Argyle Restaurant - Kearny, NJ

Posted By Michael Stern on April 9, 2001 5:56 PM

The Argyle serves beautiful fish and chips. Each platter holds one very large triangular hunk of haddock (or cod) that has been battered and deep fried until the exterior is brittle and the inside, nearly two inches in height, is a pillowy mound of snow-white, moist, sweet fish. The soft flavor of the meat and the hard crunch of its golden jacket are joy for tongue and taste buds. Alongside the fish comes a heap of chips (aka French fries); and on the table is a bottle of malt vinegar – the preferred dressing for deep-fried potatoes among Brits.

If it’s Caledonian cuisine you crave, the Argyle is your cup of tea. Beyond fish and chips, you can dine on such peculiar British-Isle dishes as a Scotch egg – hard-boiled, wrapped in sausage, breaded and deep fried. Old-country chicken pie and meat pie, accompanied by beans and chips, are true comfort foods; and black pudding (blood sausage), albeit somewhat gruesome-looking, has a truly appetizing smell that is like savory cinnamon. For dessert, you want clootie dumpling, a not-too-sweet spice cake that is sometimes known as “boiled baby”, served in a pool of hot custard.

The Argyle is an inconspicuous neighborhood lunch hall, with the fry kettles up front, and long rows of tables in back. Its patrons are locals as well as homesick Scots and Irish from towns and states far away. It adjoins a store called The Piper’s Cove, where culinary adventurers will find British Isle groceries little-known in most of the U.S., i.e. cans of mashed peas in marrow fat, Scott’s Porage Oats, and McCowan’s Highland Toffee.

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Posted By Jay Shahwan on February 15, 2010 11:36 PM

I've been eating fish and chips from Kearny my entire life -- and that's a long time. When my dad was alive, he knew the best places to get fish and chips (he was a long time Harrison resident). Our favorite place was Kerr's -- and it was always a rare treat to eat in this non-elegant eatery where the fishermen would bring in their catch slung over their shoulders.

Like I said, that was a long time ago. The second all-time best was Argyle's. I've been eating there for the last 40 or so years -- always a place I'd go to when I was craving the nostalgia of my youth, but one of the best fresh fish and chips places ever. Until recently. Last year I made my annual trek to Argyle's, all set to indulge in a meal that I considered consistently terrific. I've brought family and friends, and business associates, luring them with stories of the best seafood with the crunchiest batter dip ever -- not to be replicated in the contiguous 48 states. However, with the first bite, I knew that the old recipe had been tampered with -- whether it was the batter, the seasonings, or the public clammering for a healthier way to make this stuff -- it was a brutal and bitter disappointment. I left feeling very cheated. The price is still great for a full meal, but the quality has dramatically changed. Now I'm on a mission to find the right place with the right ingredients. Too bad, Argyle's, you lost a faithful friend!

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fish & chips

meat pie

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Posted By Jon Bonesteel on July 2, 2009 5:13 PM

We went to Argyle for dinner recently. Have been to many New Jersey restaurants, but have not had such bad service before. Took ten minutes to get menus, with waitstaff all around us. Then it went downhill from there.

We had the simplest of orders, fried fish and fried clams, yet many others who sat down after us had finished their meals before we even received ours (there were only five people in our party). Rather than get an apology, we got a "thank you" for our patience. The food was OK, but nothing spectacular. The fried clams were overcooked. The fried fish was light and fluffy and not too fishy. The presentation was comparable to the photos published by Mr. Stern.

If you're in the neighborhood and have the luxury of time, or if you're a regular and they know you, certainly give it a shot.

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Posted By Tim Sit on February 16, 2006 8:17 PM

Maybe Argyle has gone downhill, or maybe they had a bad day.

I tried the fish and chips and thought they were bland and below average. They looked a lot like the photo in Michael's review, but both the batter and the fish were surprisingly tasteless, and the crust was greasy. The chips were simply frozen french fries, cooked without love. There was a side of OK slaw.

I started with pierogies, the special appetizer of the day. This was a mistake. They were deep fried and not homemade, served with greasy/burnt deep fried onions, applesauce and sour cream.

The clootie pudding for dessert was another loser. As I've never had this before, I can't say whether or not this is the definitive version, but I was served stale ginger bread microwaved so that half was dried out, hard and too hot to eat, while the other half was still cold! The whole thing was covered in canned custard, some of which was hot, some cold.

The service was not very good either.

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