REVIEW | Ida's Fish Bar, Didsbury

I HAVE to admit, before visiting Ida’s, a new venture on Burton Road, I wasn’t too wild about the idea of ‘posh fish and chips’. Why on earth should fish ‘n’ chips be gentrified? It’s bad enough that we fork out so much for the so-called peasant food of every other nation (French, Italian and more recently American), than we should be duped into paying over the odds for our own working classics.

What my Ida would have made of the very existence of ceviche I can’t even guess

Only two things persuaded me to get down to West Didsbury to investigate. First, I was starting to sound worryingly Farageian and that needed to stop. Second, Ida’s requisite cutesy backstory says that it gets its name from the founder’s nan. My nan was called Ida. She loved a good fish supper. So sentiment won out and I was on my way.

As my nan well knew, the ideal place to consume fish and chips is either: sat on a sea-view bench in a faded coastal resort town, with bright skies and a breeze as sharp as Sarson’s whipping through your hair, or in a rain-lashed car (same seaside venue), preferably an old model Ford, with wind-down windows. The warm paper parcels should be ripped into with indecent haste, their contents shared among family members vying for the fattest chip or crunchiest piece of batter, all washed down with a none too cold can of pop. The car should be redolent of the scent for at least two days afterwards.

How could Ida’s, a lovingly designed joint with subway tiles, a social media presence and a menu featuring trendy tacos and even Prosecco on tap hope to compete with such joys? What my Ida would have made of the very existence of ceviche I can’t even guess.

Thick, luscious chowder

But I’ll save you the suspense and confess straight up that I rather liked Ida’s. Perhaps the key is not to compare Ida’s to a real old-fashioned chippy, where you can order 50p cups of brick-coloured tea or a side dish of thick sliced white to make your own butty, if the whim overtook you. Despite being constructed of all the same common elements, they are just different animals. A more reasonable point of comparison is the fish and chips in pubs and restaurants, and Ida’s comes out very favourably indeed.

The fish suppers might be the obvious thing to order, but it’s worth eating around the menu, which is understandably fish-focused. The chowder (£5) was thick and lusciously creamy, studded with corn, bacon and of course, clams. It was the kind of heartening rib-sticker you’d want after rescuing orphans from a driving storm or braving a lashing gale on the Nantucket coast. It also goes down well on a pleasant evening in West Didsbury.

The tacos are also an unexpected treat – we ordered a combination of all three menu options (squash and feta, grilled salmon, battered cod) for a one-dish price of £6. The two fishy options were as tasty as expected, but it was the squash and feta that really blew me away with its subtle smoky flavour. It sounds weird to recommend a fish bar to veggies but if you’re going out with a keen pescatarian, Ida’s might not be a bad date-night choice.

Tacos - an unexpected treat

Fish & Chip supper

Now, for the main menu item, Ida’s reason d’etre: the fish and chip supper (between £8-9). I’ll start with the accoutrements. The mushy peas were fantastic, a bit sloppier than I’m used to but full of fantastic flavour. The tartare sauce was fresh and packed full of aromatics, instead of the usual mayo with a few capers stirred into it. The chips, golden and tempting, were crisp on the outside with a plump, fluffy interior. The addition of both lemon and pickle garnishes was a nice touch. The bread was perhaps a bit too artisanal but all good.

Now to the fish.

One of my more memorable restaurant faux-pas (and there have been so many), involved a reunion of old school friends, one of whom had grown out of Dolcis platforms and visible lipliner to become a leggy, Bond girl-esque marine biologist who spent most of her time diving in the Seychelles. Of course, the gods of awkward social interaction seated me next to her and I made the mistake of ordering the fish stew, which she informed me contained at least six types of fish on the endangered species list, and that cod was one of the worst. Ever since then I’ve avoided cod in fish and chip shops and ordered haddock instead, in a token gesture to the overfishing of the Atlantic stocks. Somewhere in the Ida’s ‘story’ there is mention that all the fish is sustainably sourced so I decide it’s time to throw off the shackles of this odd encounter that has obviously distorted my psyche and order a battered cod (£8.50, with sides included).

Well, perhaps cod has got a lot more delicate since my fateful run-in with Dr Mermaid (all that overfishing has weakened the strain), because though the batter was light and crisp, the fish did not stand up well to the fryer. In fact it was a bit cotton wooly, which is such as shame because the rest of the supper was great. I’d really like to believe that this was a one-off and that when I visit again I’ll order haddock and get a bang-on piece of fish, chunks of pearly white flesh flaking diagonally as you crunch into the golden batter. While I’m making a wish-list, it also would be really great to see some desserts on the menu too (apart from some ice-cream for the kids there didn’t seem to be any). Old-fashioned knickerbocker glories and banana splits would be fantastic here.

Until that happens I made do with a glass or two of that Prosecco (£3.75/glass). The zingy bright bubbles and high sweetness worked just as well as a can of pop at cutting through the natural fat content of a fish and chip supper. I like to think that’s one upgrade my nan would have totally approved of.

Ida’s Fish Bar, 178 Burton Road, West Didsbury, M20 1LH

Rating: 14/20

Food: 7/10 (Chowder 8, Tacos 7, Fish and Chips 6, bumped up by the excellent sides)

Atmosphere: 3.5/5 

Service: 3.5/5