Here's Why You May Want To Avoid Ordering The Fish And Chips At Cheesecake Factory

There's hardly such a thing as a terrible restaurant — in most cases, certain menu options are just better than others. For instance, the beet and avocado salad and the spicy shrimp pasta top Chowhound's ranking of Cheesecake Factory's best and worst dishes, but one meal really stuck out as one to avoid at all costs. And sadly, it was the classic fish and chips. Unlike some other menu items, they lack flavor and texture. Instead of the crispy coating you'd expect on this iconic British street food, the exterior leaves much to be desired, as it's often soggy by the time it makes the short trip from the kitchen to your table.

Luckily, the good news about their fish and chips is, like just about everything on the Cheesecake Factory menu, the battered fish is most likely prepared in-house and not reheated from frozen. But unfortunately, the flavorless batter doesn't bring enough to the mild-tasting white fish to make it worth ordering. It's entirely possible that seafood just isn't their strong point, given that Chowhound also ranked the fried shrimp as one of the chain's worst dishes.

The general consensus among reviews of this particular Cheesecake Factory dish is that it's underwhelming, at best. "I wish there was more flavor," and "The fish and chips were not only cold and soggy but tasted old," are just two of the comments offered by Yelp reviewers of their take on this meal. Reddit users had similarly negative opinions, with one decrying their fish and chips dish as "a joke" because it has "no discernible flavor."

Fish and chips is usually made with either cod or pollock, both of which typically boast very little flavor on their own. This makes both fishes inexpensive and perfect to fry, but without a crispy, flavorful batter, fish and chips as a whole will fall flat. It seems as though the Cheesecake Factory doesn't build up its batter's flavor enough to make this dish worth ordering. 

If you're craving fish and chips while there, it could be worth asking for the pieces to be done extra crispy to avoid the soggy breading that many others have complained about — and make sure you have some salt handy at the table just in case.