Fish and chips: like Simon and Garfunkle, William and Kate and gin and tonic, it’s a pairing made in heaven. So, on the 10th anniversary of National Fish and Chip Day, here are our picks for the best British F&C around. From traditional takeaways with mushy peas, to beach shacks serving scallops in garlic butter, these are the chippies we return to time and again.
Mitch Tonks, Founder and CEO of Rockfish
Chez Fred, Bournemouth
Chez Fred is an institution and serves some of the best fish and chips in Britain. He’s been doing it for years. A very traditional experience with mushy peas. I used to sit with my Nan after we got fish and chips from the local chippy. We would eat them on the seafront in Weston Super Mare out of newspaper with loads of salt and vinegar. Occasionally I would be treated to a bag of scrumps! I like to look at what he has available to choose my order, but I tend to go traditional and order haddock and chips at lunch time.
(Image credit: Matt Hardy/Chez Fred)
Emma Hughes, Acting Assistant Features Editor
Dungeness Snack Shack, Kent
After a morning spent stomping along the shingle in pursuit of Dungeness’s idiosyncratic sights — Derek Jarman’s house, the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch steam railway and a nature reserve, all in the shadow of the nuclear power station — the Snack Shack makes an unbeatable lunch-stop. Open seasonally, it serves the catch of the day every which way. ‘Fish and potatoes’ (three fillets with fried potatoes, homemade tartare sauce and a slice of lemon) is fish and chips in the truest sense, and the best use of a £10 note for miles around.
(Image credit: Alamy)
Tom Parker Bowles, Columnist
Sea Salt and Sole, Aberdeen (Dyce branch)
Sea Salt and Sole in Aberdeen (Dyce branch) is outstanding. Spankingly fresh, pearlescent North Sea haddock steamed in a crisp, burnished crust. Eat it with your fingers on the railway platform next door, with proper chips soaked in vinegar, homemade curry sauce, and a pie from the local butcher. Bliss.
(Image credit: Sea Salt Sole)
Rosie Paterson, Digital Content Director & Travel Editor
Britannia, Beach on Beesands, Devon
You can eat in (there’s now a small restaurant on site), or take away and eat in your car (when everything is wind-and rain-lashed) or on the beach — and everything is fantastically fresh, sourced, on the whole, from the South Hams or wider Devon. I normally order the simple fish and chips, but there’s grilled fish and chips for those who want to skip the batter. Others swear by the local scallops, which are served in a homemade bread roll, dripping in garlic butter.
(Image credit: Alamy)