Fish and chips.

[GaryA]

It has to be lard or dripping for that old fashioned authentic taste which is so rare its hardly worth the effort/driving distances to find.
Most chippies use industrial low-grade (extra virgin it aint) veg oils which are actually worse for health and give the product a taste of...well, the industrial. I dont bother...

 

[BigonaBianchi]

I had posh fish n chips last night at the fish factory here last night.

 

[snorri]

How come the fish has no flavour nowadays?

Human taste buds lose much of their sensitivity with advancing years, I'm reliably informed.

 

[Bodhbh]

Neither would I. I've only had fish and chips from the Magpie Cafe in Whitby once. It was one of the rare occasions when there wasn't a queue. It was an underwhelming gastronomic event.

Coming from Grimsby, I'm not a stranger to a decent chippie, but when I visited Magpies for the first time a year or so ago I have to say it was pretty good....although it wants to be pretty good at 20 quid or whatever it was for the 4 fish platter. (which confirms what we all know anyhow - Haddock is king). But fish being fish, even a decent chippie drops the ball now and again.

 

[Globalti]

Human taste buds lose much of their sensitivity with advancing years, I'm reliably informed.

Cheeky young whippersnapper. I'll thrash you up any hill on my bike, so I will.

 

[cosmicbike]

I still go to the same chippie that's been going since I was a lad. It means a 10 mile round trip now, but the 3 within walking distance just cannot do chips properly.

 

[snorri]

Cheeky young whippersnapper.

I liked the "young" bit, thank you..

 

[ASC1951]

If they ask you for your fish order as you walk in, and they then cook it to order, you know it's going to be good IME.

Yes, that's the gold standard. The sort of place where the fryer scoops a chip out of the boiling fat and squeezes it with his asbestos thumb and forefinger to see if it's done.

 

[User482]

Yes, that's the gold standard. The sort of place where the fryer scoops a chip out of the boiling fat and squeezes it with his asbestos thumb and forefinger to see if it's done.

@Globalti might like to try Khan's chippy in Ramsbottom (Fish & Chip co, 62 Bolton Rd West). You yell your fish order from the back of the (long) queue, the chips are great, and apparently they do home-made pies. Go for the haddock...

 

[Pale Rider]

There's a chippy in the County Durham village of, I think , Esh Winning, which still uses coal-fired fryers.

Apparently, you can taste smoky-sweetness of the coal in the chips.

 

[Fnaar]

There's a chippy in the County Durham village of, I think , Esh Winning, which still uses coal-fired fryers.

Apparently, you can taste smoky-sweetness of the coal in the chips.

Washed down with some coke

 

[Pale Rider]

Washed down with some coke

Aye, even the former pit villages have a drugs problem these days.

 

[Amanda P]

Upton chippie. Been a few times. Cooked as they should be in beef dripping. I very rarely eat fish and chips but when i do they have to be cooked in beef dripping, which is very very hard to find now.

I have to beg to differ. Mrs Uncle Phil won't eat fish and chips cooked in dripping, and it's virtually impossible to find a chip shop north of… I dunno, Nottingham, maybe, that doesn't.

Or, maybe they just tell us it's dripping, when in fact it's diesel or something. I couldn't say.

Going to the other extreme, if you should find yourself in or near Cape Town, go to Kalkie's in Kalk Bay. Fantastic fish and chips, and if you're there in the afternoon you can see the fish they've caught with their own boats being unloaded on the quay - it doesn't get any fresher than that. You can also talk to the harbour seals while you eat. (Avoid snoek, though especially if you're in a hurry. Good flavour, but full of bone. Stick to hake).

 

[Christopher]

@Globalti might like to try Khan's chippy in Ramsbottom (Fish & Chip co, 62 Bolton Rd West). You yell your fish order from the back of the (long) queue, the chips are great, and apparently they do home-made pies. Go for the haddock...

Ta. Noted. There's a good chippy in Preston that does the same thing, it is only open past 2 in the afternoon on two days a week. Portions are massive as well. It's very good, although the best fish and chips I ever had was a fresh Grimsby haddock at a posh hotel near Immingham: tasty, fresh and perfectly cooked, better than in Whitby.

 

[Adam4868]

I hate the way vinegar is watered down in some chippies,its not fish and chips without !!