OD on Fried

In these parts, around every neighborhood corner is a neighborhood fish 'n chips spot. I thought stateside Pacific Northwesterners were big on fish and chips, but we can't put ourselves in the same league as kiwis. There are literally hundreds of these tiny shops crammed into a city the size of Christchurch (all you need is space for a counter and some deep fryers), and even blink towns--the ones you'll miss if you blink while driving through them--have a handful of their very own.

Fish and chips not your bag? Not to worry. Because as far as I can tell, almost all of these fish 'n chip shops offer a bonanza of other fried food: springrolls, crab rangoon, donuts, tempura vegetables, fried fruits, etc. All fried up fresh for you there and wrapped up in a neat package of newsprint.

And did I mention it's dead cheap? Well it is. We went to one of these joints for the first time last Thursday with some friends. These friends are also expats but also seasoned veterans of the fish 'n chips dining experience. The hubby advised Rocky that the orders were generous: one order of fish and one order of chips should do the job. Rocky, feeling like he could really do some damage on an order of fries and knowing that The Squidd likes his share of 'em, too, orders fish and THREE orders of fries.

Oh, we ate and ate, don't doubt it, but here is what was left of our $8 meal. My hand is in the picture for scale, but you'll have to trust me that even this picture fails to convey a true sense for how obscene 5 lbs. of fries looks when it's leftover from the original meal. As our friend Warren's dad would say: "That's good value."