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Original poster

to mourn the fact that there isn't ONE decent chippy near me

85 replies

Greensleeves · 02/02/2018 17:28

There are about 5 chippies within sensible cycling distance of us and they're all appalling :( we always have chips on a Friday night (because I allowed it to become a "thing" when the kids were younger and now they think it's a human right)

I grew up in Stoke on Trent where chippies are amazing...crispy fluffy chips, gravy, beautiful breaded fish, nice mushy peas. We've tried every available chippy here and it's always a soggy, meagre, greasy disappointment Sad

Just wanted to let that out. Before the weekly abomination arrives and I have to shower it in salt and make the best of it.

OP posts:
JJPP123 · 02/02/2018 17:30

Truly a disgrace. Mind you, I live 5 mins from an amazing chippy and it's not good for our overall health!

BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot · 02/02/2018 17:30

Go later in the evening when the fish isn't fresh out the fryer. I find fish that isn't fresh cooked tends to be crisper

Deshasafraisy · 02/02/2018 17:30

Change for a Friday Chinese!

Tika77 · 02/02/2018 17:31

Oh, we have to do a 15 minute drive to the right chippie. The ones nearby are horrible.

SecretNutellaFix · 02/02/2018 17:31

Is it the not cooking that's the big part of the treat or the chips themselves?

I always used to love my mum's home made chips.

PinkHeart5914 · 02/02/2018 17:34

We live in a small village and the nearest chip shop to us in the next village is rubbish! Hard chips and the fish batter is always soggy, expensive too I don’t mind paying ££ for food but how hard is it to cook a chip until it’s soft?

I feel your pain OP

StephiD3 · 02/02/2018 17:35

Condolences Flowers

Friday chippy’s are the best.

I need chips and gravy now 😁

cricketballs3 · 02/02/2018 17:46

"I grew up in Stoke on Trent where chippies are amazing" - sorry op you shouldn't have moved as I can testify that the chippies are still amazing and have the best gravy Grin

Original poster
Greensleeves · 02/02/2018 17:47

cricketballs I still visit my dad up there sometimes, and one of the major pull factors is chips and gravy...he knows this and isn't offended Grin

OP posts:
DGRossetti · 02/02/2018 17:51

Only 5 ?

All 15 near us within a sensible drive are seriously wanting in some respect or another.

I think the best one was when I ordered a large fish and small fish, and the lady offered to write which was which on the paper. On getting home and weighing, I saw why ... "large" was 220g, "small" was 200g.

Not a one-off Sad

Turquoisetamborine · 02/02/2018 17:51

I live in a place with no decent chippies within half an hour either. Most local people seem quite happy with the ones in town but I find them awful. I’d rather save myself for when we go to the coast about once a month and go to Colman’s in South Shields, best ever!

Archfarchnad · 02/02/2018 17:54

I have little sympathy, since I live in a country that doesn't have a single decent chippy. You occasionally find 'British style' fish and chips on menus, but they're always awful.

Cornettoninja · 02/02/2018 17:57

No one will agree with me but I lived in Birmingham where there was an abundance of chippies - the majority decent. Since moving south I have had nothing but dissapointment wrapped in paper Sad

I'm quite partial to a kebab but down here they're all so keen to out ponce each other they've completely ruined a decent dirty kebab.

No I don't want a doner on a bed of lettuce in a lightly toasted pitta I want a chicken tikka in naan slathered in garlic mayo and chilli with some salad slung at it Sad

LidlAngel · 02/02/2018 18:02

I've given up trying to find a chippie like the ones from my childhood. I reckon there is a fortune to be made from running a really good chip shop as they're all so shit these days....Home made rissoles are a must. Love a good rissole.

DGRossetti · 02/02/2018 18:03

No one will agree with me but I lived in Birmingham where there was an abundance of chippies - the majority decent. Since moving south I have had nothing but disappointment wrapped in paper

I'm afraid my experience is the exact reverse. Plus a lack of rock salmon.

YouTheCat · 02/02/2018 18:04

We have an excellent chippy just up the road.

Planning on a takeaway of some description tonight as I can't be arsed to cook.

bookgirl1982 · 02/02/2018 18:04

Ours are generally rubbish but we have found an excellent van that stops nearby once a week. Worth asking around to see if there is anything similar!

isseywithcats · 02/02/2018 18:06

we have one five minutes drive from us and i can honestly say in twenty years of living in halifax have never had bad fish or chips from them, their food is always spot on

mumpoints · 02/02/2018 18:06

None near us. Not that i could be bothered to go out for them anyway!

InkyPunkyGothyPoo · 02/02/2018 18:06

Have you tried Just Eat? Although there will be a minimum order you’ll have to meet.
They at least have reviews you can read from other customers.

LeekSoup · 02/02/2018 18:08

Oh I fancy a chippie tea now!

just5morepeas · 02/02/2018 18:08

You poor thing.

I'd change to a Friday Pizza or Chinese.

Skiiltan · 02/02/2018 18:10

I haven't come across many particularly good fish & chip shops, and the problem with them is that there are generally long queues because everyone knows they're good. I used to live in Southampton, reasonably close to Charlie's Fish & Chips on Bitterne Triangle. I know it's changed hands a few times since I lived there, but at the time (1999-2002) the food was spectacular. But I only went there about a dozen times in that period because on a Friday evening you could wait a good 45 minutes to be served.

There's a funny place where I live now. It does eat-in and take-away. The eat-in fish & chips are fabulous (and the tea that comes with them is even better) but the take-away stuff is pretty run-of-the mill. I think being wrapped in non-absorbent paper makes the food sweat and get sticky. I barely remember fish & chips wrapped in newspaper but it might have made a difference. Another thing that makes a difference is the fat the food is fried in. I remember fish & chips in the north-east (someone referred to South Shields) always smelling divine and tasting pretty good, probably due to their being fried in dripping or lard rather than oil. The best ever were from my local where I grew up: fried by an alcoholic from St Helens whose shop would only ever be open about 10 days a month because he was too drunk/hungover the rest of the time.

TitsNnails · 02/02/2018 18:11

I always said if I win the lottery im opening a decent chip shop!

CuriousaboutSamphire · 02/02/2018 18:12

Oh, that hit a nerve.

I live really close to a chippy, minutes walk. The next nearest is probably 15 miles away.so not really viable!

Our chippy is much loved by the locals and I really don't know why? Soggy, greasy chips, rock hard batter on the fish, everything is just greasy and poor quality blechety blech!

So we drove all the way to Weston Super Mud for my birthday, so I could have some proper chish and fips on the sea front... and I did, but it rained, so we ate in Grin

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