Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Amanduh · 02/02/2018 19:28

Ours is brilliant and we had it tonight. I’m stuffed though! Tbh we have them rarely but it’s nice to lnow we can!

Aeroflotgirl · 02/02/2018 19:31

There seems to be a decline of traditional fish and chip shops, instead they are usually run within the Chinese takeaways, they are not that good.

Original poster
Greensleeves · 02/02/2018 19:32

Well, dh has gone off on his bike to try a new one 4 miles away. They claim to do gravy. My hopes aren't high.

OP posts:
Aeroflotgirl · 02/02/2018 19:33

There was a fantastic one run by a Greek family nearby, award winning fish and chips, it was taken over and has gone down hill, prices increased.

RatOnnaStick · 02/02/2018 19:36

Our local one 3 miles away is also terrible with soggy batter and undercooked chips and the portions are all wrong. We go to a good one 20 mins away instead and accept they aren't as hot as they could be.

CakeAndChocolate · 02/02/2018 19:39

I really want a chip butty now I've read this!

Local chippy not great though, in fact I can't remember the last time I had decent fish and chips.

MadisonAvenue · 02/02/2018 19:40

It's the same where we live in the Midlands, we very rarely have chips now as they're always a disappointment. It never used to be this way.

MadisonAvenue · 02/02/2018 19:43

Forgot to say that the best we get now are when we go to the Black Country Museum, from the 1930s fish and chip shop in there. Last year we had annual passes so went a few times just to get fish and chips.

Aeroflotgirl · 02/02/2018 19:52

Yes if there are traditional English fish and chips shops that are run as such, like the one you describe Madison, they are so much nicer. We have one, a distance from us, and it is lovely, using freshly sourced fish, the batter is light and crispy, and tasty, non fatty chips, that don't have that bitter aftertaste, like some of the local ones.

Frenchsticker · 02/02/2018 20:11

Hang on OP - "breaded fish"? What madness is this?

Original poster
Greensleeves · 02/02/2018 20:14

Uh? It's like battered fish, but in breadcrumbs! Golden and crispy and delicious...and unavailable here Sad

OP posts:
ghostyslovesheets · 02/02/2018 20:17

we have the best chippy near by - they do Black Country Orange chips on a Monday, thick thick northern gravy and deep fried black pudding!

Turquoisetamborine · 02/02/2018 23:01

Try this place if you’re ever in the North East. Fried in a coal burning fryer in beef dripping. Dab and chips for less than a fiver.
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186267-d7230278-Reviews-Davy_s_Fish_Chips-County_Durham_England.html

CheekyRedhead · 03/02/2018 09:15

I now live in Manchester and there are no decent chippies. I would imagine in the local towns there are some but not in the city centre.
I get my chippy fix when I visit the family in Stoke.

kyrenialady · 03/02/2018 09:17

What chippy do you go to Stoke Cheeky?. I have lived here for 13 years and have yet to find a really good chippy.

maggienolia · 03/02/2018 09:50

Is it a coincidence that the Change for life ad has just popped up?
I feel your pain OP. The chip shop in our village serves soggy batter and sub standard chips. But the locals love it.
And they don't know what a scallop is - I grew up on the Midlands and it's not a shellfish!

sinceyouask · 03/02/2018 09:52

I feel your pain. I don't like any of the chippies nearby. I keep being taken in by people's lies (oh you should go to xxx they're great) and ending up disappointed. It almost makes me miss Wisbech. At least I could get decent chips there.

BarbaraofSevillle · 03/02/2018 09:54

Is breaded fish from fish shops a Stoke thing? I've never seen that.

Where are you in the country now? I'm in West Yorkshire and fish and chips here are almost universally excellent.

However I do usually find them disappointing in other counties, so I suspect it's what you are used to, if locals like them and you don't.

cricketballs3 · 03/02/2018 10:50

Is breaded fish from fish shops a Stoke thing?

I honestly never realised that this was unusual Shock

BarbaraofSevillle · 03/02/2018 10:57

It's OK cricket. In West Yorkshire, fishcakes are totally different to what most of the country thinks of as a fish cake.

Ours are a slice of fish sandwiched with two slices of potato, battered and deep fried. I was probably in my 20s when I made the mistake of getting a fishcake else where to find that it was the mashed fish and potato in breadcrumbs kind. They come from the supermarket round here.

We confuse southerners with our scallops too. Scallops are like a fishcake with one slice of potato and no fish, they are not the shell fish kind.

cushioncovers · 03/02/2018 11:03

I feel for you op. SadSmile we have 6 chippys/Chinese near us and one of them is bloody lovely, the others are a mix of average and awful.

Bindibot · 03/02/2018 11:07

We had an amazing chippy in our town. That then closed down, we were distraught. As it happens it was opened as a chippy and the new owners were fans of the old🤗

Saying all that I’ve just found out they use palm oil… luckily we’ve accenently discovered that the local pizza place does great chips too.

ConfusedMumHere · 03/02/2018 11:08

There are no chippies - that's right -NO chippies near me Sad I'd settle for a crap one!

BarbaraofSevillle · 03/02/2018 11:19

The best fat by far for fish and chips is beef dripping, which is what is traditionally used around here. Use of other fat is a reason why fish and chips sometimes seem to be disappointing.

Someone mentioned a coal fired range. As well as the Durham one, there's also one in north Lincolnshire and I keep meaning to make a detour when I'm out and about for work - thanks for the reminder.

Apparently this one always has people queuing out of the door when it is open.

www.uptonchippy.co.uk/traditional.htm

strawberriesaregood · 03/02/2018 11:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.