Fish n' Chips and other fast food question: IMPORTANT! Answered

and "The CodFather"

L

and "In Cod We Trust"

L

 Yeah I thought about "In Cod We Trust," but I preffered "House Of Cod." As for the "CodFather," there is already a registered company under that name.

Yeah i've a fish and chip shop named "The Cod Father" near me.

I think all of them have been used previously, I didn't think that one up you know...
House Of Cod has not been registered as a limited company (T/A perhaps), so that's yours for the taking.

L

CODFATHER LIMITED
THE COD FATHER LIMITED
CODFATHER HOT FOOD LTD - THE
COD FATHER (J.S.) LTD (dissolved)
THE CODFATHER OF SOLE LIMITED
THE CODFATHER 1 LIMITED (also 2 & 3)
CODFATHER (ROMFORD) LIMITED (dissolved)
THE CODFATHERS PLAICE LIMITED (dissolved)
CODFATHER (TELFORD) LIMITED
COD FATHER (UK) LTD
COD FATHER (WALES) LIMITED
'COD' FELLA'S LIMITED

 Wow people seem to like that name!

Yes, but I was surprised not to find a House of Cod.

L

The Cod Piece, perhaps?

Win. winwinwinwinwin!!!

He has to do 40 pages on this - I think he could spend at least two of them discussing the psychology of naming small food outlets...

Maybe look up for some tips on subliminal messages / colors? I heard that they did a survey and found that people though that that cigarette packets with lighter colors and no name sayings such as "lighter tar" were healthier.

Maybe a little research could end up with an extra page or two.

In a similar vein, it has been found that stimulant medications "work better" if the tablets are blue.

Yeah. I do know that:
We think that bigger tablets are better than normal size, unless they are tiny, in which case we think they work best
Coloured tablets produce better results than white ones

Sedatives work better if they are red or yellow.<br /> <br /> Have a read of <em>Bad Science</em> by Ben Goldacre - fascinating stuff. It's a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/series/badscience">newspaper column</a> and a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bad-Science-Ben-Goldacre/dp/0007240198">book</a>.<br />

What's the difference between a sedative or a stimulant?

Where you find yourself when it wears off. ;)

Ha ha, haven't heard that one before. I'ma imagining stimulant is dumpster / some one elses bed, stimulant is your own couch / bed / where ever you were last.

Think of them as downers and uppers.  Sedatives calm you or tranquillise you, stimulant perk you up.

Alcohol is a sedative, caffeine is a stimulant.

 Could well be. To get this evidence, every drug (each with a different size, shape and colour) was in fact only a placebo.

There are two Chippies in "Town" under "Ali and sons", they fill most of your original criteria, and they fry good stuff. As local businessmen I see them following the method you have previously set out. I find it interesting that the multicultural society in which I live has incorporated the classic white-British Chippy into our Asian community in the same way as the Curry-Shop has become part of our white-European community. I don't kid on this, the crossover is there and it is unexpected to me.

L

On an interesting note, many franchised ethnic type and small specialty food take-out places in New York are usually owned or run by people of different ethnicity than what you expect.  It really is an economic opportunity and probably reflects the changing immigrant groups in New York City.

Pizzerias: Albanian
Tacorias and Mexican Food: Chinese
Sushi and Japanese: Chinese
Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese: Chinese
Dunkin Donuts: Indian/Pakistani
Hero/Sandwich shops: Indian/Pakistani
Italian: Mexican

Greek Diners are still held by the Greeks
Turkish Kebab/Gyro/Doner: Turkish

No real Fish n' Chips across the pond, maybe one, run by a Brit expatriate, he's the guy that deep fries chocolate candy bars and anything else in batter.

 Here in Seattle, closer to Mexico & on the Pacific rim, it tends to run:

Pizzarias: Anybody, but frequently Korean (occasionally even Italian)
Mexican Food: Mexican or other Latino/Hispanic
Other Latin American, e.g. Cuban, Chilean, Columbian: ethnicity to match

Sushi: Japanese, sometimes Korean
Teriaaki and/or "Bento Lunch": almost always Korean
Chinese: Chinese, or sometimes Korean
Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, or other Asian: ethnicity to match
Donuts: Asian, generally Chinese or Korean

Hero/Submarine Sandwich Shops: Anybody

Italian: Italian or Greek
Greek Diner: Greek
Gyro/Kebab: Greek if shop is Greek named (e.g., "Athens Gyros"), otherwise Turkish, Middle Eastern, or Persian
Turkish, Middle Eastern or Persian: ethnicity to match

Seafood Shops (as close as it gets to Fish 'n' Chips): Anybody, but very often n-th generation "Scandahoovian"-American. ("Scandahoovia" includes Scandanavia, Northern Germany, and other places nearby.)

Generally true. Chinese cooks find it fairly easy to do other East Asian cooking, most "Indian" Restaurants in the UK are actually Bangladeshi / Pakistani. I'm sure Mongolian / Nepalese is a similar diversification.

Good chips are great though, it's a shame you don't have more of them (possibly).

L

And there are the Kosher-Chinese or Kosher-Japanese take-out places, a rabbi is actually sitting in the corner of a greasy joint overseeing the entire operation.

Wow, I don't know any Kosher places near me, but several are Halal-certified.

L

<em>...he's the guy that deep fries chocolate candy bars and anything else in batter.</em><br /> <br /> That will make him <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_Bar">Scottish</a>.<br />

I'm not eating there!!!!

lol about the Co*k thing. But yeah I'll think about those names, thanks!

Let us know your grade...

Will do! But I don't think I'll find out until the end of July (argh the tension!)

Is this something you could / would post on the topic as an attachment?

L

 I didn't think you can attach word documents

Add images - does any file.

L

Ah ok, maybe.

I don't know if it's been said, but you should definitely call it Lowney's Plaice... as in it's your place, but a pun on the fish.

 Oh yeah never thought of that! But I've already written all the documents and forms now...

Well unfortunately its waaay too late for me to change

As I bought my 85p fish-cake buttie this early-evening, I did notice very large promotional posters in the window (Ali & Sons Trinity fisheries) - quality / value balance is a key selling-point for low-end fast-food.


L

 Thanks! That's a big help :)

 :)

A couple more thoughts:

- Try to have at least one (ideally 3-5) low-calorie, low-fat menu option; even if it's just shredded chicked dumped over shredded lettuce with a packet of low-cal dressing one the side. That way, guys can go there with girlfriends who are watching their weight, skinny girls can go there with heavier friends who are dieting, heavier girls can go there with skinny friends who are dieting, etc.

This will equal any such competition from steamed-rice-&-veggie options at the Chinese place, and blows the pub grub right out of the water.

- Look into the cost/feasibility of making sure the coffee (and tea?) is always good coffee. That means keeping all coffee-making apparatus scrupulously clean (scrub out and then brew a pot of vinegar at least once per day - or even once per shift), and tossing (or saving for iced coffee) any coffee that's spent more than 20 minutes on a warmer. A good grade of beans helps too, even more if you can grind them fresh daily, but the true secret to good coffee is really no more and no less than fanatical cleanliness. 

And if I knew of a place where I could reliably get a decent cup of fresh, non-bitter, non-burnt, tastes-good-enough-to-drink-black-no-sugar coffee for a pleasantly sub-Starbucks price; I very well might go as far as a little two-pub town somewhere in deepest, darkest wilds of the UK to get it. :)

Chip-shops don't work like that. Your customers are:
On the way home have their own drinks, or they get something fizzy out of the fridge
Drunk - no hot drinks
Tourists - ditto "on the way home"
Hungry but in need of a quick and satisfying fix of carbohydrates

Good coffee is catered for somewhere else, different markets. Low-calorie is right-out: they have a fryer and fryer-operatives: it's all-fried unless it's bread or sauce.

Kebab-shops will do you something with salad...

L

You want to make it look fancy, but not restaurant fancy. And personally, a fish shaped vehicle really sticks in the mind, but makes me think "Cheesy!".