The Gourmet Fish And Chip Shop in Exeter

Best place to go for Chinese food in Exeter. Very good prices, with a main being HUGE portions and only bout £7 including rice. Not the best vibe and not the place you go for the aesthetics but perfect if you want some good food rather than cute insta pics. Lots of options for different dietary restrictions. Cash only though.

The few reviews I've put on here all mention that I have a background in high-quality/fine dining/ and other sorts of nice restaurants; about fifteen years. That being said I'll get on to the review. There are several one-star reviews so I'll start by addressing them directly. Throughout many years of traveling the world the way to find the most authentic food is to look for their main demographic to be locals from whichever locale they are offering food from. Examples of this would be South Americans in any Mexican/Peruvian/etc type of restaurant, or in this case Asians in a Chinese place which is somehow called a chippy. There is a certain flavor which they look for and a style of cooking which is what they're considering authentic enough to be going there (I'm typically the only, or one of the few white guys in the place and eat there often). So given that I found out about the place through Asian friends, and those people/demographic are typically more likely to post things on Line or WeChat and ignore TripAdvisor as it's not their thing, take the few low ratings with a grain of salt. One of the best dishes you can get there are what you're going to see the majority of Asians ordering and the only thing I get anymore, as I agree that some of their Westernized offerings are lacking, is the hotpot. Currently a hotpot is about £8 for a massive bowl of "soup" where you pick your broth spiciness (mild is still a bit spicy by UK standards, and forget about the ultra-spicy offering), noodles range from vermicelli to a instant ramen style, and several others. After that you choose your toppings from the refrigerated glass case which is between you and what will likely be the girl with a phone glued to her hand (that is absolutely true, but if you want good service in the first place you need to go about 3500 miles west before that starts). Also, my assumption is that the people taking the orders are students, however they rarely have a firm grasp of English which is barely a mild irritation; keep that in mind as they'll know the menu, but sometimes get confused on some words. You'll likely be order number 1-4 as they just rotate those numbers if it's not busy which is pretty logical if you ask me; what's the point in being number 107 when there's two people waiting ahead of you? So overall the UK doesn't have the best service out there, and this isn't an exception. People go there for the hotpot, and local Chinese/Asian dishes and not for a chat with the person behind the counter. The food is reasonably priced, and I wouldn't recommend it for take-away as the portions seem smaller when you do. Regarding the name, I'm not sure anyone knows why it's called The Gourmet. If you're open to trying some legitimately tasty and authentic hotpot let me recommend the mild broth, instant noodle (ramen-style-squiggly), and then get some of the meats like beef, pork, and lamb then throw in some mushrooms, egg, and maybe veggies (I just double up on meat). The price recently increased by £1, however, for the money you're going to be full and it's going to have more flavor than about 90% of the other places in this student-driven culinary-question-mark of a city. If there are questions, feel free to ask. I'm heading there for lunch, so I'll try to remember to grab a picture of the menu and the food.

A Chinese takeaway FULL of Chinese students. Can't really think of anything more indicative of good quality authentic Chinese food and with the visual assurance (the place is always packed) of a fast, food turnover rate, and so it proved. Genuinely the best Chinese food (outside of China Town) I've had, and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Couple of points to bear in mind however. 1) If you telephone an order through it is likely you will encounter a language barrier so do have a menu to hand as they prefer to have the numbers rather than the names of dishes. 2) They seem to close when they feel like it especially during the summer when I guess the students are not around and while it may say they close at 10pm on the door, you are likely to turn up at eight and find everyone has gone.

A great place for Chinese food and fish and chips great portions and prices ,just of the city center

My wife and I were baby sitting for our daughter and thought a take away from this shop would be a treat. Wrong! My wife had braised brisket with rice (154) and I had house special chow mein (87) The quality of the meat was appalling. The meals lacking in flavour. My chow mein was just a ton of noodles with some pretty non discript rough old meat. I binned it and my wife only managed a few mouthful of hers.I should have followed my initial instincts. On enetering the shop my order was taken by a young lady whose mobile phone had obviously been glued to her hand! She only put it down to write down the order and take the money. Whilst I was waiting I couldn't help notice the shoddy decor, the rough plastering around the wall light sockets and the cheap hardboard counter. Not a very inviting place to go into. My fault entirely! I should have followed my instincts, turned round and walked out. Visited February 2017

I have visited the Gourmet twice since moving to Exeter in 2015; on the first occasion I was physically ill after consuming some of their poor excuse Chinese food. However the restaurant just happens to be practically opposite to where I live, so after learning they had refurbished and were under new management, decided to visit again. There are very few places in Exeter that serve food that tastes this bad; chips just taste like chicken balls, the Chinese food is stodgy and slimy, and the customer service is literally a joke, not to mention the other customers who visit. Walking in is similar to visiting a locals-only country; the various international students just sit and stare at you for the entire time you are waiting for food. Would not wish this place on my worst enemy, it needs to be shut down (for good this time)

The service was fine, friendly enough, but not noticeably stand-out. The food came quickly (I decided to order a take-away on byway home so waited in store for it), but I soon found out why. The chicken satay was not on skewers (which was never specified), but also the sauce was like water. It was quite a spicy sauce and I was happy to accept the meal without chicken on skewers, especially as it had never been claimed that there were skewers involved, but the space was very watery. I have had chicken satay without skewers before and the thick delicious sauce made upper this fat; unfortunately, this was not the case. Picking out the piece of meagre chicken, I moved on to the next course, Singapore Noodles, my favourite and a Chinese specialty. Again, I was VERY disappointed. The noodles tasted exactly like Mild Curry Super Noodles (which I love, but wouldn't pay £5 for!), and there was very little meat or spice in the dish overall, for a meal which is meant to be spicy and full of different types of meat. It was greasy and unappetising; and believe me, I know when you crave Chinese you sometimes want it to be greasy, but it wasn't greasy in that good way. They are lucky I was tipsy when I ordered, otherwise I would be straight back asking for a refund!

While I don't think any chippy is as good as my local (of course), this one comes close. Large portions, not greasy and the sausage had no nasty gristle.

Losing the will to visit my decade long regular loyal visits to the nearby Dolphin Fish Bar, once Exeter's finest, now Exeter's biggest titanic disaster, I again revisited the Gourmet in nearby Longbrook Street for lunches. The slightly Chinese taste to their fish & chips noted in the past is seemingly gone, now they appear to use different fryers. The chips are excellent, I'd got used to the deteriorating quality of the Dolphin over time so these chips were a pleasant revelation of what should be achieved. The fish is generous in size as are the portions, again much better than the Dolphin who have started to limit their portions to the ridiculously small, large chips from the Gourmet are really large. I particularly admire their plaice, superb sweet fish perfectly cooked here, but the cod and haddock are also excellent. Another huge benefit of lunchtime dining is their generous Chinese lunchtime menu, big portions for very little money, offered only at lunchtime, an alternative to the usual fish or pie or sausage on chips offered elsewhere, I really enjoy their Chinese menu. The reason you know it's good here is by the number of visiting Chinese clients, they ought to know their own good places to eat and this is one of them. Friendly, helpful staff, fast pleasant service, no hanging about for orders like you do wasting time at the Dolphin, here they get straight to cooking your dish in the minimum time, it's hot, it's quality, it's done professionally every time. I'm glad I rediscovered the Gourmet and other colleagues are following me, if not for the fish & chips, certainly for the lunchtime Chinese menu on offer. Recommended - a good reliable fast food outlet and it's easily walked to from the city centre with seating to eat in of you choose, or parking can be 'snatched' nearby if you're driving past.