KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 — The contest for the best fish and chips in the Klang Valley just heated up with the opening of Lad And Fry.
It may be new to us but this one-week old eatery in Wisma Cosway is backed by Singapore's Lad & Dad.
Started by Keith Koh and his father, Desmond, Lad & Dad offers British pub grub headlined by their signature fish and chips.
Keith's story is an interesting one, where he switched to F&B, even after graduating with first class honours from University of London. Their humble beginnings as a stall in a food court has now been transformed into their opening several restaurants.
This KL outpost is opened with their local partner, a British expatriate who moved from Singapore to Malaysia.
The choice for this location was driven by familiarity as the local owner is a regular customer at Cathy's Place, a few doors away.
Despite its not too glamorous surroundings, this place still draws a good lunch crowd with its prime location in the Golden Triangle. This also makes it ideal for delivery too, which they will start later.
Currently, they are serving their opening set special where you get Fish & Chips with two sauces, a side dish and soft drink, for RM29.90 nett.
What you get is battered fish that is a little darker brown in colour compared to that at other places.
Cut through it to find flaky sea perch encased in a thin crust, which has a light crispy texture that isn't too greasy.
It seems the trick to their crispy batter is the use of soda water.
This is served with flat cut fries, with a crispy exterior and fluffy centre.
And of course, there's malt vinegar on the side for you to drench your fries. Here, they use Sarson's malt vinegar, one of Britain's oldest vinegar companies that still brews their vinegar using malted barley.
What I really enjoyed were their homemade sauces. The gherkin tartar sauce was creamy and that hit of tanginess from the chopped gherkin, perked up my fish.
The quintessential mushy peas are incredibly well done here. It's got the right consistency with some chunky bits and the flavour is fresh, helping to alleviate any oily aftertaste.
You also have curry sauce. I admit, I wasn't a big fan of it as it reminded me of a Japanese curry. Stick to the tartar sauce and mushy peas instead.
For the side dishes, it's a choice of corn or their purple slaw. Go for the slaw with its Goober grape colour, as the shredded purple cabbage is tossed with their creamy house dressing and sultanas.
This opening set promotion will most probably run for another week. Currently they are still experimenting with the type of fish they plan to offer so it may be a different type of fish this week.
It's still early days but one can expect more goodies on the horizon.
There will be Lad & Dad staples like classic bangers and mash and Scotch eggs. The Scotch eggs will be fashioned from minced pork sausage encased in a breaded crumb, where you get a runny yolk egg in the centre.
As they have also partnered with Alright Provisions, you can also order craft beers to quench your thirst. This is still in the works too.
Things are currently fluid, as they make tweaks and adjust to the environment. They will be moving the kitchen to a separate location within the same building, making it easier for delivery pick ups.
You will find Lad And Fry the moment you walk through the main entrance of Wisma Cosway.
Lad And Fry, Ground Floor, Wisma Cosway, 88, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 12pm to 2pm, 5pm to 9pm. (Tuesday to Saturday). Closed on Sunday and Monday. Instagram:@ladandfry.kl
*This is an independent review where the writer paid for the meal.
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