SQUELCH, squelch, squelch – that’s the sound of me cutting into my battered cod.

As my blunt knife punctured the golden batter, I could see a warm, viscose pool rise from the poor fried beast.

It is quite a pity, because as I left Fish-Inn with my box of grub I couldn’t have been happier.
Fairly standard-looking from the outside, though in a good location between the pub and the station, inside is where this place scores lots of points.

Incredibly spacious, the restaurant has a comforting maroon colour scheme and is spotlessly clean.

Floors and tables gleam, while flowering plants are dotted around and the walls are brightened by vividly-coloured glass tiles with exotic and fishy images. A couple of bug TVs keep the place feeling lively.

Fish-Inn happily take card payments, for a 50p surcharge, and my large cod and chips came to £7.10, which doesn’t hurt the wallet too much.

Delightful staff were chatty, seemed interested in keeping me happy and making small talk.
My fish was cooked fresh and came in a cardboard box, inside a paper bag. The box was even lined with greaseproof paper.

After such an impressive preamble to the meal, it feel so galling that the food did not live up to expectations.

I badly wanted to like it. The chips weren’t bad, they were decently chunky and I could forgive a few being slightly undercooked.

The fish was a big old lump – plenty of white fish, which fell apart nicely. It was just so greasy. Some people would say that’s sort of the point, but not the amount of grease we are talking about here.

How Fish Inn rated:
FOOD * Greasy fish

SERVICE ***** Incredibly friendly and chatty

INTERIOR/DECOR **** A nice place to be

Address: Fish-Inn at the Old Bank, 196 Court Road, Mottingham SE9 4EW