You can get a lot more than just halibut at this Hamilton fish-and-chips shop
Hammerhead's is located on 80 Ottawa St. N. in Hamilton
A few months ago a friend challenged me to find the best fish-and-chips place in the GTA. He suggested that none of his favourite places have maintained their quality.
I accepted his challenge and we put together a list that spanned Oshawa to Scarborough, Newmarket to Milton, Mississauga and Hamilton. The British-style fish and chips experience is an intricate part of both our childhoods, but our joint complaint is that good quality places are hard to come by.
Our road trips took us to a variety of fish-and-chip shacks, new and old, and eventually brought us both to Hamilton to a small shop called Hammerhead's.
We stood in the petite shop staring at the menu for a few minutes, unable to decide what we wanted to eat. Unlike standard fish-and-chip shacks where your options are limited to haddock and halibut, Hammerhead's has an extended menu of sustainable options. There is rockfish from B.C. and pickerel from Lake Erie.
"The goal is to try and show off Canadian products as much as possible. If I can get a good product and it's fresh I'll put it on the menu," owner Scott Forbes told us.
Hammerhead's is owned and operated by Forbes and his wife, Jennifer Causey. Forbes manages the tiny shop on one of the main arteries of Hamilton, Ottawa Street North.
"This area is referred to as Crown Point. Every city has a main strip, and this is one of Hamilton's. It's a very booming area for restaurants and independent shops," Forbes said.
Crown Point is also known for its growing community of expat Torontonians who have become regulars at Hammerhead's.
Forbes is originally from Hamilton, but he spent much of his adult life cooking through the kitchens in Toronto. He noticed that while Hamilton has its fair share of fish-and-chips places, there was room for growth.
"The original idea was to open a seafood market, where you could buy all kinds of local fish. I was inspired by the late John Bil's Honest Weight[a fishmonger and restaurant in Toronto]. I wanted to open a place like that in Hamilton," Forbes explained.
With the support of his wife, Forbes started off with a British-style shack where, in my opinion, he's raising the bar on high quality fish and chips.
It's not just about the seafood options. Forbes has mastered the gentle technique of frying battered fish.
"In my opinion, the way to tell that you have good fish and chips is that the batter should be slightly translucent. You should be able to see the skin of the fish with a gentle coating of batter around it. You want to taste fish, not batter," Forbes said.
The other key to making good fried fish is the heat of the oil. If it's not hot enough the oil will cling to the batter, giving the diner an unpleasant eating experience.
Nearly everything in Forbes's kitchen is gluten-free except for the malt vinegar. His third technique is to dunk each chunk of fish through house-made batter and then coat it in flour before "taking it for one last swim" through hot oil.
Forbes will slowly drag the fish across the hot oil a few times before he gently drops it into the fryer. This helps form a thin crust without disrupting the batter shell.
Every plate of fish and chips I have had at Hammerhead's has restored my faith in the the classic pub meal. If it's your first time, go for the pickerel. While its not as fatty as halibut, I find it incredibly juicy with a slight hint of sweetness tucked under a crisp batter envelope.
Venturing beyond the traditional pub fare, there are two other dishes that are notable at Hammerhead's. Forbes has calamari on the menu. He soaks chunks of squid in buttermilk overnight. The squid pieces are bathed and fried similar to the fish. The buttermilk makes the squid tender. He coats the finished product in a spicy chili sauce.
"It's my east meets west treatment," he said.
Look close enough on the menu and you'll notice a corner dedicated to curries. Forbes wanted to highlight his time spent in Toronto kitchens by honouring the Sri Lankan cooks he worked with. There's a Jaffna-style fish curry where he cooks chunks of fish with a darkened masala and some coconut milk.
If you want some fish curry, but with less heat, go for the masala curry made in an Indian manner with more coconut milk to soften the blow of the peppers and spices.
We have an abundance of fish and chips places throughout the GTA, but for consistency and a memorable plate that brings me back to my childhood, I will happily drive out to The Hammer.
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