Beautiful things can be done with some potatoes, a cod, some batter, and a fryer. You already knew that, and so do the roughly 11,000 chippy owners across Britain.
A lot of those chip shops are sensational, but which is the absolute best? Thirty-seven years ago, the National Federation of Fish Fryers (NFFF) set out to answer that question, and thus the annual National Fish and Chip Awards, aka the chippy Oscars, was born.
There are categories recognising excellence in various forms, from takeaways to sit-down restaurants, to mobile fryers and commitment to sustainability; basically as long as your chips are fluffy and your fish is battered, there’s a space for you in this competition.
That’s not to say it’s easy to become a winner; first you have to be named as one of the nation’s top 40, then shortlisted into the top ten. It’s been a long journey to get to this final, but one unlikely county has come out with winners in two of the biggest categories.
Think of ‘Takeaway of the Year’ and ‘Restaurant of the Year’ as the ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ of the ceremony; these are the awards that everyone wants, and the ones which can turn you from a wee local into a nationally renowned destination. This year, both of the big winners were based in County Durham.
Usually better known for its mining towns and excellent accent, you might not think of Durham as the fish and chips capital of the UK, but Yarm Road Fish and Chips in Darlington, which was named ‘Takeaway of the Year’, and Bells Fish & Chips in the city of Durham, 2025’s ‘Restaurant of the Year’, are putting it on the fried-fish map.
The owners of Yarm Road Fish and Chips, which came second in 2024, said that they ‘didn’t think this year would be our year’ because of ‘just how unbelievable the rest of the top 10 finalists are’. Despite the high quality of their competitors, they’ve taken home the trophy, and they have one message for the general public: ‘Keep supporting your local chippy. They are the cornerstone of many communities and there may be some tough times ahead, as we all know. Go and get your chippy teas!’
Scotland and the north did pretty well overall, with only five total winners being based below Birmingham, despite last year’s winner being the Ship Deck in Wales. The fish must just prefer northern shores this year.
The complete list of winners at the 2025 Fish and Chips Awards was as follows:
National Fish and Chip Awards 2025 Winners
Takeaway of the Year
- Yarm Road Fish and Chips - Darlington, County Durham
- The Fish Works - Largs, Scotland
- Kellaway’s Fish and Chips – Truro, Cornwall
Restaurant of the Year
- Bells Fish & Chips (Framwellgate Moor) - Durham, County Durham
- Malt and Anchor – Cirencester, Gloucestershire
- Trenchers Spanish City - Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear
Field to Frier
Redcloak Fish Bar – Stonehaven, Scotland
Drywite Young Fish Frier of the Year
Glen Morrison from Garioch Fish Bar – Inverurie, Scotland
Newcomer of the Year
Mackerel Sky- Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire
Employee of the Year
Georgia Lye from Seafare Guildford, Surrey
Mobile Operator of the Year
Country Fried – Blackburn, Lancashire
Environment and Sustainable Business
Finney’s Benllech – Anglesey, Wales
Training and Development
Taylors – Stockport, Greater Manchester
Digital Marketing
Eric’s Fish and Chips – Thornham, Norfolk
Quality Accreditation Champion
The Scrap Box – York, Yorkshire
Community Engagement
Brockley’s Rock – Brockley, London
Fish and chips with Time Out
We at Time Out love a good chippy, too. Check out our picks for the best UK chip shops if you’re not convinced by theove ones ab, or have a read of Time Out’s specific guides to the fish and chip scenes in London and Brighton.
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