Are Fish and Chips worth it?

[girlfriend44]

Normally cook my own, but last night went to the Chippy.
Had 2 large Cod and Chips and a pot of mushy peas.
Cost 23.80.
Found it very underwhelming.
So glad I normally do my own.

I know costs have gone up, but do you think it's worth the cost?
Do you enjoy it?

I don't like them myself but DH sometimes has them and the price isn't too bad locally

The ones local to us all seem hit or miss; we'll try somewhere different and it will be great for a few weeks then really poor quality. DH likes a weekly chippy tea, but this week it tasted like the chips had been reheated a few times. I don't mind the price if the food is good.

If I enjoyed the fish & chips, I would pay that. My problem is that these days I find it underwhelming.

In The Old Days, when I were a lass, chippies used beef dripping in the fryers. This reaches a higher temperature than vegetable oils, making for crisp batter and chips - lovely! I find the vegetable oil can't make them crispy, it seems to leave them flabby/soggy and frankly not as nice to eat.

We did have a chippie a few years back that did use dripping, but then it changed hands and the new owner went back to vegetable oil and we stopped using it.

We get chips, when we’ve got back late and are too tired to cook. We rarely have fish, partly because of the price and partly we are conscious of declining fish stocks. Getting old, we now share a portion of chips, and usually have a chicken and mushroom pie each. We heat up our own mushy peas - because the portions have got minute!

We don’t object to the prices, because we know chip shops have been hit by the cost of living price rises. Food is not usually THE biggest expense in restaurants - it’s more likely to be property costs such as rent and business rates, or wages. A rent for a small shop on our high street is £35,000+ Pa.

The Yorkshire coast has the best chippes in the country, I find!

I'm not a lover of cod: find it completely tasteless. And mushy peas are the devil's work!

£13 quid each still isn't as expensive as a pizza.

There is something special about fish and chips at the seaside.

Damp fish and chips that are cold after the drive home not so much

Still fried in beef dripping in Yorkshire.

It's definitely best eaten in situ, but a good one can be brought home with minimal damage.

Even a quick heat up in the oven can perk up chips but a good batter will not go flabby quickly.

My recommendations:

Haddock not cod. One per person
Always choose a place that fries in beef dripping , never ever seed oil ( so Yorkshire, basically)
Large chips between two
Mushy peas.
Lashings of salt and vinegar
Dandelion and burdock ( it's not the best accompaniment but is traditional so Must Be Had)

Go away with your curry sauce. The work of the devil!

I'm amazed that the fact that quality and price vary so much is a surprise to you. The one near us is good. Not amazing, but good. The one near DS' old sports team is "travel an extra 10 miles just to go there" good. It's also about 10% cheaper. The one I take the kids to whenever we go down to the beach is somewhere between the two.

It’s DS’s favour takeaway, so we’ll generally get it for him when DH and I have curry. As a family we enjoy when we’re on holiday by the sea.

The sauces and peas are in pots.

A large fish here is ridiculous - two fillets - so we generally order a small fish with chips. I love a good chippy... not all chip shops are good, but the ones we know and ones by the seaside usually are worth it in my opinion.

There area few chippies near us ,one is outstanding .It is about 12.50 for large cod and chips . This is plenty enough for 2 of us .Fish is very expensive no .something to do with Russia I think

Onion rings, I agree. But curry sauce and peas are normal options, surely?

Two cod and shared large chips from our local excellent chippie is £22 here, and cheaper from the slightly less good one down the road. But @LeopardSnow nails it. Fish and chips is quite a luxury product right now so we need to readjust our ideas of what good value looks like.

Always fancy it - then feel rank when eating it. Too much of the same thing.

Love a bag of chips to share by the seaside though.... setting is everything!

Yes I 100% worth both in terms of money and calories. My absolute favourite. Now I will go back to eating carrot sticks and cursing being on a diet.

We've stopped having fish and chips. Used to be a cheap takeaway and now costs £50 for the family. I'm better off buying everyone fillet steak.

No. I find that by the time you get home, they've steamed in their wrapping and the batter has gone soft and the chips are leathery.

However, our local garden centre does fantastic haddock and chips - absolutely delicious. At £14, it is more expensive but not by much and much better value for money.

It's crazy expensive here. I don't eat fish but its £17 for cod and chips, sausage and chips is £10, mush peas are £3. I don't think it's worth it.

Yeah we love it. We often share a large fish and chips and that keeps the cost down

I would not pay that for cod, its tasteless, I always get haddock

I do find it expensive these days but then again everything has gone up.

I would'nt mind but for some reason they always make us feel ill after eating them, maybe it's the oil they use now.

Our fish and chip shop you need a large fish and chips for 2 people. And that's not being stingy or because we're small eaters so that's enough food to leave you feeling mildly ill. So for us a large cod and chips is about £12 but it's only £6 each. Which for a dinner you didn't have to cook, you really can't say fairer than that. It's bloody good fish and chips as well, and they vary a lot.

I only really enjoy fish and chips if it’s a chippy with an attached sit down cafe. Served straight to the table with lovely crisp batter on the fish. It’s just not the same once it’s wrapped and the batter goes soggy.

Anyone else craving fish and chips tonight now???