Fish to fry in Mount Pearl
King Cod Fish and Chips opens in Glenhill Plaza
Good Friday is traditionally a busy day for fish and chips restaurants in St. John’s metro. This year, folks looking for a feed of “fee and chee” a couple of days before Easter Sunday have a new spot they can try out.
King Cod Fish and Chips opened its doors at Glenhill Plaza in Mount Pearl two weeks ago. Keith Boland, one of two owners of the business, is a lifelong fish harvester, and business partner Jerome Quigley got involved in the fishery a few years ago. The two friends had talked about opening a fish and chips restaurant for years and finally found the moment to make it happen with this new business.
“We specialize in a thinner batter — that’s our thing,” explained Quigley. “Bare minimum of batter on our fish, bigger portions ... better food overall.”
Some people might recognize the business’s name, as King Cod Fish and Chips once operated on Duckworth Street in downtown St. John’s. This business has no formal connection to that one. Quigley said the pair threw around a number of names and finally settled on King Cod, adding they first confirmed enough time had passed since the St. John’s restaurant was in business to allow them to reuse that name.
BUSY AREA
Quigley said the pair looked around St. John’s metro quite a bit before settling on Glenhill Plaza, located at the corner of Old Placentia Road and Ruth Avenue. King Cod Fish and Chips is nestled in between Acropolis Pizza and Tol’s Time-out Lounge in a space that was previously occupied by Ziggy Peelgood’s. Quigley and Boland both know Ziggy Peelgood’s owner Todd Hickey and learned through him that the Glenhill Plaza space would be available.
“It just seemed like an extremely busy location,” Quigley said.
Word about the new fish and chips shop in Mount Pearl has been getting around since the business opened two weeks ago. Quigley said they’ve had a great online response through Facebook, adding it’s “been non-stop business” since the opening.
“The traffic here is unbelievable.”
The business has six employees and can seat 26 customers. Right now, it’s relying on an in-house delivery service that operates on weekends. Otherwise, King Cod Fish and Chips is open seven days a week from noon until 8 p.m. Quigley said those hours may expand once summer hits.
“Just seeing it take shape here, it’s really overwhelming,” he added.