It has been a difficult year for many businesses. Chip shops had to close for several weeks due to the UK lockdown, and once they were allowed to reopen, many had to adapt. Some added 'click and collect' and deliveries to their services, whilst others had to revamp their shops with social distancing measures such as perspex screens, one-way systems, and card payments. Some shops removed their salt and vinegar bottles from the counter to prevent cross-contamination. This was a very sensible move. We took to carrying our own forks, salt and vinegar, so that we could top up the splash and shake to our personal taste.
We only had to live off oven chips for a very short period before our beloved chip shops slowly reopened. It was a while before we could enter a chip shop as several of the ones we visited passed food across a make-shift counter that had been placed at the front door. Chip shop staff had to adapt to listening to customers requesting their orders through a mask, which was not always easy.
In spite of everything, all the chip shops we visited after April were happy to be back in business, and we were cheerful to be eating our favourite takeaway. Everyone celebrated National Fish and Chip Day with great gusto in September! It seemed like the relief from re-opening created the most successful of these annual events there has ever been.
BBC Radio Lincolnshire interviewed us on their morning show as part of the National Fish and Chip Day celebrations.
Our passion for fish and chip shops was also recognised by the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) who interviewed us for their magazine Fish Friers Review. You can't get better than that!
Here are our list of personal favourite shops from the past 12 months:
Croft Fisheries, Nuneaton. We had a feast at this shop and all of it was fantastic. The battered halloumi is highly recommended.
Fields Birstall: The mushy peas and curry sauce were both excellent here. The haddock was so good we ate the skin too!
Deans at Northway, Scarborough. Part of the Silk family, this chip shop satisfied us with some excellent chunky chips, fresh fish and a generous pile of delicious batter scraps!
Further down the East Coast, Marina at Chapel St Leonards served some top notch food. The other chip shops in nearby resorts such as Skegness have got some strong competition from here.
We have long admired the quality of chippy food in Sheffield, combined with good value for money. Wendy's Fish and Chips is a prime example of the type of chip shop we admire in Steel City. We visited this place a couple of times to try fish, chips and a fishcake. The food was amazing. Wendy's also sell sachets of Henderson's Relish.
Barnby Gate, Newark scored five out of five in all categories: fish, chips, peas and service. The food was golden and tempting and tasted every bit as good as it looked.
Four chip shops from Derbyshire are next on the list. Town Street Fish Bar, Duffield served a great mini fish meal with batter the texture of Rice Krispies. The business was advertised as being for sale when we ate there, and we hoped the shop would retain its good reputation.
Sitwell Fish Bar, Spondon was an unplanned and unexpected surprise. The fin-like batter on the fish amused us.
Captain Kirk, Kirk Hallam is clearly a shop that takes pride in its food. The shop was spotlessly clean and smart in design and the food equaled it in looks and flavour. The haddock we had here was perfect and the batter was thin, crisp, and very tasty. This portion made for one of our favourite photos of the year!
Here's to 2021.
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