What makes a winning plate (or newspaper wrapping) of fish and chips? In the UK, standards are high when it comes to this classic dish. Light crispy batter, smooth and sweet mushy peas, delicate, flaky cod and fluffy chunky chips are all arguably crucial ingredients to a memorable seaside takeaway.
Naturally, we all have a favourite go-to – but is it really the best? Well, to settle that question The Times has revealed its definitive list of the best fish and chip shops in the country right now.
And it crowned – drum roll please – Whitehead’s Fish and Chips in Hornsea, Yorkshire the UK’s best fish and chip shop! Run by a mother and son duo, this Whitehead’s owes its success to a secret batter recipe that uses a special type of flour and to only serving up the fattest and fluffiest chips from the fryer. Hidden away from the seafront in a housing estate, it’s an unsuspecting gem.
Landing in second place was Les and Rita’s Fish Bar in Rhyl, North Wales, another family-run affair. This chippy is decked out with Sixties paraphernalia and The Times writes that ‘to take away is to miss a trick’. Instead, the newspaper recommends enjoying your fish supper from one of its booths made from real vinyl and formica.
The Rocketeer in North Berwick, Scotland, rounded out the top three. Winner of the 2023 Scottish Chippy Awards and just 70 metres from the North Berwick harbour, its fish couldn’t really be any fresher. Described as ‘both a neighbourhood chippy and seafood restaurant’, it also serves picturesque views out over Milsey Bay.
Want to know if your local made the cut? Here are the UK’s 18 very best chippies, according to The Times.
- Whitehead’s Fish & Chips, Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire
- Les and Rita’s Fish Bar, Rhyl, Denbighshire
- The Rocketeer, North Berwick, East Lothian
- French’s Fish Shop, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
- The Haven, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
- Bennett’s Fish & Chips, Weymouth, Dorset
- Morton’s, Ballycastle, Co Antrim
- The Bay Fish & Chips, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire
- Lighthouse Fisheries of Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire
- The Mermaid, Barmouth, Gwynedd
- East Coast, Musselburgh, East Lothian
- Steel’s Corner House Restaurant, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire
- Fraser’s, Penzance, Cornwall
- Fishers, Hunstanton, Norfolk
- Maggie’s, Hastings, East Sussex
- The Magpie Café, Whitby, North Yorkshire
- VC Jones, Whitstable, Kent
- Lewis’s Fish Restaurant, Seahouses, Northumberland
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