name until now. I visited their website and ‘esq’ was added to their name for an “English touch”. Esquire in the dictionary defines: Formerly an attendant on a knight; In England, a member of the gentry ranking just below a knight; title of courtesy placed after a man’s surname.
One other trademark I’ve always wondered about “Why was Dennis the Menace affiliated with Diary Queen?” Well, I went to their website and it looks like when the first DQ opened in Japan in 1972 Dennis the Menace became a Spokescharacter for DQ.
posted by HotFudge | 1:06 PM
12 Comments:
That's very interesting HF. I don't recall H. Salt, but Captain Kidd's... well there's a name I would never have remembered had you not brought it up. The one fish-n-chips only place in Berkeley was Yorkshire Fish-n-Chips. Basic goodness and they too closed down. You may be right, primarily-fish-oriented fast food doesn't seem to survive or at the least attain the ranks of the burger and chicken joints.
i only ate at long john silver's once, the one in chula vista near the old kmart. i was in high school and bert had a coupon. the food was gross.
i don't remember H. Salt either. Fish isn't one of my faves, but I liked your fried catfish. I remember you made it once when you guys used to live in ronin's old house.
i went to a fish place once and my heart clogged up just looking at the menu. but i LOVE fried fish. my mama makes a really good batter and fries red snapper. then we shred cabbage and makes homemade fish tacos.
damn, now i'm hungry.
i like my mom's fried fish (i think it's tilapia). she serves it with sliced tomatoes, green onions, soy sauce and cold kamote top greens.
Thane,
I did a google search and it looks like Yorkshire still exits in Denver, Colorado.
Thanks Canine. The last time I made my fried catfish was about a year ago when my family was down from Florida and we had them over for dinner. Screg prefers catfish baked over fried. How does your mom fry the Tilapia?
Mulysa,
What are the ingredients in your mom's batter?
i have no idea what she puts in her fish batter, but now i'm going on a mission to get it.. ;)
DQ used to be a treat when I was growing up. There used to be one off of Coronado Ave and Beyer Blvd, as well as one on 3rd Ave in Chula Vista. I remember my brothers urging my parents to go to DQ so they could ge more pro-football helmets for their collection. DQ used to put their ice-cream in an upside-down plastic football helmet. You could then clean up the helmet and put team decals on it. That was cool. I think I still have mine in my garage somewhere.
my mom fries it plain. no batter. she keeps the skin on (scaled, of course).
sometimes she will make a dipping sauce of vinegar and black pepper (but i don't like that). there are other times when she will add some kalamansi juice to it.
now i remember. there's a recipe she has where she marinates the fish in vinegar and some sort of citrus (lemon or kalamansi), then she fries it. it's sweet and sour at the same time.
Bert, I remember those sundaes in a helmet. My favorites back then were the Buster Bars, Parfaits, Sundaes and Dipped Cones. Now, I go for the Blizzards.
gosh, i feel so deprived. i've never eaten at a dairy queen.
or at boll weevil or arby's for that matter.
allllright canine!!
i forbid you to post any more food pics until you've gone to boll weevil's or arby's and take with.
i insist on a full report with lots of pics by next weekend!!!
H.Salt Fish & Chips still exist. Please go to www.hsalt.com
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