Docherty’s Fish’n Chips & Wee Pub

I love it when my husband checks out Unilocal for new places for us to eat.
Out in Spruce Grove for a bit on Friday evening, we were getting mighty hungry. I have a tendency to get super «hangry» so my husband was looking for food quickly. He suggested fish and chips. Off we went.
Docherty’s is a quiet storefront, and says it’s a pub as well. I’d just call it a licensed restaurant, not a pub. But it’s not up to me to decide.
You go up to the counter, choose what you want, order, and then take a seat. Seems pretty simple.
It’s expensive. Not going to lie. My husband and I each had a one piece meal of halibut (or haddock, I can’t remember) (which was $ 14 each) plus another piece of fish each (which was $ 8 each). With tax and all, it was over $ 50. Ohy. We didn’t even get drinks with it.
It seemed to be steady as far as orders and the amount of people in there. We chose to take a seat and stay in to eat. I wonder if we asked for it to go, if our order would have been out faster. It took half an hour for our food. Whether or not that’s «fast» or «slow», I’m not sure. I tell you, by the time it got out, I was starving.
The food was hot. Blistering destroy your mouth hot, so at least I know that it wasn’t sitting around. The fries though, yum! I really liked them. The fish, it was moist and flaky. I ate the whole first piece. The second on, I took the breading off because I found it to be oily and heavy, but that’s just me. If you don’t eat it quickly while it’s hot, it loses it’s crunch and it’s appeal. I wished they would have included some lemon wedges on the side. I was going to ask for some, but it seemed busy. An older lady (maybe the owner?) came by after we got our food and offered me a glass of water, which I accepted. There was a lemon wedge in it, so I grabbed it out of there and used it on my fish. Good enough for me.
As for coming back? Meh. Maybe?

I ordered from this place the first time yesterday for take out. I purchased two pieces of cod and an order of fries. This was amazing! It wasn’t greasy, very fresh and I was very happy with my Meal. I should have looked at pictures prior to ordering because they gave me enough food to feed four! So very enjoyable and very satisfied.

We’ve eaten here for 15 years… that being said, obviously we liked it. After today’s experience we might not return. I know this restaurant has changed hands and that’s fine. But today was a real flop!!! I’ve always enjoyed the coleslaw when it was with an oil vinegarette but today it was soaked in a tasteless cream. Didn’t finish it. The home made fries from real potatoes used to be sooooo good! Today, overcooked and tasteless, I’m wondering if they’ve changed to a different potato. So now the oysters aren’t on the menu, bummer :(no Halibut, they were out :(so I settled for the cod. When it was brought to the table, it was quickly followed with an apology «we’re frying you another peice, I know it looks bad but it’s okay, it went into a cold fryer «WHAT? Heck ya it looked bad!!! 2/3^rd’s of the first peice was inedible, unfortunately 2/3^rd’s of the second peice was too. Something needs to change here and fast, what a disappointment.

My friend and I were out by Spruce Grove the other day and decided to stop in at Docherty’s for some fish and chips. I’d never been before, but she had and said it was really good.
Docherty’s is a little restaurant, and while they have some beers on tap (I think I saw Rickards and something else) it definitely seems more of a restaurant than a pub. Of course there are fish and chips and they have a few different kinds of fish you can get (halibut, haddock, and salmon were on the menu), but there are other food items to have. Most of the menu, outside of the fish and chips (and let’s be honest even the fish and chips apply for this) are British pub food, mushy peas, steak and kidney pie, Cornish pasty, that sort of thing. I think I even saw Haggis on the menu. The only thing on the menu that didn’t really fit in with the whole British pub food thing would probably be the poutine.
I got a one piece fish and chip meal with haddock. Unless you’ve been without food for a week I don’t understand how anyone could ever finish a two piece meal. My one piece of fish was huge, and delicious. The batter for the fish was crispy and not super greasy. The homecut fries were really good as well, short and thick, perfectly crispy and not too salt. On the table there is ketchup, vinegar (regular and malt it looked like) and seasoning salt for the fries. There’s also salt and pepper, and of course tartar sauce for the fish. There is also a small container of coleslaw on the side. I normally hate coleslaw, mostly because of the overuse of mayonaise-​based dressing many fish and chip coleslaws have, but this coleslaw was pretty good.
With a can of pop my meal came to $ 16 and change. The food was delicious and the portions big. I’d gladly come back to Docherty’s for fish and chips again. Maybe next time I’ll give some of the other British pub food a try.

Authentic? Authentic crap maybe. Our take out order had grease leaking out of the bag after the 5 minute drive home. Fries were black, as the oil hasn’t been changed since Trudeau was in power… and I mean Pierre.
The fish was over breaded, and tasted like an old shoe… yes, we compared.

Had a great name and has been great to excellent for a number of years. Lately, food is greasy, last time there oil seemed old and in need of changing. Doesn’t seem as busy as it once was, which may be the result of the food or maybe just a slow day. Service is still counter order and friendly and it is still far better fish and chips than Joey’s.
The Wee Pub bit is a little misleading. They are licensed but there is nothing pub like about the place.