Thistle & Fish & Chips

Get your fish fry on. 4 stars only because it might give you a heart attack especially of you eat here as much as we do.
Fave is the shrimps

Excellent as always! Best fish & chips outside of Glasgow. My family has been coming to eat at the Thistle for 50 years! We drive up from the shore for a great meal!

What a hidden gem! Delicious fish and chips! Light, flaky fish, not greasy, great tartar sauce. Cute little restaurant with very friendly staff. It’s a BYOB so it makes it an affordable night out, and very easy to find. Probably will be returning when the fish and chip urge hits again!!!

I always heard good things about this place, but I never made it over. Fortunately for me, I finally had dinner at the Thistle and it was fantastic! My friends and I all ordered the fish and chips and were loving every bite of it. It’s also BYOB, which is always a plus in my book. The service was extremely kind and attentive. The dining area is quite small so make sure to make reservations on busy nights. I will gladly be returning to the Thistle very soon.

Obviously lady needs her hearing checked taken the order. I clearly ordered fish and chips and because I didn’t say lunch, which is until 4 and I ordered at 3, they gave me the dinner price of $ 16 for 2 orders. She tells me the person said dinner and I told her I ordered the meals and it was the lunch for $ 9.99…when I saw the meal definately not worth $ 16. Thistle is overrated hype from people who live in the area. I’ll take the seafare chippery in Fanwood over this place any given day. Please a thimble of Tartar sauce… I’m not going here again… buyer beware.

For 60 years we have been eating Fish and Chips first in Kearny and now at the Thistle. The family owned business and casual and the food is always excellent. BYO (there is a liquor store across the street in the shopping plaza — you can park there as well) and your love of all things british…

Casual place, excellent meal. Service was friendly, and the fish was simple, hearty, and delicious. Also had the beet & onion salad as an app, sweet, tangy, and exactly what I wanted. Will definitely be back here soon!

This was roughly my third time here and I’m always happy with the food. This time I had one of the specials, swordfish with a tomato topped with a mushroom and mozzarella on the side. It was delicious! For dessert I had the key lime pie which tastes just like it should (having been to Key West several times, it’s one of my favorite desserts). The service was very good. My only complaint with this restaurant is the menu is relatively small. And keep in mind this is «fish and chips» so if you or someone going with you is not a seafood lover, you’ll only find a few options (steak, etc.). For anyone looking for a drink, they are BYOB.

Decent place at a decent price!
I must’ve driven past this place a hundred times and never noticed it was there. Only reason I discovered the place was due to a Unilocal search for seafood in my area.
That said, I ate there last night.
The place itself, in a word, is quaint, almost old-​school diner like. On the small side, with sea foam green and white walls. Another reviewer mentioned that it seemed like an Irish pub without the bar, and that’s a pretty accurate description.
For the food, the menu is small — only a handful of choices for entrée, and half of those are combo plates (i.e. Shrimp, flounder, scallops, or combining any of the three). I actually prefer not spending 30 minutes trying to figure out what to eat, so the small menu is a plus for me.
I ordered the Oysters app and Stuffed Flounder for dinner.
The oysters were pretty good at $ 8 for a half dozen. At that price, I would come back for the oysters alone!
The stuffed flounder was good, but nothing incredible. The flounder was supposed to be stuffed with crabmeat, but the filling was more bread than anything else. Still, a good sized, tasty piece of fish.
The service from the lone waitress was pretty spot on as well. No issues there. And BYOB is an added bonus.
All in all, I was happy and would definitely go back.

Exquisite! I went here today with a local flavor coupon and got their swordfish + fish n chips. Both were 5 stars. The honey glazed swordfish was just amazing. Never had anything like it before. Even the coleslaw was good, and I usually just throw out coleslaw when I get it from most places. You can tell they really put effort into their food. Fish n chips was really good, great soft outside, fresh inside, amazing with the honey coating from the swordfish. Maybe they should have that as a side option with every dish?
The freshness of their fish is what really impressed me. Most places don’t give you fresh tasting fish on a Wednesday, especially if you use a coupon.
Would definitely recommend them to anyone who loves seafood. Just a shame they don’t deliver very far outside of Lyndhurst.

This is what fish and chips should be. The best cod and chips in the entire area. Try it and you will be back.

3.5 for food it’s good!
4.0 for service!
Sometimes your just in the mood for fried fish!
I loved the fried cod fish and chips here! The fish is battered so if your like my fiancé, you might not take liking to it. She enjoyed the fish, but did separated the fried batter. Oh well. I will still return to enjoy fried fish and chips here!

Great local spot for fish and chips. Honestly I came in with low expectations given that there were only a couple tables occupied on a Friday night and it’s not an old Irish Pub, but I was pleasantly surprised how good the fish was. Their logo is «Old Country Style Fish and Chips» and that’s what it tasted like, from an old family recipe.
On this visit I ordered the fish, shrimp, and scallop platter for $ 20. I had the option to get everything fried or broiled or mix and match. I had the fish fried and the shrimp/​scallops broiled. My favorite was the fish. The portion of the fish was quite large, too. The batter was light and crispy and the cod was fresh, flaky, and moist. Dousing it with malt vinegar, made it delicious. The shrimp and scallops broiled in a butter sauce was also fresh and tasty, but the portions were much smaller — 2 pieces of shrimp and 3 scallops.
You can choose chips, roasted potatoes or rice as your side. To minimize my intake of fried food, I chose the roasted seasoned potatoes which complemented the seafood well.
My husband and I also shared the Fried Oysters. The oysters themselves were good, but I found the batter a bit odd. It was nothing like the batter used for the fish.
The fish is really the signature dish of this restaurant and I would order the Original Fish and Chips platter next time. Or I would get the fried clams (runs as a special) which is a guilty pleasure of mine.
The service is very friendly and the dining area is quaint and cozy. I would definitely come back here for the fish and chips.

Went here to their Lyndhurst location with my wife for the first time after having not been to the Kearny location for a while. I used to come here with my late dad & my mom when I was a little kid.
Everything is exactly as I remembered it from 20 years ago.
New England Clam Chowder
Shrimp Cocktail
Fish & Chips
Key Lime Pie
Rice Pudding
Everything was EXCELLENT!
Even my wife who’s allergic to fish had the fried chicken & that was excellent too.
Breading was perfect!
Great job guys — keep up the good work!
So good to see the small businesses still in tact from years ago!
Frank

We’ve been coming here since the Kearny days. We don’t get here as often as we;d like but it’s delicious every time. My wife always orders the Original Fish & Chips.
Last time I ordered Fish/​Shrimp/​Scallops. Loved it!
We’ll be back soon.

I tried their fish and chips, I didn’t like it. The fish was not fresh and it was very oily.

This place is fantastic! Why so many negative reviews? OK it’s a little more expansive but don’t people understand when it’s a byob they dont make money on alcohol so they have to charge more for food?
The fish was nice and flaky and the batter was perfect! The muscle apetizer in white sauce was like eating New England Muscle Chowder. Very nice!

I remember when Thistle used to be in Kearny so when it moved a few blocks away from me in Lyndhurst, I was so excited to try it because I had been craving good fish n’ chips for a while. I went based on the good reviews of this place from other Unilocalers.
I got the Fish n’ Chips that everyone raved about. Despite the fish itself being nice and flaky, the outside batter was way too greasy for me and cld have been rested on paper towel to soak it up for a bit. Even the fries that the fish were on top of were greasy due to the fish. Every bite I took, I felt like I was eating a mouthful of grease. I couldn’t get myself to finish it due to that fact even though I really wanted to. Sadly disappointed…

good portions and quick service. Too bad it is not a bar, then you would
really be in scotland.

Walk in and the place is packed: good sign. Use the ‘loo’ and it’s immaculate: another good sign. Food comes out quick and tastes great: another good sign.
Kearny’s loss is definitely Lyndhurst’s gain. It’s not healthy eating but once in a ‘loo’ you can’t go wrong.
(Full disclosure: back in the day I worked up the street at their main competitors, The Argyle. But back then I was a vegetarian and didn’t like seafood so my diet consisted of chips and a piece of cake and lots of iced tea.)