Poppies

Poppies était sur ma liste des meilleurs resto de Londres, et cette place n’est pas du tout volée. Certes, c’est très marketté cette ambiance de diner des années 50 et je m’attendais à un endroit totalement différent et plus authentique mais je n’ai pas été déçue du voyage tellement c’était bon.
Le meilleur fish & chips que j’ai mangé jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Les guides touristiques ont 100% raison !
Allez y les yeux fermés !

Je suis vraiment contente de mettre rendue à l’adresse londonienne (soufflée par ma sœur) qui semble incontournable pour goûter un VRAI fish & chips mais je réitérerai pas l’expérience pour autant (à Londres ou ailleurs).
Je crois que TOUT CE GRAS ME REND MALADE !!
Alors OUI le poisson en tant que tel est pas mal mais je préfère de loin un bon morceau de cabillaud que je sers avec une sauce aux échalotes, vin blanc et beurre. Toute cette panure est de trop !
Alors NON les frites né sont pas terribles, j’en ai mangé de bien meilleures durant ce séjour chez Honest Burgers ! Elles étaient épaisses et pas croustillantes du tout.
Alors OUI c’est sympa les deux petites sauces qui sont servies avec mais je n’aime pas le ketchup /​-​:
La portion «regular» est énorme alors je vous laisse imaginer la taille supérieure. DOMMAGE que le haddock né soit servi qu’en portion LARGE. Mon copain qui voulait goûter ce poisson s’est donc rabattu sur le cabillaud car il n’avait pas suffisamment d’appétit (et pas envie non plus d’avoir les artères bouchées avec un seul repas).
Alors MOUAIS le service n’a pas été des plus souriants mais expéditif !
Alors dépenser 24 £UK pour ce type de nourriture ultra mauvaise pour la santé, une fois mais pas deux !

If you go to England and do not try their fish chips, then it’s a crime. During my visit to England, I wanted to give my girl-​friend a true tasty of British food, and nothing more British than fish and chips. Being from eastern part of India, we love fish (cooked in any form, be sushi, be it curry). I have been to couple of London fish & chips institutions before (Bailey’s, Golden Hind) during my previous visits, but this was my first visit to Poppies. Décor is nothing extraordinary, but after we were seated, you do feel that the place is pretty cramped. Now coming to the most important part of the experience, the food. I ordered regular Cod and my girl friend ordered large Haddock. I also ordered side of mushy peas. It was delicious. Fish was moist and full of flavor, the batter was crispy but not heavy. Mushy was good too. Nothing special to add about the chips, regular chips, nothing out of ordinary. Can not say whether this is the best Fish & Chips in London or not, but surly one of the best. Most importantly my girl-​friend enjoyed the food, which made the trip even more enjoyable ;)

It was my second day in London and my English friend took me out to this place per my request of Fish and Chips. It was delicious! We had a yummy dinner with beer. Great London experience!

I doubt this is the best fish & chips in london, but came here by a neighbor recommendation.
I’m still in the seek of a very special one.
But i case you haven’t found the best one, this is worth if you’re around and want to have a decent dinner in a nice atmosphere.
Place is clean!

The fish and chips were great, tender and crispy, but it’s a bit expensive for what you get.

Poppies est pour moi un passage presque obligé à Londres, une adresse incontournable pour goûter au moins une fois un vrai fish & chips anglais. La qualité et le goût du plat feraient aimer le poisson aux plus réticents. Ajoutez le cadre rétro et l’ambiance conviviale, et vous obtenez une super expérience en plus d’un super repas!

Very famous so had to stop in when friends were in town and we it caught by soutalfields looking to eat.
Were seated quickly and the room was clean.
I don’t think I’ll be back: the food was a bit too greasy and overpriced for what it is — you can probably do better at any quality pub. Also, the service felt rushed and didn’t add to the experience.

Para estar en pleno mercadillo, el fish & chips está muuuuuuuy rico, la verdad. Fríen el pescado por comanda, así que hay que esperar un poco, pero la ventaja es que sale calentito y recién hecho… ¡Nada recalentado! Además, la porción es enorme y el precio no está nada mal.
Eso sí, lo peor es que no tienen sitio propio para sentarte, sino que tienes que luchar contra los elementos para conseguir un hueco en una de las mesas que hay en el mercado de Spitalfields.

Went there because it’s known as the best place for fish and chips.
We tried the brick lane place. Fish was really good and the presentation is really cute with mini jars for dipping sauces. But the fries where meh… They could improve the quality of the fries and they would be perfect!

Poppies, Spitalfields — 13 years living in the UK and now when you say Friday, I think fish and chips. But it need not be a Friday for fish and chips; certainly so, for Poppies. This place is filled almost every day of the week. Families, friends and even, tourists. And this is because of the glamour of Poppies merit.
The interior is very simple but there it lots to look at; the wall space is not wasted. Populated with photos, miniature soldiers statues and cockney rhymes were engaging. Poppies exudes a strong takeaway setting with seating. The jukebox, the polka-​dot uniformed waitress with their head ribbons have the air of an American diner. But Poppies is truly British. It dates back to 1945, just after the second world war.
Fish at Poppies is all sustainably sourced. The choices include cod, haddock, halibut, skate, rock, mackerel, lemon sole and plaice (from £11.90). Favourite scampi and calamari (from £8.90) is also on the menu. Because Poppies is more than just a fish bar there is a choice of roasted chicken (whole chicken at £17.90, half at £10.90 and quarter at £7.90), sausages and pies (from £7.90). Children meals are offered at just under £5.00.
To satiate the sweet tooth, some very classic British puddings such as caramel sticky toffee pudding, apple pie and ice-​cream (junst under £5.00) look very tempting but we decided to watch the waistline for now.
small cod fish and chips £11.70 — small is a good description, especially when taking the price into account. Good quality fish with a rather average batter, only a bit better than yer average chippy really. Chips were fairly good but again, unremarkable.
hot seafood platter £14.95 — with whitebait, squid rings, cod fillets and scampi — a largish platter for one but a good share for mum and I. I thought it would be a good summary of what Poppies do. It was almost everything on the plate. Very nice cod fillets, squid rings were a little rubbery, scampi was good but we were not crazy about the fried whitebait.
Poppies is not cheap. Our bill came to just under £25 — £30 for two people. And that did not include drinks. I would be happy to dine here again. Especially so because I missed their famous jellied eels. Anyone had that?
Check their website, here, if you need delivery service.

Went on my first Eurotrip 2 weeks ago and prior to leaving my BF recommended Poppies fish and chips. My BF is a foodie and hearing him talk about Poppies during his time in London made me really curious. My friends and I decided to find Poppies in our second night in London. We got to the place late so they were out on a lot of the items on the menu; luckily, the cod wasn’t one of them. We all got the regular size cod and chips. The cod was yummy, perfectly battered and cooked perfectly to golden brown. My friend thought it was the best fish and chips he ever had!
The homemade tartar sauce was yummy, but I still think Andria’s seafood in Ventura is the best homemade tartar sauce I’ve had. I thought it was cute that they serve their ketchup and tartar sauce in the tiny little jars.
Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream was yummy! I only had a small taste because I don’t really care for dessert, but their toffee pudding was better than what I’ve had in the past.
Service was awesome, very friendly and accommodating staff!

Tried this place out on my 2^nd last evening in London. Had to do some traditional British stuff :-). Thanks to fellow Unilocalers, I knew exactly what needed to be ordered. I got the Regular Haddock Fish & Chips.
Taste wise (and I suppose the Indian in me), I always expect the batter to be tasty & have some spice (weird right?). So yes, the batter didn’t impress me that much. I mean, imagine some Cajun powder mixed with batter? Brings a whole different taste to your dish, doesn’t it?
The batter is quite bland, but not greasy at all. So that was definitely good. The fish on the other hand was absolutely brilliant. Really well cooked (or rather perfect amount of cooking). Had a very nice fishy taste to it. The chips we a little greasy and too much in portion. I couldn’t finish mine. Again, if their tables had a bottle of Tobasco sauce, maybe I would have gulped both of them down ;-).
Ambiance wise, it’s really fun atmosphere. There was a speaker right above me, so the music obviously felt a little loud. but still, a fun place!

Can someone please explain why the discrepancy for the take-​away and eat-​in prices is huge?
Most places I’ve noticed charge a slight premium for dining-​in. I get it. Overhead, servers, cleaning, etc. But to charge about 40% more and not include service seems a bit excessive. Are the takeaway portions significantly smaller? This I don’t know. I just think this place might be a tad overrated. Just get take-​away.

Suite direct de notre exploration des rues de Shoreditch à la recherché de street art de Banksy, le restaurant Poppies à servis de répit dinatoire largement satisfaisant pour né plus avoir faim jusqu’au lendemain matin.
On fait un bon en arrière dans le temps une fois à l’intérieur. Du mur au plafond en passant par le choix du mobilier et jusqu’au jukebox de rigueur, la décoration s’inspire de la mode des années 50. Les serveuses né sont pas en reste, elles aussi ont revêtus le look vestimentaire de leurs ainées.
Ceci dit nous en avons que brièvement profité car choisissant de commander à emporter. La raison principale, une belle économie de £3 chacun. Dehors il faisait bon et ils ont trois petites tables en extérieur, qui sont pris en compte dans le «take away». On né vas pas s’en priver.
Deux sortes de poissons aux choix, Cabillaud ou Haddock. On vote pour le premier, accompagné d’un supplément de frites, celles ci sont bien grosses, et qui dit épaisse dit donc moins de gras à la sortie de cuisson. Vraiment bon et non salé, si bien que c’est au gré de l’envie et du besoin, qu’on se sert à table de la salière et/​ou du vinaigre mis à disposition.
Servis dans une boîte cartonné, les doses sont énormes, on né lésine vraiment pas sur les proportions. Sans rire, ils nous a fallu une quarantaine de minutes pour terminer. On avait choisi le format «regular» qu’est ce que ça aurait été si on avait préféré le format «large».

I’ve read some reviews… From Americans and Brits both… and im a dual citizen so here is my take !
My experience w/​chippies growing up:
Always ate at my local high street spot with an overload of greasy chips and a huge slab of greasy cod with the batter falling off. Cod in my past was probably never really super fresh. Not only have I been overeating but I can tell the color was always off and eating out of heavily inked newspaper probably wasn’t a good idea. But simply put– I never questioned it because it’s British tradition. At the end of the day always felt bloated with a bit of indigestion to top it off. (but it’s always yummy going down with plenty of malt vinegar)
Anyway queue Poppies:
Fun atmosphere. Very friendly, smiling, attentive staff. Impressed with customer service.
Cod fish was perfectly fried with golden brown batter, inside the cod was pure white and meaty– best quality I have ever seen.
Chips were portioned well– a little too fresh from the fryer and hot for me (I like my chips soft and mushy). There were no remnants of oil anywhere on my plate !
Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream best I’ve ever had.
Chicken pie tasty, soft, perfect ratio of filling to pastry. Pies in my past usually have hard tough pastry with dried out filling.
They really have their portions, cook time, products, freshness all down to a tee! I’ll be back before I leave back to LA!

A great recommendation from a friend who traveled here not too long ago!
My husband and I got here right before the lunch rush so we were able to score a table very quickly. We know what we wanted since poppies is know for their fish and chips so I went for the haddock and my husband got the cod. We ordered a side of mushy peas since that’s what you are suppose to eat with fish and chips?
Anyways, our food came out pretty quick and these are pretty big portions. You get a sizable piece of fish for the regular size. I’m not sure what you would get for the larger size! So out of the cod and haddock, I preferred the haddock as it seemed juicier to me then the cod. For the mushy peas, I didn’t particularly like this at first but after awhile it grew on me. You are not missing out if you opt out of mushy peas lol. The ‘chips’ were fresh and crisp as well. This is a great lunch option and super filling as well! You can dine in or order to go so it’s super convienent!

Yummy. Hot and fresh fish & chips.
Poppies is a wonderful spot out on the East side of London where you can get a good fried fish and chips. I choose the haddock. You are able to choose different sizes and what type of fish you want. We also got a side of mushy peas to round out our classic Fish & Chips joint and cross it off our London Must Eats.
Tips: Pour a light amount of malt vinegar on the chips and fish as you eat them. Dont make the mistake to put over all of it at the beginning because by the end it will get soggy.
Fun Fact: Due to the laws in London, you can no longer put fish & chips on newspaper. But famous Poppie refused and decided he would print his own newspaper with edible ink so that he could continue to wrap it in newspaper.

I happened to live above Poppies for a few weeks and all that time there were people taking pictures of this apparently famous Fish and Chips place. I did also see the huge amounts of great fresh fish that was brought in.
So I had to:
1 Take the same picture
2 try the food
You can eat in and take away. There is usually a queue, especially during the weekend and when the weather permits there are loads of people just sitting or standing on the pavement eating there Fish & Chips.
You can choose size and type of fish. I had the large haddock a few times and I loved it. Although battered fried is not my usual preferred fish dish, I did enjoy the tasty fish, clearly very fresh and well prepared, and well fried so not too fatty.
The chips are also good but I could not really eat a lot of the chips with the fish because it was just too much.

Came to Poppie’s by recommendation from a local. My husband and I split the large fish and chips order since neither of us were hungry enough for a full meal. Turns out this seems like a common enough thing to do.
The good:
Food was overall delicious. Probably the best fish I’ve had in a long time, short of a family fish fry. Chips were pretty standard. Had a nice presentation and the homemade tartar sauce was delicious.
The not so good:
Service. I’m not sure if it’s just us being American, but it took about 20 minutes to clear our plates from the table post meal. Keep in mind that this is a tiny restaurant and that other people were coming and going around us. After our plates were taken, we waited another 20 minutes for the check. My husband actually went to ask for it and was told to «relax and we’ll bring it to you.» Wellllllll, I think we’d been relaxing long enough already. With all time, it took us 2 hours to get in and out, which totally drained time on our first day in the city.
I get that service isn’t the same everywhere, but this was pretty outlandish.
In summary, great fish and chips. Get takeaway and save yourself a pound or two and five hours of your time.

I don’t really like fish and chips. That being said, since we were in London I felt compelled to give it another try. I still don’t like fish and chips but there was nothing wrong with Poppies’ version — the meal is just not for me.
Anyway, this review is really about the sticky toffee pudding. I had never had it before and was blown away by how delicious it was. I’d come back just for the dessert.

Take this review with a grain of salt, as I’m an ignorant American with limited fish&chip experience. That being said, it was pretty awesome.
The Vibe:
A little kitschy with the waitress outfits and getups in the kitchen, but nice options of seating indoors, or takeaway and standing out front. Service was friendly, despite the ever present communication gaps I had in London with our English cousins. Great people watching outside.
The Fish&Chip:
One order of the rock, one haddock, and a large order of the fries is MORE than enough for two people. I had mixed feeling about the rock, it was a stronger flavor (fishy some would call it), but the fry on it and the texture was spot on. The haddock was perfectly fried, flaky, and delicious. Also gigantic. A large order of the fries filled the bottom of the two takeaway boxes, giving me the impression they have a heavy hand with the fries no matter the order size. The fries aren’t fried hard, they’re still pretty light in color but have a really nice flake on the inside. Downside to that is you have to eat them while they’re very hot to hot, or they lose the texture.
Everything needed a helping of salt, which I assume was standard since it and vinegar are table side, and tartar was extra which was annoying.

Poppies is a great place for fish and chips. My boyfriend ordered the cod and I ordered the halibut. Both fish were good. The halibut is dryer than the cod but both are equally delicious. The chips (fries) were good as they came fresh out of the fryer. When I first saw how the chips looked like, it looked pretty basic. But they come out piping out of the fryer. It’s not as oily as other fish and chips and they don’t use much batter so you’re still getting the good amount of fried batter to the fish. You also don’t feel too heavy from the fried fish or get that oily feeling.
Compared to fish and chips in California, fish and chips here are way better.
Tip: The take away menu is cheaper than dining in.

Not to be racist or politically incorrect but one of the things I noticed about this place is the open kitchen and white men cooking and serving. Apparently this restaurant has been open through three generations and the food is still cooked by the family. Makes it legit!
Everything is delicious. We got a cod, a halibut, and a skate. Wanted to try haddock but they had run out. My favorite was cod.
You have to pay extra for fries. And also for ketchup. What is that? Fries I understand. But making me pay for ketchup? That’s London I guess.

Une déco des années 50
Tout y est le jukes box, les articles des journaux d’époques
Même les tenues des serveurs est du style d’époque on se croirait dan une des scènes du film «retour vers le futur»
Les assiettes sont énormes
Allez à celui de Camden
Si il fait beau prenez à emporter :-)

Après quelques jours passés à Londres, il était impensable de repartir avant d’avoir déguster une des spécialités anglaises: le fish and chips.
Pour ma part, c’était la première fois que je mangeais ce plat et je n’ai pas été déçue bien au contraire!
Compter environ 11£75 pour ce plat. Cela peut paraitre assez élevé mais la qualité est au rendez vous: un véritable filet de cabillaud frais, une friture parfaite, des frites épaisses et maison, tout cela accompagné d’une sauce ketchup et béarnaise. Ce fut un délice! Petite mention aussi à la boisson: une limonade citronnée qui était à tomber!
Mais il né faut pas oublier le cadre: dès notre entrée, le client est plongé dans les années 50 – 60 avec une décoration rétro, des affiches publicitaires, des cadres partout sur les murs, en passant par des jouets sur les étagères! Les serveuses contribuent aussi à ce retour en arrière, elles sont habillées avec des tenues de ces années là.
L’accueil est très chaleureux, toutes les serveuses sont souriantes et agréables. Le service est très rapide.
Une petite astuce: les plats sont aussi à emporter, ce qui n’est pas négligeable vu la taille du restaurant, la salle est en effet assez étroite. Cela permet de né pas repartir bredouille!
Bref, j’ai passé un super moment et je me suis régalée! A refaire!

I maybe a noob on Fish ‘n Chips in UK, but it met (or went beyond) what I just expected. I was just freakin’ happy to have my 1^st ever fish ‘n chips in UK soil, OK?
I thought everything was bigger in US than anywhere else in the world. But wow. I had not seen fish ‘n chips as big as the one from Poppies. This alone made impressed the shit out of me and gives automatic 4 stars to this place.
Taste? Some may call it mediocre, but it was pretty good to me.
Not too greasy or too watery inside which can happened to white fish a lot.
I need to plan a London trip once again just for this.

Très bon fish and chips cabillaud ou haddock mais aussi des calamars, crevettes et éperlans frits pour changer. Les frites sont très bonnes épaisses avec une pointe de vinaigre et les petits pois un délice. Il y a d’autres spécialités comme les chaussons fourrés ou du poulet rôti. On peut manger sur place ou emporter son plat, les serveuses déguisées années 60 très souriantes et efficaces. Un plat coûte en moyenne 12£ on peut trouver cela cher mais très copieux le regular est largement suffisant.

Schnelle Bedienung, aufmerksames Personal und der Charme der 50er Jahre. Die Portionen sind reichlich und vom Preis normaler Durchschnitt in London.

Fish and chips classique sans surprise. Les produits sont frais. Le personnel est agréable. Le cadre est très sympathique avec de jolies collections et des affiches publicitaires des années 40 – 50. Seul bémol l’espace est restreint.

Waren dort direkt nach unserer Ankunft in London am Freitagnachmittag. Das Bürovolk war schon mehr in die Pubs gezogen, so dass wir kein Problem hatten, einen Tisch zu bekommen. Das zahlreiche Personal ist sehr nett und aufmerksam. Natürlich sind wir beim Klassiker geblieben: Haddock mit Chips sehr lecker!
Das Restaurant ist ganz auf 50er-​Jahre gestylt und man wartet direkt darauf, dass ein Elvis-​Double den Laden betritt.