Continuing with a trip to London in summer 2023 – when I spotted a fish and chip shop with vegan options close to our hotel, I was delighted. We were staying close to Hyde Park, an area I’d not stayed in before, and there weren’t loads of all vegan eateries nearby. The reviews for this place were a bit mixed (mostly issues with how oily the vegan fish is, which was not enough to put me off), but I was determined to give it a try anyway. Over the last year I discovered a sensational fish and chip place in Manchester, which has filled me with optimism for other chippies across the country. Alas, it was not to be.

The chips were perfectly good – fried in vegetable oil and served unseasoned, so you can control the salt and vinegar for yourself at the table. No complaints about these.

The fish, however, was very disappointing. The fishy contents were wrapped in seaweed before being battered, but there was no salty sea taste. That was probably because banana blossom was not the main ingredient of the fish – the blossom was quite scanty and was supplemented with a bit of either leek or artichoke and a lot of yellow pepper.

I picked out the yellow pepper from the final third of my fish (seen above), and it was plentiful. There was hardly anything else left inside the batter, just a small amount of banana blossom. For me, yellow pepper has nothing in common with fish in terms of either taste or texture, so this was a really baffling and disappointing addition. Battered banana blossom mimics the texture of fish quite well for me, and with its irregular shape it even looks the part. Whatever was going on with this was very strange.

Unfortunately, I would not go back to this place – there’s definitely better vegan fish and chips options out there, and the real fish was reportedly nothing to rave about either, according to omnivorous Mother HH. It might be a bit of a tourist trap. It was worth a try though, and I’m still always on the look out for a proper good chippie.