Penrose Fish & Chips

After 64 years Penrose is closing October 2014.
This place has been a favourite of mine for decades and I will really miss it.
There is something about family run business that make it special and this place had special all over it.
Good luck with your future endeavours friends!

Have been in past and ordered take out with no issues. But my last visit I waited 30 minutes before eating and it became a greasy pile of gross!
According to staff don’t wait longer than 20 minutes from frying!
Perhaps they should tell customers this bit of info.
$ 30 for 2 fish and chips a bit much and definitely overrated!

I don’t usually associate fish & chip places with fancy so as far as the décor of Penrose Fish & Chips, this place is on par with most other fish & chip places that I have been to. That said, there is some great Toronto nostalgia in the dining space.
I’ve been to this place at least 20 times and have tried other fish & chip places for comparison. That’s why I can comfortably give this place (and for my first Unilocal review) five stars.
Although the price of their food has gone up over the years (like all of the others), the quality has remained consistent.
If you’re looking for a hearty piece of halibut fried in a delicious batter served with some amazing hand cut french fries, this is the place to be!
Just be aware that they are «Gone Fishin» on Sundays and Mondays and they aren’t open late. Also, given that they are a «mom & pop» operation, they tend to close on long weekends.

2.5*
The times have changed but Penrose remains its presence in this hood after 30 or 40 years of business.
I went to Penrose on a high note having heard good reviews about this place but I came out unimpressed.
Firstly I’ve got to say that the service was very good and quick. That wasn’t the issue, the issue was the fish AND the chips!
We got our order within 10 min of ordering but this is what I found unimpressive about the food. The fish had a fishy smell and taste and it was chewy, indicating that it was far from fresh. The batter was cooked perfectly but it lacked any interesting flavours to mask that fishy taste. And the chips were just a pile of oily, soggy potato strings.
Also very expensive for the quality. We ordered two fillets of Halibut, one order of fries and two pops and it came down to $ 30 after tax and tip.
Bottom line, the times have changed but unfortunately Penrose has not kept up… they still serve the same fish from 40 years ago, literally!

Penrose Fish & Chips has this old fashion charm which blend right into this strip of Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood.
The deco is definitely have a 50s diner feel… those padded booth seatings. even the waitress… just like how I saw it on TV reruns! And of course the old really old lady that working the cash register too…
Haddock with Chips ($ 10.95)
— Deep Fried everything is oily and greasy and I totally ready for this! :)
— The Fish is flaky and fresh and I like it.
— The batter though crunchy and crispy but I personally prefer a lighter batter… I just like mine golden brown instead of dark brown.(or because it was deep fried for too long?)
— Fries are A-​OK, it was so freshly off the fryer. they were still cooking when they were served!
If you are in the area, definitely give Penrose Fish & Chips a try. BTW, they still wrap their takeout in newspaper! :)
They accepts all credit cards.

I was checking out a shop in the area and stumbled across plain white signage and the smell of delicious grease.
I stepped inside and I felt like I was transported back in time.
It’s a small family run joint that you know has been a neighborhood favorite decades before you were born. Everyone who came in seemed to be a regular customer.
I ordered the Halibut but I wasn’t quite hungry enough for a full side order of chips.
Grandma Penrose was incredibly friendly and welcomed me to the store. She wrapped my halibut with care in layers of paper, throwing in a few chips for me to try. I went to pay and noticed they didn’t have a tip jar. They just waved goodbye and told me to come back another time to eat.
I ate in my car. I’m not really sure why I didn’t just dine inside.
Anyways, the process of unwrapping my paper parceled halibut added some strange old-​school authenticity to the whole experience.
Perfectly crispy on the outside, the fish was moist and tender. Just the right amount of fish. They put the vinegar and salt on for me and I didn’t need tartar sauce, it was perfectly tasty.
The chips I had weren’t super crispy. They were thick and chunky… like if you tried to make french fries at home. Fries resembled real potatoes!
I like this place because of it’s simplicity. You can go to Penrose and pretend you are back in 1950… probably easier than finding a time traveling DeLorean and trying to get it to 88mph.