to think it isn't greedy to eat a whole fish, portion of chips and mushy peas with bread and butter?

[Greensleeves]

Opinions vary wildly in our family; DH and DS2 will happily eat a large portion of chips with a fish, or a pie and a fishcake, or a fishcake and a jumbo battered sausage. I will eat a fishcake and 2/3 of a portion of chips, but I like bread and butter to make chip butties as well. In-laws think we are all insanely greedy and will split a small fish between them and a handful of chips each. If they have mushy peas, they will eat commensurately fewer chips because peas are incredibly filling.

What's your chippy order? And do you think a portion of chips is designed to be shared, or is an expected portion for one person?

This

I think they're being unreasonable to call you greedy. It's not their business how much you eat.

1 fish and 1 peas each (large is fine) and we would probably get 3 portions of chips between 4 (and have leftovers).

However, if you want a portion of chips each and like chip butties, enjoy! Our chippy doesn’t do bread but it sounds delicious.

I think your appetite decreases as you get older. I can’t finish stuff portions I used eat with ease. No change in my weight though, requirements are just less.

YANBU! The competitive, self righteous nonsense about how little older people can/would eat used to drive me mad. In our family’s case it was a remnant from WW2 & I thought it had gone with that generation. The business about women needing to eat ‘daintily’ used to also twist my melon.
However now that I am older (I’m 68) I’ve been surprised to note that my appetite has decreased quite a bit. Still love my fish & chips though; this thread has made me want to head to Harry Ramsden’s immediately!

I have never had fish and chips where there has been enough fish for me. Too much batter, not enough fish. I love batter but get indigestion these days so am
left with the white bit. And there is never enough. Not even in a large.

I wouldn’t eat this amount for dinner everyday but I could manage that amount of food, although would feel stuffed afterwards. Fish and chips are a treat, I think when you’re treating yourself it’s fine to eat as much as you want regardless of what a normal portion for you would be. As long as you don’t eat like that every meal it’s fine.

I think you and your in-laws need to stop judging each others portions. You are judging so hard you even started a thread on it,and a sarcastic one at that, and they are calling you greedy.

I can’t imagine what’s wrong with you all behaving like this.

The trouble with text is that people imagine tone and expressions that aren't there

People posting that they eat normal everyday dinner amounts of takeaway are not competitive under-eating. It's just that some people like to eat more than they usually would when when it's a takeaway and some like to eat a similar amount. I eat a similar amount or I know I will feel over-full and unwell afterwards which ruins the experience.

My parents always want to share when we get fish and chips and Im always like no, I want my own! 😂I don’t mind sharing with DD as she’s only 5, so realistically she has 1/4 and I have 3/4.

We would get one cod (only one size offered at ours but essentially it's a large cod in places that have multiple sizes), and either 2 small or one large chips depending on how hungry we are, OH will have a pot of curry sauce and we will both have a slice on bread and butter.

I will take a bit less than half of the fish and the same for the chips with OH having the rest. Its a decent size plate of food

If we found it wasn't enough we would probably get a battered sausage each on top instead of a whole fish each, works out cheaper!

Why bother asking? Eat what you want!

In the interest of important research I've just bought standard haddock and chips from the takeaway counter from a popular fish and chip restaurant north of Leeds.

This is what I got for £9.50 and tbh it's more then I expected. That's a large box next to a share packet of crisps for scale.

I've eaten less than half of it and I'm now full even though I've been for a 7 mile hill walk this morning.

Oooh murgatroyds! That's one of our favourites.

On rare joint days off me and DH will do a few laps of yeadon tarn and then share a fish and chips outside. (I'm in a power wheelchair so I don't work up much of an appetite 😂😂)

I couldn't eat all that, but could easily demolish the equivalent (and more) of pasta and rice dishes.

People's appetites come in very different sizes.

Fish and chip portions come in very different sizes.

It's impossible to know what other people mean by a whole fish or a small portion of chips.

Eat what you like.

The new Mother Hubbard's in Baildon apparently uses vegetable oil @BarbaraofSeville horror of horrors, so I shall be giving that a miss.

I will be in murgatroyds next week, but I can't do a portion now because I'm old. In my twenties I would have done fish, chips, scraps, mushy peas and bread and butter. By my early thirties the peas and scraps had gone, by the start of my forties the bread had long disappeared and now at nearly 50 I'm down to half the fish, half chips and a spoon of curry sauce. Although if I'm in the whaler, I do love their haddock served with salad. Bizarrely it works.

I feel for you OP I have a couple of female relatives who regularly try to food shame me because they are thin and I'm fat, despite consistently eating more than me. One can't have a cup of tea without a sweet treat on the side. They do not see the irony.

Speaking of regional differences people are always surprised when they get a fishcake up here and it is fish between two scallops and covered on batter. I've also never had mint sauce on my mushy peas anywhere else, although that seems to be really dying out.

As to the people saying you must be fat to have that portion, what a load of bollocks talking body fascists. The three people I know that always order a special when having fish and chips are all thin as rakes, whilst I'm as fat as a house and have a tiny appetite (partly medical reasons). Only last week at work someone was saying that I should be really skinny because I don't eat much at all, but not all bodies are the same. I averaged just under 1300 calories a day last week, did two long walks, ran three times and gained two pounds. Plus I have a very active job, lots of lifting and on my feet about 90 per cent of the time. Before anyone asks, yes my thyroxin levels are low but the NHS say not to the point of being treatable. It's just one of those things. I like to think of myself as famine resistant.

I think basically don't comment on other people's food intake unless you want to come across as a total arse, it's horribly judgemental and unkind.

Ah I've just realised , only Yorkshire folk are going to know what a special is aren't they 😂

Yorkshire is a big place and has some good fish and chip shops, but has its fair share of bad ones too. But it has nothing like a monopoly on the best:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/travel/uk/best-fish-and-chip-shops-uk

@Catusrusty we have been using the Mother Hubbards that's just opened in Wibsey.

The spicy fish is amazing. And you MUST MUST MUST try their battered chips. I'm not usually a chip fan but they are absolutely amazing!

Ooh, I drive near Wibsey every week - chips it is.

@BarbaraofSeville Yeadon? Towards the airport?

They are really crispy on the outside but all light as fluffy on the inside. A taste revelation lol!

I want them! I want them! 😂
Thank you for sharing that tip.

Or they see anyone eating less as a personal slight on themselves and their own choices.