The humble fish and chip shop, affectionately known hereabouts as "the chippy", is more than just another cheap, fast food option. In Britain, it is a national institution.
Seafish, a public body sponsored by four government fisheries departments, is looking for the National Fish and Chip Shop of the Year 2009. They've named the 10 finalists. The winner, chosen on the basis of quality, value and choice, will be announced in January.
Check out the list of finalists and, if one of them is your local or if you've tried it during your travels, do please add your comments to let us know:
- Atlantic Fish Bar, Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland
- Broughton Fish & Chips, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
- Daniel's Fish & Chips, Weymouth, Dorset
- Finnegan's, Porthcawl in Mid Glamorgan, Wales
- Fish & Chicken, Ballymena, Northern Ireland
- Great British Eatery, Birmingham, West Midlands
- Linford's Traditional Fish & Chips, Peterborough, Lincolnshire
- Metro Fish Bar, Bury, Lancashire
- Royal Fisheries, Whitby, North Yorkshire
- Scooby Snax, Colchester, Essex
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I have enjoyed reading your blog and especially your article on the fish and chip shops. I just wanted to tell you about my experience with fish and chips and a hotel in Scotland.
I did a favour for a friend and as a way of thanking me he gave me a hotel gift voucher and a bottle of really nice bubbly, and I just wanted to express how incredibly exciting it is to receive a gift voucher like this. When you get paid for doing a job that is just normal business, but to do a favour and receive a gift in return is very different, I was so thrilled and overcome by this gesture and the voucher itself was put to good use.
I had not been away with my partner for a very long time and this came at just the right time. The voucher was for a country house Hotel in Scotland called the Trigony owned and run by Jan and Chef Adam Moore who welcomed us when we arrived with some freshly baked scones and a pot of Earl Grey.
The Hotel was just fantastic, old wooden panelling in the hall, comfortable rooms with views over the lovely grounds. We had brought the bottle of Champagne with us and took it to dinner and when we asked Jan at what to eat with our bottle she called Adam out of the kitchen and asked his opinion. Suprisingly he suggested fish and chips as the perfect meal for the 1999 Don Perignon. He didn’t have this on his menu but would prepare it especially for us if wanted.
We took his advice and had the most incredible fish and chips ever. The fish was fresh, the batter so crispy but melted on the tongue, it was not the dinner I had anticipated, but just goes to show that one gesture of goodwill just seems to manifest and leads to more and more generosity. My overall conclusion is to always do a friend a good turn, your payment is not always in heaven.