Poppie's Fish & Chips Spitalfields

I had an exchange of emails with Poppies about booking a table for 13 people on a Saturday night, a month before the actual day. I have to say they answered their email quite quickly saying they could accommodate us and there would be no problem with a table for 13 people and all I had to do was drop in with a deposit of £5.00 each, which I did on the 3 November (the table was for Saturday 28 November). I didn’t think to contact Poppies again as we had made no changes and they had not contacted me. Saturday night we arrived at Poppies at 7.50 p.m. to a packed restaurant with no visible “reserved” table insight. I spoke to the manager who informed me “you can see how busy we are and we had to wait 10 minutes outside” (our party consisted of 4 small children and this night it was cold and windy) but we did as he asked. Five minutes later I went back and asked if there was any sight of our table, he informed me he was waiting for people to finish and there was a queue forming at the door. I said to him I would have thought a table of 13 would have been reserved especially since we left a deposit of £65.00 – he said “where”, “we can’t do a table of 13 – where would we put it”? When I came into the shop and paid the deposit I was assured by the lady that took my money we would all be sitting together as requested by me. I found his attitude very flippant and dismissive, he then told me “you can have your deposit back if you want" to which I replied where am I going to find a restaurant now on a Saturday night for 13 people - he didn't seem to care. When I went in for the third time I was told there would be two tables free in some minutes, how on earth where they were going to sit 7 people at one and 6 people at another in a packed restaurant I do not know, I replied we need to sit together - was told this was not possible so I got my deposit back and left. Never have I experienced such shabby service especially where children were involved. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone, they purely rely on the “tourist” trade and have them on an in/out basis - - who to be honest are unlikely to return again. We then had to walk over to Spitalfields with children in tow and were accommodated in no time in Giraffe - this is what you call customer service, where we spent over £350.00. I contacted the owner to be told he was looking into this matter personally and apologised for the way in which we were treated and arranged a meeting. I told him I was waiting to hear what he had to say before I put any damaging feedback on any website. He didn’t bother to turn up for the meeting as apparently he had a problem with the Camden Branch but instead spoke to his son, Charlie who then said "What is the problem you got your money back" – another flippant remark, he then went on to offer 30% discount if my whole party wanted to come back – yes I could see why you would offer me that as the food/drink is not cheap here and even with a 30% discount Poppies would still be nearly over £250.00 in profit, as I have stated above we spent over £350.00 in another nearby restaurant but even the offer of a discount would not encourage me to use this restaurant again. I find both the son's answer and the manager's answers unacceptable and they certainly need training in both management and manners. As I stated above I believe they don’t care about their customers, on reading websites now I have read comments that the staff are rude and dismissive and I certainly found this on both occasions. I am afraid I cannot comment on the food here as I didn’t get pass the rope barrier but I find part of dining out is the service as well as the food and for this I can only give 0 out of 10.

Poppies, Spitalfields – 13 years living in the UK and now when you say Friday, I think fish and chips. But it need not be a Friday for fish and chips; certainly so, for Poppies. This place is filled almost every day of the week. Families, friends and even, tourists. And this is because of the glamour of Poppies merit. The interior is very simple but there it lots to look at; the wall space is not wasted. Populated with photos, miniature soldiers statues and cockney rhymes were engaging. Poppies exudes a strong takeaway setting with seating. The jukebox, the polka-dot uniformed waitress with their head ribbons have the air of an American diner. But Poppies is truly British. It dates back to 1945, just after the second world war. Fish at Poppies is all sustainably sourced. The choices include cod, haddock, halibut, skate, rock, mackerel, lemon sole and plaice (from £11.90). Favourite scampi and calamari (from £8.90) is also on the menu. Because Poppies is more than just a fish bar there is a choice of roasted chicken (whole chicken at £17.90, half at £10.90 and quarter at £7.90), sausages and pies (from £7.90). Children meals are offered at just under £5.00. To satiate the sweet tooth, some very classic British puddings such as caramel sticky toffee pudding, apple pie and ice-cream (junst under £5.00) look very tempting but we decided to watch the waistline for now. small cod fish and chips £11.70 – small is a good description, especially when taking the price into account. Good quality fish with a rather average batter, only a bit better than yer average chippy really. Chips were fairly good but again, unremarkable. hot seafood platter £14.95 – with whitebait, squid rings, cod fillets and scampi – a largish platter for one but a good share for mum and I. I thought it would be a good summary of what Poppies do. It was almost everything on the plate. Very nice cod fillets, squid rings were a little rubbery, scampi was good but we were not crazy about the fried whitebait. Poppies is not cheap. Our bill came to just under £25 - £30 for two people. And that did not include drinks. I would be happy to dine here again. Especially so because I missed their famous jellied eels. Anyone had that? Check their website, here, if you need delivery service.

This jewel of a true English restaurant is a singular find with first class food, in an area of London otherwise overwhelmed with foreign food eateries. Arriving at 8 p.m. with a un-booked a party of 5, we were soon found a table by the manager. Cheerful waitress service ensued, no wondering if /how we should catch their eye – we were very well attended. A great choice of traditional fish & chips beautifully and generously prepared really convinced our Italian guests of the qualities of British cuisine at its best. Puddings, wine, beer and all at an very affordable price topped off a classic evening out. It was so good one guest ordered a take-away for another friend to eat later on ! I was so pleased to be able show off my homeland's best, and a great credit to Poppies management.

First of all, the fish is fab – moist, tasty and in the lightest but tastiest batter I've had in a long time. That said, we did have to wait quite some time before it arrived, so much so, that one of my lunch companions remarked that we may have been served quicker in the takeaway queue! The chips may well have been “chipped” on the premises, but we're not too sure where they left their taste. I got somewhat embarassed by how much table salt and vinegar I had to add, but even then, I really could not get any semblance of taste from them. A discussion with one of the friendly waiters concluded that they may have been taken out of the fryer a tad too early, but given that this is a fish and chip shop, surely it is reasonable to expect that they serve quality chips to go with their wonderful fish? The restaurant itself is probably just a tad too “new” and really tries a little bit too hard on the design front and so resembles a Cockney themed environment rather than the authenticity such a menu requires. That said, we will probably give it another go, not least because it is within easy reach of the office, but in the hope that all the current teething problems do get ironed out and we end up with a decent “chippie” on our doorstep!