Fish and Chips Up North.

[Bewlay Bros]

Is it true that Fish 'n' Chips up north is better than down south.

Can anybody actually speak from experience, i.e have tried both northern and southern on regular occassions?

If Northern are best, why do you think so? Is it just culture which makes you think they are better?

Also, do you believe Fish 'n' Chips do taste better by the sea even though the fish is as fresh in land than coastal?

[B00]

Dunno about the actual quality, but I do know you can't get gravy with ya chips down souff.

I once asked a chippy bloke in Cornwall for gravy with my chips and he peered at me quizzically from under his monobrow and gravely informed me, very slowly......"we don't do gravy with arr charps".

[Ethel]

Unless you ask for a 'fish special' in Keighley the fish is a a sort of oversized fish finger - high processed, not a fillet.

Very nasty.

[mrs_overall]

Fish and chips ARE better ooop North because they are cooked properly in dripping.

[Ethel]

They're cooked in beef dripping in a lot of chip shops here too- it's not a particularly northern thing.

[China Doll]

I've eaten both and without a doubt they're done better down south. They actually taste like fish and chips as opposed to battered lard with gravy.

[indianwells]

Go to Ernie Becketts in Cleethorpes or the Magpie Cafe in Whitby and all will become crystal clear.......

[indianwells]

Although I did once have some very nice ones in Newlyn....

[dundurn]

I have a friend from Bradford who travelled from Milton Keynes to Coventry when Harry Ramsden's opened there just for a taste of "real" fish and chips and a buttered bread cake. The latter turned out to be a roll and butter. Apparently the secret combination is beef dripping and very fresh fish with the skin off. Anything else just won't do. I should add that she used to own a fish and chip shop, so perhaps her opinion counts more than most.

I think any food tastes better after a bit of healthy exercise in the fresh air and a walk along the beach is one of my favourites but I don't think it's absolutely necessary.

[shaneystar2]

I live neither nor south nor north but east on the coast .Lots of chippies here do chips with gravy and still fry in dripping . Best fish and chips in my neck of the woods is ******* in Aldeburgh .In the top ten of fish and chip shops .
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story /0,,1613578,00.html
People practically queue round the town for them they are so delicious .I lived in London for many years and never did find a decent chippie .And yes I think fish and chips tastes better by the sea .We sometimes go to the chippie and then sit along the seafront and eat it out of the paper .Lovely !!

[sense4all]

I wish I had cloned Geoff of Hilltop Fisheries ( Nr Allerton Bradford ) way back in the 80's. He has spoiled me for other fish fryers ... as for Granma Helliwell's secret fish cake fayre ... the work of an Angel! I live 'darn Sarf' and they are in the main mediocre.

[spudqueen]

Well I've lived in the North and in London. The difference I found was that the fish in London would have skin on (on the underneath), you don't get that in the North. Also you don't get decent mushy peas in the south! There are good fish and chips shops in London, there used to be (may still be there for all I know) an excellent one near Marylebone station. Though I did take my southern brother-in-law to a fish and chip shop in Cleveleys, near Blackpool and he declared it one of the best meals he'd ever had.

[spangle111]

Where in Cleethorpes is Ernie Becketts, indianwells? Just might give them a try........

[Ice.Maiden]

Hope it's better than an indian restaurant I went to in Cleethorpes!

[christine847]

Best fish and chips ever...Oban high street

[gallapunk]

I was born and bred up north, lived there for 20 years, loved fish & chips (with scraps). Moved to halfway down the country, hated fish & chips (and batter bits!). Go back up north to see family/friends occasionally and the fish & chips up there are still the best (don't know what happened in Keighley, bet it's not still open now if they were that bad).. The batter is so crisp and brown up north (not yellow and soggy like in all the chippies round here, yuk!), the fish is moist and delicious (not dried up and old-tasting, like round here). I haven't tried them down south, but I find fish skin very bitter, so I wouldn't like them if they came with skin.

[meglet]

I live by the sea and my brother in law owns the best chippie in town. So not only do I get the best local fish but I get it free!

[gallapunk]

Speaking of by the sea, there is a lovely fish & chip shop in Barmouth, right by the railway track (facing it). Not the cafe thing that does all sorts on the other side of the road (which is totally crap); the proper fish & chip shop. They do have seating as well though, if you want to eat in, but why would you by the sea on a nice day? Oh, except that you wouldn't have to fight the seagulls off, lol. Why are the gulls worse in some places than others? Once got practically mobbed by gulls in Aberystwyth.

Anyway, so apart from there, yes, still north for me. Or even including there; they were 'as nice as' some up north.

[indianwells]

Hi Spangle, it's in the Market Square. Just opposite is Steels Corner House which is also excellent.

[sunflower68]

Here in Cambs we have lovely fish and chips. The batter certainly ain't yellowy and yuk chips and gravy is gross.
http://www.seafish.org/whatsnew/detail.asp?p=c a&id=1450

[jonukas]

I don't think that it is a north and south thing, it's a matter of a good cook.
I come from up north and enjoy my fish and chips, but we have some bad chippies up here as well, I've also had some excellent fish and chips all over the country, both north and south, as well as crap ones.
I once had a list of award winning chippies from all over Britain, that was published in the Daily Mail sometime ago, and my wife and I tried quite a lot of them, while on our travels, and we were never disappointed once. Unfortunately, the list has since been lost.
As a byline, I would like to mention a certain pasty shop in Lizard, Cornwall, called Anne's Pasties, if ever any of tou are down there on holiday, it is a pleasure not to be missed.
Cheers Jonukas