King bites and cod roe

Not every fried fish on a chip-shop board is a fillet. King bites are pieces: a counted handful, battered or similar, fried, sold as a portion. They are the item you pick when you want fish in several bites instead of one long piece, or when you are sharing. Cod roe is something else again — the roe of the cod, fried, usually as a side, with a different texture that people either grew up with or will not touch.

On this Coulsdon board, seven king bites are £9.50, the same published price as small cod, plaice and rock salmon. That does not mean they are the same meal. It means they sit in the same price band. Cod roe is £3.50. It is not a third size of cod. The cod page covers small and large fillets. This page is the pieces and the roe, so they are not lost in a fillet article. The photograph is fried fish in general. It is not a labelled basket of bites from 85 Stoats Nest Road.

King bites

Seven is the published count. If you need more, you are ordering another portion, not inventing an eighth on the house. Chips are still separate, from £3.00. Kids who want pieces of fish with chips already have a printed box: four cod bites and chips at £6.00. That kids’ box is not the same as seven king bites. Do not mix the names at the counter.

This guide does not invent whether king bites are cod, a mix, or a house recipe. Ask if you need the species. A page that guessed would be padding.

Cod roe

Fried roe is a traditional chip-shop side: soft inside, a shell outside, a flavour that is not fillet. Order it if you know you like it. Do not order it as a surprise for a table that asked for “some extra fish”. Put it on the ticket as roe. Peas or curry sauce are still the printed wet pots if you want them.

Phone 020 8660 6990. Monday to Saturday 12:00–21:45. Sunday closed. Independent guide, not the official shop. Prices on this page can go out of date; the till does not.

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