Rebecca's Corner Special Edition

As most of you know I have been writing for the Lompoc Vision for over ten years.  Each month I look forward to sharing my adventures around Lompoc with the readers of Rebecca's Corner and this month I celebrated Lompoc Restaurant Week by visiting Aflie's Fish & Chips.  Read all about it here!

“Lompoc Restaurant Week 2018: Alfie’s Fish & Chips Edition”
by Rebecca Ross
 
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.  No, not Christmas.  Lompoc Restaurant Week!  I look forward to this week every year and every year I pore of the menus of participating restaurants (there were over 20 to choose from) trying to decide where I’m going to eat.  There are lists, graphs, spreadsheets… it’s quite the endeavor.  One would think I’m only able to eat at restaurants during designated weeks.  Of course this is not the case, but there’s something about the celebratory nature of this particular week and the special menus where everything is $20.18 (see what they did there!) that gets me really excited to go out to lunch.
 
So, as per usual, I had a heck of a time trying to pick where to have lunch with my mom.  Did we want Mexican food?  Italian?  Hawaiian?  We had to go somewhere we’d never been before, but that didn’t narrow the list down quite enough.  And then one of those giant cartoon light bulbs switched on over my head.  It was so simple!  One of my new year’s resolutions this year was to get more in touch with my heritage and since a large section of my ancestral pie chart is British, we had to go to Alfie’s Fish & Chips.  What better way to connect than with food?
 
Alfie’s, in its charming stand-alone building on H Street, is something of a local landmark.  Family owned and operated since 1969, they serve up authentic English fish and chips (as well as a whole host of other seafood dishes) in a cottage-meets-pub atmosphere.  We ordered the $20.18 Fish & Chips Special (obviously), but couldn’t resist adding popcorn shrimp and batter-fried cauliflower too.  We somehow managed to resist the deep fried Twinkie (iron will), laughed at the “Chicken Ate My Fish!” combo, and tossed a pack of Maltesers and a Turkish Delight on the counter before being rung up.
 
Now, I’ve had fish before.  And chips (aka French fries).  But never a traditional fish & chips meal with malt vinegar.  Until Alfie’s, that is.  And it was amaaaaazing.  And those little crispy bits in the bottom of the basket!  Have you had those crispy bits?  You must.  The battered cauliflower made it fun to eat our veggies, the popcorn shrimp was bursting with flavor, the malt ball Maltesers were scrumptious, and the Turkish Delight was gross (sorry, Narnia). 
 
Not only did I learn that I love authentic fish and chips, but I also learned that the first mention of fish and chips was in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist in 1837 thanks to a strategically placed napkin dispenser.  By the time we packed up our leftovers I was feeling very British (and full) indeed.  Thanks, Alfie’s!
 
February 26, 2018