The life of a food blogger is that of constantly trying to convince one’s friends to try new and sometimes ridiculous foods. Thus, I have been trying to convince my girlfriends to go to Chip Shop with me for years. I kid you not. Years! They are willing to testify if necessary. Here’s how it went down:

Me: Hey, ladies! Wanna go to Chip Shop this week?

Ladies: What do they have there?

Me: Deep-fried everything! (wipes drool off face)

Ladies: Noo! (they run off into the distance, ripping hair out of their heads, trying to undo the horror of my proposal)

But alas! I was finally successful at gathering some friends at Chip Shop last week for dinner and beers.

From what I gather, a chip shop is a British store, kiosk or bar wherein fish-n-chips (chips are french fries, of course) are sold. (Whoever has more information is greatly encouraged to share!) Unfortunately, this institution never quite made it across the pond but there is a restaurant by the same name here in Brooklyn and they have two locations, one in downtown and one in Park Slope. They also specialize in fish-n-chips, as well as numerous other deep-fried goodies, like balls of mac & cheese, slices of pizza and pie, and candy bars.

At a time when almost all Brooklyn restaurants are mainly concerned with how many acres of land their local chickens had at their frolicking disposal, I was so happy not to see the words organic or sustainable on this menu.

I am not big on fried fish so I asked our waiter bring me his favorite dish from the menu and I ended up with this chicken pot pie with mushroom gravy and chips. It’s not a very good looking dish – and lord knows this terrible photo does it no justice – but it was actually amazing. Beneath the gravy was an individual sized pie of substantial density. As I ate on, the fries absorbed the gravy downpour, and all the elements became as one. I highly recommend this dish. Thank you, kind waiter!

Although I had absolutely no room for anything else after the pot pie, I knew I’d have to have dessert so I ordered a deep-fried Twix. The candy was battered and fried until crispy. I can’t say that it was a life-changing dessert but it is certainly something to be tried if one considers oneself an adventurous eater. It was a lot crunchier than I’d previously imagined – I expected something more along the lines of a doughnut coating.

I also had some of my friend’s fried pizza (shout-out to my friend and fellow foodie, Chris), which was awesome and I recommend it.

So have your friends ever forced you to eat anything ridiculous? Please share in the comments section!