Bright green mushy peas. Creamy, slightly briny tartar sauce. And curry, not just ketchup, for dipping those perfect potatoes. These are the things that can turn a basket of fish and chips into a religious experience.
Of course, the fish better be flaky and fried to a shattering crunch, and the chips need to be hot and crisp with fluffy interior. If you’ve been to the Codfather—opened in Henderson last summer by Sheffield, England, transplant Glynn Bramhall—you know what perfect fish and chips tastes and feels like.
The other restaurants in this tiny strip mall have changed since the Codfather arrived unassumingly with its door made to look like a red English telephone booth. This place has soldiered on because the food is so good, exactly what you want when you’re craving the iconic dish. Most pubs that serve it openly claim to do it best, right on the menu. The Codfather has no need for boasts; it simply delivers.
The cod and chips with a can of soda will run you $13.50. Adding the sides of mushy peas and curry was the best three bucks I ever spent. The small menu also includes chicken fingers ($8.50) for the kiddos, clam chowder with bacon ($4.50-$6.50) and fried sausages ($6.50) or Spam fritters ($5).
Those all sound tasty, but I can’t imagine a time I’ll step foot in the Codfather and order anything other than its signature dish, reveling in the steamy wisps that emerge when the plastic knife punches satisfyingly through the crunchy coating and melt-in-your-mouth tenderness of this fish, stopping only when I fork-plunge a couple fries into that brilliant curry. I don’t really even like tartar sauce, you guys. That’s how good the Codfather is. Take me back now.
THE CODFATHER 2895 N. Green Valley Parkway, 702-462-2280. Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
