Harvey's Restaurant Tunbridge Wells: naturally wild fish and beef dripping chips.
Wild, natural sea fish only.
No farmed fish: all the fish we fry is wild. Wild natural fish have had the freedom of the Atlantic (and other oceans) to express their natural behaviour in a challenging, unpredictable and often precarious habitat. The fish we fry has been line caught, which maintains the quality of the product, and all fillets are fried skin-on.
Local potatoes.
Our chips are prepared in-house in small batches from local Kent potatoes. Our potatoes come from small independent growers and the varieties used to make our chips may change depending on season and availability.
Seasonal variety is part of the joy of celebrating a natural product, so from time to time subtle differences may be noticeable in our chips due to the variety, starch content, and storage, however they will always be fried in beef dripping according to our own unique process.
Our chips are all prepared by hand in small batches, because we believe that automated peeling and chipping machines can be degrading to the product, as well as creating unnecessary waste through needlessly removing nutrient-rich potato skins and through the use of excessive water in the automated process.
How we pepare our chips.
Potatoes are peeled individually by hand, with obvious blemishes and dents being removed, retaining as much good potato-skin as reasonable; generally we aim for at least 50 per cent of the skin to be retained depending on variety and shape and how the potatoes have been harvested and washed. The chips are then cut by hand in small batches of 5-10kg. Unlike a "chip shop" we do not prepare vast quantities of chips in advance which need to be held in large bins of water for many hours requiring chemical "holding agents" to stop the chips going brown, soft and bendy which happens after too long a time (e.g. overnight) being held to soak in water. Prior to cooking our chips are held for a short duration immersed in filtered, de-chlorinated water, with a little salt to assist with removal of excess moisture and starch.
Deep frying in beef dripping ("beef fat").
Our chips are triple fried in premier beef jus (beef dripping) according to a timed procedure. A high quality British beef dripping is used in order to achieve crispy, blond chips with a fluffy, melty inside. We do not use seed oils (so-called "vegetable oils") nor palm oil (or any blends containing "vegetable" or seed oils) for deep fat frying.
Our core ethos is based around traditional tastes using traditional methods of cooking, which means using all-British beef dripping, slower processes and lower temperatures. When ready, the chips are then lightly sprinkled with sea salt prior to serving.
We may take a little longer therefore to prepare your food so please bear with us! We like to think that the ultimate nourishing comfort food is worth waiting a little extra time for. (Though if you have a train to catch, let us know and we will do our best to accommodate.)
Our mission.
Our core mission is to serve the best fish and chips possible. That's it. We really care about serving the best fish and chips we can, and ensuring that our customers enjoy the best possible expression of the most wonderful, nourishing, traditional food of our island nation, ideally with a glass of English ginger beer, lemonade, chilled lager, hoppy ale or wine.
Restaurant (table service) only.
To preserve the integrity and quality of the product we do not offer takeaways or deliveries, because in our opinion fish and chips needs to be enjoyed quite promptly after cooking; unlike pizza and perhaps curry, it does not do well being transported. This most traditional and historic product is best enjoyed fresh from the fryer in a pleasant and relaxed environment with a glass of something nice. Freshly fried fish and chips need to be "rested" a little at room temperature before serving: wrapping the product or keeping it in an enclosed box and transporting it disrupts this process by compromising the balance of moisture content of the interior and the surface and therefore can result in a less enjoyable experience.
Batter.
Our batter is very simple: British wheat flour and raising agents only. Fish fillets are pre-coated with a simple dredging of fine rice flour combined with a small quantity of fine rock salt, then dipped in batter and fried in beef dripping until golden. We do not use any flavour enhancers (such as MSG / E621) nor any preservatives, artificial colours or binding agents.
Pan fried fish.
We also offer pan fried fish as an alternative to battered. Simply cooked on iron with a sprinkling of extra virgin olive oil and seasoning, often just rock salt or sea salt. Sauces for pan fried fish may change depending on the fish species available on the day.
Sauces.
Our sauces are made in house from first principles. We only use butter, flour, whole milk and natural seasonings in our sauces. Only sea salt or rock salt is used. Our sauces do not contain any thickening agents, colourants, gums or any artificial additives or preservatives. Please note that sauces offered may change on a daily basis depending on seasonality and ingredient availability.
Mushy peas.
Our mushy peas are made in house according to our own recipe.