The Best Fish & Chips

Roy & Rayana are the owners of The Boardwalk Restaurant in Lund. But they've been perfecting fish and chips for far longer.

Fish & Chips A Love Story

Five questions with the King and Queen of Powell River’s #1 Best Fish & Chips, four years running: Roy and Rayana Blackwell, owners of The Boardwalk Restaurant in Lund.

1. Why does my home-made fish & chips never taste as good as fish & chips out?

R&R • Oil temperature is important: 350 to 360F. The best fish for fish & chips are frozen up to 30 days so it can dry a bit. We all love fresh, but there is so much juice it can make the fish seem oily. There are typically two styles of batter; beer batter tends to be more batter than fish and is more difficult to get right. A light crispy batter is generally more fish than batter. Clean oil and the right temperature is everything

2. How did you get into the fish & chips biz? What’s your background?

R&R • I (Rayana) started working for Mr Pickwick’s Fish & Chips in Vancouver, serving and helping with prep. Roy started cooking at Mr Pickwick’s as well. Then opportunity knocked to move up to managing one location and then two (Marpole and the West End). Eventually, we bought the company.

3. Ketchup or tartar sauce?

R&R • Tartar is the tradition for fish & chips. Ketchup is more North American while mayo is more Dutch, German and Swiss.

4. Malt, cider or white vinegar?

R&R • The dark malt vinegar is the true malt vinegar not the light brown stuff, which is white vinegar with some colouring. White vinegar is a North American thing, and cider vinegar is also an European taste. We prefer a few drops of fresh squeezed lemon juice!

5. Why does The Boardwalk Restaurant’s Fish & Chips keep winning?

R&R • Traditional flavour with the right temperature and clean oil. We make our own batters, gluten-free (not that you would know it unless someone told you). This way everyone can have them. Local fish: lingcod, halibut, salmon, when available, and also sturgeon from Sechelt. We get our sturgeon from a land-contained hatchery for caviar. If you don’t look after them extremely well, they will not get any caviar. We watched them for years and visited several time to see the operation before bringing sturgeon on the menu. This, combined with the depleted halibut stocks, made it a good choice.