Are Fish and Chips worth it?

Here you go: 9 Of The Best Fish & Chips In Whitby

Trenchers is excellent.

Top tip, the only thing that The Magpie excel at is PR and maintaining their 'face in the media'.

They may have fooled southern journos but those of us who're used to Yorkshire fish and chips aren't particularly excited by them. They're nice enough, but there's many other places in Whitby that are nicer, less expensive and have shorter queues.

I've given up seeking out places that are reported as having 'the best fish and chips in the country' because I usually find that at best, they're exactly the same as the shop at the end of the street.

It all depends where you go.
The Magpie cafe in Whitby is a favourite of mine whenever we head up. The local chippys near me are no where near

We drive 2.5 hours from our flat in Perth to eat supper from The Oban Fish and Chip Shop.

it is SO worth it 😁

I remember when I was about 4 yrs old, being at a beach and the aroma of vinegar and chips. It smelled so good yet I had never had vinegar or chips ever!

You missed off scallops - a giant slice of potato that's battered and fried.

Blaggis ! Haggis pudding and black pudding cut in half lengthways put together and dipped in batter and deep fried.
Pizza Crunch, pizza dipped in batter and deep fried, bloody lovely but obviously one a year is the limit.

Love fish n chips!
But generally regret eating them 🤣
So eat them infrequently.

@GasPanic scraps or scrunchings are what we call scratchings. Not gross at all unless you find batter too greasy in itself.

@GiddyRobin Yorkshire. 60p a scallop.

Most of the chippies in Liverpool are also Chinese takeaways. Lots of them do kebabs too.

Unfortunately they don't agree with DH.

Sometimes, when I'm at the seaside, there's nothing better than really salty vinegary fish and chips. There's a good one at a beach near us and in the summer we'll drive down after work, get a beer from the coop and sit with fish and chips on the prom and then take the dog on the beach (when the summer dog ban lifts at 7pm - there's always a line of dogs straining at the leash).

That's a time and place fish and chips and worth every penny.

I walk past another fish and chips on my way home most nights - it's a perfectly good fish and chip shop- it's busy so stuff hasn't been sat waiting. I'll get fish and chips from there once in a blue moon. If I'm late home from something and home alone.

Generally speaking though - an average fish and chips is a disappointing thing.

I like the weird stuff people can get from chippies that depend on local area. We need to start a glossary. Stuff I have seen :

Pea mix : Chips in a tray with mushy peas poured all over them.
Pea fritter : Ball of mushy peas in batter.
Potato Fritter : Mashed up potato fried in batter.
Scratchings : Bits of waste batter scooped up from the oil and sold. As disgusting as they sound.
Saveloy : Giant sausage that looks an unnatural pinkish red colour and wrapped in what appears to be edible plastic.

*no doubt

There's not doubt it's ridiculously expensive in some areas, I think all takeaways are now though! My partner and I get a takeaway every Saturday and the cost for the two of us will range from £25-£30. It's worth it for me though as I look forward to takeaway night every week, and I do love a fish a chips from the chip shop with a side of gravy and buttery bread 😋

Oh, they were nice! Just not what I expected as a fishcake. I needed the mash and I got the scallop sandwich, so to say I was confused was an understatement. It was also the first time Norwegian DH tried a fishcake from a chippy, so he was happily tucking in while I was trying to explain this wasn't the norm. 😂

I've also had the breadcake/barm/bap/roll issue elsewhere! In Liverpool it was a barm or a bap, but I remember down South it was bread roll? In Oxford I had to try about 3 different ways of telling them until I just asked "please can I have it on bread?"!

In Lancashire "pea wet" is a thing, too. It's basically the water from mushy peas drizzled on your chips. I never tried because despite loving mushy peas, I hate the phrase too much. 😂 That said, I'll scoff a mushy pea butty any day of the week. In some parts of Ireland we'd ask for "chip shards"; the little crunchy chips!

@Aintnobodygottime Ooooh, which area? I'm in the NW and haven't seen any around! Need to do a chippy adventure again soon!

Gluten-free scallops here.

I live overseas. The only fish and chips here comes with McDonalds -style skinny fries. I really miss proper chippy chips.

We often pick them up on a Friday. I think it is kind of pricey, sometimes I just get a steak on a bun and dh gets fish and chips.

This is a question of our time and despite some well reasoned responses I'm not sure can be answered. I bought fish and chips after Christmas shopping and was astounded at the price, but enjoyed them so much I've already been back twice this year. I'm not sure what the tipping point is for us, but we haven't go there yet

How can you love scallops but not Yorkshire fishcakes, which are a double decker scallop with fish in the middle?

We Yorkshire folk have to be very careful about ordering fishcakes because in West Yorkshire at least, if you ask for a fishcake you get what I've described above and no other type exists.

But if you go east, at some point that becomes a fish patty I think and a fishcake is mash and fish in batter. As far as I can tell no chippy in Yorkshire is foolish enough to try and pass off the breadcrumbed type as a fishcake.

It's also unwise for anyone from Yorkshire to go into a chippy elsewhere because in most places it's not what you expect and some places truly awful. I remember DP asking for a 'fishcake in a breadcake' (typical manual worker's lunch because its cheap and filling, like a massive burger) in Cornwall and, after a lot of pointing at the breadcakes he could see but didn't realise they call them something else, he received said breadcake with a tiny biscuit sized 'dot of disappointment' that wasn't even a quarter of the size of our fishcakes in the middle.

SCALLOP. Oh God I loved them.

Depends where you go tbh. We're coeliac here and we're fussy. Some are utterly crap, others taste better than the gluten version. I've literally had mine stolen by siblings and friends. 😆

I've only found two places worth it, though. Before being diagnosed, I did like it but it had to be from a decent chippy. Got tired of warm ups and soggy batter. I think what I like about the GF fish is that it's a lighter batter and the oil is always fresh! Plus found some gorgeous Welsh ones with a vast array of different fish. Conwy was the best.

I'm let down by fishcakes though, even before the coeliac diagnosis. It's basically a savoury cake here in the NW! In Yorkshire it was weird to me; sliced spud with fish inside layered like a sarnie, then battered. I remember fishcakes being all smashed up cod, spud, and herbs in batter!

Though I won't complain. I wish they did GF spud cakes. Oh God, what are they called...just sliced potato in batter. Can't think of the name now. Lovely.

We have a good local Chippy and the chips are lovely, but to have a low cost meal we'll purchase a large portion of chips to share and there are plenty! I grate cheese, into microwave for 90secs then slap some ham on the side....really delicious.....

Our local one is actually really nice but expensive, the family really enjoy when we get it.

I'm not overly enthusiastic about fish and chips, it's not my favourite but when it's well done, it can be a real treat.

Just read some reviews of Stein's. They agree with you @OatFlatWhiteForMePlease !

How disappointing.