Fish and Chips

[Beswad]

Which part of the UK (North, South, East etc.) does the best Fish and Chips?

[Greedyfly]

I grew up in Kent and I now live in Yorkshire and I would say that the Wetherby Waler does the best fish/chips are fantastic - Not sure if they are a chain but there are two shops I know of near where I live and they are beautiful.

[smudge]

I think the best has to be the Fish 'n' Chick'n chain. They have won so many awards & I'm not surprised as they do a real mean Cod & Chips.

[smudge]

P.S. We have eaten from two of this chain of shops within the Essex area. (But we live in Bedfordshire).

[nicola_red]

The best chip shop I've ever been to was in the Lake District.  I've had great chips all over the North West though.  That said there are plenty of dodgy places as well!

[TariqE]

I prefer (though I am biased) fish & chips from Edinburgh (or south east Scotland). For 2 reasons-

1. Salt 'n' Sauce not Salt 'n' Vinegar.  For the uneducated- the sauce is a remarkably delicious concoction of brown sauce and vinegar (much better than just vinegar)

2.  The fish tends to be Haddock- which in my opinion is superior to Cod or Plaice which is what seems to be on offer in London chippies.

[CiderMonkey]

The Dolphin fish bar in Hastings...

[Bangkok]

The chippy I grew up near to in Hawk Green (nearish Stockport) won third best chippy in Manchester once.  The memory of the meat 'n tata pie, chips and gravy have me salivating right now.  Fish wasn't bad either.

Overall, has to be the North West.

[Sproutstick]

Good 'ol Lancashire fish 'n chips i'm afraid.  Anywhere South of Cheshire makes awful fish and chips in my opinion - most Southern chippies don't even know what black puddings or scraps are!!!  It's a crime!!!

[LordyGeordie]

I really do think it has to be the North of England, I'm not going to open a can of worms by saying which part (NE, NW Yorkshire etc.) but in my experience coastal towns tend to do the best.

There may be the odd southern chippy which is good, but having lived all over the country on the whole fish and chips in the south is pretty awful: soggy batter, skin still kept on the fish (a defininte no-no), mushy peas are a rarity, as are other sauces (gravy, curry sauce etc)

[FP]

North East Yorkshire.  Whitby is renowned for it's fish and chips and has a world famous restaurant, so famous I can't remember the name!

[Greedyfly]

Whitby has gone down hill in the last few years - it used to be such a lovely place but is now pretty much full of kids and tourists

[smudge]

Greedfly - I know what you mean about Whitby. We were invited for a long week-end stay there a few years back & were most unimpressed. Mind you it bucketed down with rain on the Saturday night & we witnessed a young lad being beaten up by some thugs & his head put through a pub window. This may have something to do with the fact that we wouldn't re-visit!

 

Having said that, there are positive & negative things about most towns in the UK.

[sprogglin]

Whitby has two real world class fish and chip restaurents, the Magpie Cafe, which has permanent queues out the door, and the lesser known Hadley's just over the bridge.  They are absolutely perfect.  Big fish, lovely chips, crisp batter..... that's it, i'm going now!

[sprogglin]

Oh and  manchester makes awful fish and chips, i spent 6 years in and around manchester, not one nice chippy.

[smudge]

I'm sure it has sprogglin - I was expressing my experience of actully staying there. Apologies if I offended you or anyone else who lives or holidays there.

[FP]

I haven't been to Whitby for about five years now.  We used to holiday on the North York Moors in a caravan and it was our favourite place in the world.  I love Whitby and hope it hasn't changed too much.  Thank you Sprogglin, it was the Magpie I was thinking of.  I have never experienced fish and chips as that!

 

Smudge,  It's funny isn't it how an impression can be formed during a short stay depending on the weather and experiences.  I'm sure we all do it.  I went to Venice and hated it.  I was sick on one of the boats and so was my son, it was rainy and cold and we couldn't find anything nice to eat.  I would never go back - silly, because I'm sure it is beautiful really.

[sprogglin]

oh no offence taken smudge, i haven't been for a while, but used to go often,  and i can see the turn for the worse.  i would still recommend that if anyone gets the chance, they should try the Magpie fish and chips.

[garry745]

Got to agree with CiderMonkey that the best is offered by the Dolphin Fish Bar in Hastings. Been to loads of Fish & Chips shops in all parts of the country, and quite simply nothing can come anywhere close to the Dolphin.

Everyone should go to Hastings and just try them once. Don't be put off by the size of the place or how it looks, but step inside and be prepared to learn just how good Fish and Chips should be.