Saturday 5 July 2014

Cornish Arms - February 2014

Finally - I sampled the Cornish Arms’ vegan fish and chips. After a 36-hour fast (thanks to a medical procedure) I was more than in the mood for pub grub. I had planned to go to the Sweetwater Inn, but by the time I was discharged I couldn’t face the thought of going to South Yarra when I had the Cornish round the corner from home.

This is obviously pre-GF regime (indeed, it marked the end of a rather vile gluten challenge), as the batter contained both flour and beer. It was pretty damn worthwhile the ordeal, though.


The three whopping chunks of battered “fish” tasted very much like the vegan cod I had bought from Vincent Vegetarian Food in Footscray, on a mad mock-meat-buying extravaganza, but beautifully beer-battered. If you’re curious, it doesn’t really taste fishy as such - there is a little nori, I think, to evoke the sea - but the texture is probably a reasonable analogue.
The chips were, as per my past experience of the Cornish Arms, absolutely perfect. (I am incredibly fussy about chips - unless they are perfect I don’t want to know of them. Most chips are mediocre, if not crap, so it’s generally easy to resist.)

A bit of salad was a welcome addition. I know some people would see it as superfluous, or even a joke, but I actually like a bit of greenery amongst the batter. The tartare sauce was also welcome, and vastly nicer than any tartare sauce I'd had in pre-veg*n days.

I’d try to make it to the Cornish Arms more often, but the substantial meals tend to necessitate extreme hunger, bordering on hanger, that I can’t be bothered to invoke very often. I do have another half-marathon approaching later in the year, though…