Fish and chips in a landlocked state

There are plenty of spots to get this classic pairing in Boulder County

0

A quintessential pub-grub menu item, fish and chips are perfect for this time of year — and particularly in this year. With all this rainy weather, it’s satisfying to duck into a shop for a piping hot plate of the fried fish and potato classic; and on days when it’s warm, well, it’s not so bad enjoying them with a craft beer on a sunny patio. Here are a few places to start your journey.

Mountain Sun
Southern Sun in Boulder and Longs Peak Pub in Longmont are currently open for takeout and patio seating, and if you’re in the mood for fish and chips, there are few better places than here to get them. The Sun’s take — dubbed phish and chips — is made with beer-battered Atlantic cod and the result is a piping hot chunk of white fish with an irresistible, bubbly, crackly, thick crust. And the Sun doesn’t treat the fries as throwaways — anyone who’s been to one of its outposts knows a plate of these crispy, substantial fries is a meal in itself.

Reelfish
Now if a variety of fresh-fish options is what you’re after, then you ought to go to Lafayette’s Reelfish. It has fresh Alaskan cod, Atlantic haddock, Cajun catfish, salmon and, on the weekends, walleye, that it turns into crispy bites of goodness. You can even get clams, oysters and shrimp fried and served alongside fries or, if you can’t chooe, get the sampler: cod, haddock, salmon and shrimp. And that’s just the beginning of Reelfish’s seafood offerings, by the way.

Rocky Flats Bar & Grill
Look, Rocky Flats is in the news these days given plans for increasing recreation on the area around the former plutonium plant. But the little restaurant on Highway 93 that bears its name is worth a stop, regardless of your feeling on the issue. Renovated after a fire, the bar is back with live music, a redecorated interior and its famous Friday night fish fry. We’re pulling it into the fish and chips roundup because it’s unique and close enough — walleye, perch, catfish or cod is flown in on Fridays and served throughout the weekend until supplies run out. Served alongside hush puppies, it’s one to seek out.

On the Hook
Fish and chips is a perfect concept to build a food truck around. Making it can be streamlined in the small space of a truck, and it’s certainly a good thing to munch on outside of a craft brewery. On the Hook, a regional fleet of fish-and-chips trucks, specializes in line-caught Alaskan cod that’s caught, processed and frozen on the ship to preserve quality. That freshness comes through in the fish from On the Hook, which was started by two University of Wyoming grads. Find the truck at onthehookfishandchips.com (it’ll be at Industrial Revolution Brewing in Erie on May 14).

The Hungry Toad
And it’d be shameful not to include Boulder’s The Hungry Toad on this list of fish and chip spots. The English pub and grill serves up crispy, hot, beer-battered fish that happen to go down well with the Toad’s lineup of imported draught beer. Try it with a Boddington’s or an Old Speckled Hen, and you’ll be doing fish and chips right.