Clearly this poster is NOT an expert on chips whether fried or oven as he is totally wrong with his conclusion. It is perfectly possible to observe chips being fried at the Hoy as has always been the case. A little maths would quickly tell you that the cost difference between oven chips and fried would be so insignificant as to be immaterial. Common sense would quickly tell you that it is impractical to tie up an oven all day long in a catering kitchen just doing oven chips. That is why there are fryers dedicated for chips. I very much doubt that any commercial kitchen or professional chef would countenance doing oven chips.

Going by the date of your meal, the Hoy changed their home made chips ie. peeled and chipped in house, to buying in the chips already peeled and chipped, raw and ready for frying, around this time. That is possibly the only difference that you could have observed. The change was made as the Hoy does not have the space for storage or equipment to deal with the chip volume, due to popularity, from Easter onwards. The home made chips were introduced onto the menu for the first time ever last Autumn and will possibly return this Autumn. Customers have not expressed a clear preference for one or the other.

The Hoy was exceptionally busy on the night you refer to and the staffing was not geared up for it. This sometimes happens particularly in the quiet months of the year when staff levels are reduced accordingly. In these economic times trade can be very unpredictable. It is not feasible to have high staffing all the time just because you might be exceptionally busy occasionally. Sometimes we get fully stretched, other times we are idle, but most of the time it works out just fine.

If you or anyone else has any concerns then they should raise them with me in the first instance. Rather than spout slanderous statements in the public domain, which is a foolish thing to do. As you can be sued.

The Landlord
Portsmouth Hoy