Cod’s Scallops opens pop-up shop in Japan

John Molnar, owner of The Cod’s Scallops, is flying to Japan this weekend to open a pop-up fish and chip shop at one of the country’s leading department stores.

John will be accompanied by Chris Reeve, manager at The Cod’s Scallops’ Bramcote Lane store in Nottingham. Between them, the pair will serve 600-1,000 portions of fish and chips at Hankyu’s new store in Kobe, a city in southern Japan on Osaka Bay.

The shop will run for seven days as part of Hankyu’s annual British Fair which champions UK fashion and textiles.

The Cod’s Scallops will be serving battered cod and chips along with its homemade tartare sauce and mushy peas.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” says John. “We’ve been told to expect to serve between 600 and 1,000 portions of fish and chips a day so we’ll be in early and working hard. But there are two of us, we know what we are doing and we’ve worked with each other for nearly 20 odd years.

“Kobe is obviously famous for Kobe beef, so we are going to get out, embrace the Japanese culture and embrace the whole experience. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us and we want to showcase The Cod’s Scallops.”

The event will also serve as a fact-finding mission for John as he looks to add a sushi menu to his West Bridgford restaurant in Nottingham.

John comments: “We’ve got three shops in close proximity to each other so I want to try something slightly different in each.

“Going to Japan is going to be a great opportunity to try out the different sushi options.

“I don’t want to change what we do, I just want to add some sushi and some sashimi to the menu, served on some nice crockery. Our chef at West Bridgford is really into sushi so it will be on the tables as an extra.”