Brit style

British chef will open Dallas' first true fish and chips joint

The Brits know their fish and chips.

Photo courtesy of Fish & Fizz

Fish and chips is a universally popular dish, with entire restaurants dedicated to it in England. And yet nowhere in DFW is there a fish and chips place. There are pubs with fish and chips, and seafood restaurants with fish and chips.

Now comes a restaurant where fish and chips will rule. Called Fish & Fizz, it's from an actual native of England, chef Nick Barclay and his Dallas native wife, Kelli, for whom this is a return to the Dallas dining world; they once had a restaurant here before going to England to run an inn by the sea.

The couple returned and now will open F&F at 400 North Coit Rd. in Richardson in the spring.

It'll have fish and chips plus daily specials, English dishes like bangers and mash and Cornish pasties. The fizz part refers to beverages, all of which will sparkle, including Champagne, sparkling wines, Prosecco, craft beer, and soft drinks.

"I know how to make authentic British fish and chips," Barclay says. "We'll use cod and seafood that's Marine Stewardship Certified, which is sourced and sustainably caught. For the batter, I've got my own specific recipe that's light but with a nice golden brown crunch, and the chips will be a little fatter than what you get here in town. We'll do it as authentically as possible, with all the traditional sides like curry sauce and pickled eggs and proper malt vinegar with Cornish sea salt."

The space they took used to be a restaurant called Pelican House and then Alligator Cove, which they've given a seaside feel with beach huts and what he describes as a "fine-casual" format. "It's a hybrid of fine dining and fast casual, with the chef edge that comes from our years of experience," he says.

Sitting in front will be an old-school nostalgic London black taxi, as a marker to all of the British that lies within. "Call us crazy, but we said let's have one more go at this," Barclay says.

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Fried Chicken News

Pelicana Korean fried chicken chain flaps into Texas, Dallas first

Pelicana

Wings from Pelicana Chicken.

Dallas' busy Korean chicken scene is getting a new player: Pelicana Chicken, a South Korean-based operation expanding into the U.S., will enter the Texas market with a location in the Dallas area, set to debut this fall.

The restaurant will open at 1012 MacArthur Dr., Carrollton, in a new build just off George Bush Turnpike, part of a larger retail center that includes several other Korean eateries.

A spokesperson for the franchise group that's bringing Pelicana to Dallas says that the location, which has been in the works for a year, is still under construction.

“We’re hoping to wrap it up in the next couple of weeks,” the representative says. "We're tentatively looking at mid-to late October or early November."

Pelicana was founded in South Korea in 1982 and has more than 3,000 locations around the world. It opened its first U.S. restaurant in 2014, and now has 28 U.S. locations including 13 in New York and five in California.

The chain serves fried chicken, half or whole, plus wings, in two choices: Original, with a light batter, coated in a sweet-spicy sauce; or the signature Crispy, featuring a double coating of the batter that creates a thicker fried crust.

Seven seasonings include spicy, smoky hot, or garlic.

Side dishes include three types of fries – original, shaken, or sweet potato – and chicken dakgangjeong, a traditional Korean dish with chunks of chicken in a sweet/hot sauce.

Authentic items include ddukbokki, their spin on the popular Korean street food known as tteokbokki, AKA spicy rice cakes, cooked with fish cake and vegetables. Lunch dishes include chibob, boneless chicken over white rice with sweet & spicy sauce and sour cream.

It’s an encouraging sign to see adventurous options like boneless chicken feet, stir-fried sausage, and fishcake soup, although menu offerings vary by location.

"This is a franchise and there are things that we have to do, but we also have some flexibility," the restaurant rep says. "We are allowed to ideate based on the customer base and location."

Korean chicken is almost always accompanied by cold beer, or at least the availability of beer, and Pelicana has a bar with a suitable selection.

“Every Pelicana has a sit-down bar, and it’s kind of a sports bar, Irish pub like environment with TVs,” the rep says.

The chain has plenty of competition in the DFW area, with recent entries such as Bonchon, Mad For Chicken, and BB.Q Chicken, although its heartiest competitor is likely to be No. 1 Plus Chicken, which also offers chicken and beer at its Dallas and Richardson locations. The approaches are similar – chicken fried Korean-style, which is a lighter fry than its American counterpart – and a menu that touches on more ethnic foods of Korea.

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