Fish and chips, made with Brazilian white fish.

The practical bit

Sunday to Thursday

9:00 am – 10:15 pm

Friday and Saturday

9:00 am – 11:00 pm

Sunset

5:25 pm – 5:56 pm

We are on Avenida Beira Mar, the seafront avenue where most of the city's beachfront hotels are. If you are staying on that stretch, walking here along the promenade takes anywhere from five to twenty minutes, and you never leave the sea on your right.

Prices are in Brazilian reais (R$). As a reference point, the weekday set lunch runs R$ 31 to R$ 52 — roughly US$ 6 to US$ 10 at recent rates. We take cash, Pix and the usual credit and debit cards. Menu prices are always current on the online menu below.

Booking is optional — part of the room is kept for walk-ins — but worth it for sunset and at weekends. The booking page is in Portuguese; it asks only for a name, an email, a phone number, a date and the number of people.

Why the fish is not cod

In Britain, fish and chips means cod or haddock. Both are cold-water North Atlantic fish, and neither exists fresh within thousands of kilometres of here. The cod sold in Brazil arrives salted and dried — a different ingredient altogether, and one that behaves nothing like fresh fish inside a batter.

So we use pescada amarela — acoupa weakfish — caught off the coast of Ceará. It is white, firm and mild, with large flakes that hold together in the fryer. It is the closest thing this coast has to the original, and it comes out of water you can see from the table.

That trade is not a shortcut. The alternative is frozen fish flown across an ocean to imitate a recipe, which is a worse plate and a stranger idea.

A London plate on a tropical coast

Fish and chips was assembled, not invented. Battered fried fish reached England with Jewish immigrants from Portugal and Spain; fried potatoes became street food in the industrial north. The two halves met around 1860, and two shops — one in London's East End, one in Lancashire — have argued about who did it first ever since.

It became the country's working food, sold hot and wrapped in newspaper, and it was one of the very few things never rationed during the Second World War. The printed paper under the plate here is a nod to that, not a costume.

Come for the late afternoon

Fortaleza sits three degrees below the equator, so the sun sets at almost the same time all year — between 5:25 pm and 5:56 pm, with no daylight saving to track. The light starts turning about forty minutes before that.

The tables face the water. If you want one at the front for sunset, arriving around 4:00 pm or booking ahead is the difference between the view and the second row.

Questions we actually get

Do you serve rollmops?

No. Pickled herring belongs to the North Sea and there is no honest local version of it. The British side of this menu is the fried side: fish and chips, breaded fish strips and panko prawns.

Is there anything for someone who doesn't eat seafood?

Yes — beef, pork and chicken are on the menu all day, and five of the seven weekday set lunches are meat or chicken.

Is English spoken?

Not always, and not by everyone. Pointing at the menu works, and so does WhatsApp — message us before you come and we will answer.

Can I eat alone?

Yes. A table for one can be booked online, and there is always room at the counter.