Downey's Fish and Chips, Seaham

We were very impressed by Downey's Fish and Chip shop at Seaham. 

Seaham is a small harbour town between Sunderland and Hartlepool rather than a fully-fledged seaside resort. Nevertheless what the Chip Fiends want when they smell sea air is a good portion of fish and chips.

We spotted Downey's because there was a queue snaking out onto the pavement outside the shop. This is always a good sign.

A smart, clean restaurant is situated in the front of the premises and the takeaway counter is to the rear. The good thing about queuing here is that it gave us plenty of time to peruse the menu. It also meant that everything was freshly fried to order.

We chose to try one of the special dishes which was called a 'half and half' - a combination of small cod and a portion of langoustines. With this we had chips and a small pot of mushy peas.

The food was served in a box which had a divider in the middle to separate the fish from the chips. We were invited to put our own salt and vinegar on the meal, which also came with a wedge of lemon and a small pot of tartare sauce.

There is a green across the road from the shop with benches that overlook the sea, so we sat there to take in the view as we ate.

The fish was astonishingly good. Very fresh and with a delicious light, crunchy, spiky batter. Although it was classed as 'small' the portion of cod was more like a regular size in any other shop.

The chips were very tasty too, although a tad greasy as they were new potatoes that don't tend to crisp up.

Whoever thought of adding the luxurious langoustines to this fish and chip meal was on to a winner. They were shelled, battered, fat, juicy, and delicious.

The mushy peas were undyed and starchy just as we like them. 

Finally the icing on the cake were the scraps. There were a couple of huge mounds of these batter bits in the heated cabinet. Each customer was asked if they wanted 'batter' with their order, and the chip scoop was used to liberally scatter scraps all over the chips.

The meal was lovely but we couldn't manage to eat it all!

Downey's also serve haddock, plaice, lemon sole, fish bites, and scampi.  

Ratings out of 5:

Fish: 5

Langoustines: 5

Chips: 4

Mushy peas: 4

Shop / service: 5

Bonus: scraps: 5

Novel packaging: 5

Over all: 5