UK fish and chip shops
Discussion
Is there anyone left in the whole of the UK that buys cod, haddock etc early in the morning from the local fishmarket straight off the boat and sells it for lunch and dinner ( or dinner and tea 
) before repeating the same again next day.
Or is this just something that slowly died out from the 1980's.
I'd have to say that if some still do that then I would be prepared to go a long way to taste it. Living inland I don't get to go to the old fishing harbours such as Whitby etc nowadays, but does that still happen, or is it all frozen and brought in from Iceland and Norway?
Andy
) before repeating the same again next day.Or is this just something that slowly died out from the 1980's.
I'd have to say that if some still do that then I would be prepared to go a long way to taste it. Living inland I don't get to go to the old fishing harbours such as Whitby etc nowadays, but does that still happen, or is it all frozen and brought in from Iceland and Norway?
Andy
Spitfire2 said:
Been there loads of times, cant beat it!
I'm just back from a four day break in the North East where we've been to York, Beverley, Walkington, Scarborough, Whitby and Staithes.
Apart from having a wonderful time with my fiancée eating out at some great places, I did a spot of haggling with some fishermen on Scarborough dock.
I saw them coming in on small trawlers and once docked they were lifting boxes of freshly caught fish with old winches into iced boxes ready for processing. A confused and slightly embarrassed Mrs P waited while I chatted to a few of them, finally agreeing that I'd have a bag of codling which had been landed minutes earlier.
For £9 I got six small cod weighing 5kg in total and when we got them back to the house we were staying at, i went to work filleting them all.
I wish i could say I then made a great beer batter and some thrice-cooked chips but given the lack of utensils and essential equipment I had to freeze them.
Anyway, I have twelve good fillets of young cod to get through, starting tomorrow when we have guests coming for masala cod, spiced lentils, paratha pizza and chili and coriander dressing, amongst other things.
I will fry up the rest in batter!
Oh, and I can recommend the fish platter at The Magpie Cafe in Whitby - delicious!
eta - salmon, cod, haddock and plaice.
Apart from having a wonderful time with my fiancée eating out at some great places, I did a spot of haggling with some fishermen on Scarborough dock.
I saw them coming in on small trawlers and once docked they were lifting boxes of freshly caught fish with old winches into iced boxes ready for processing. A confused and slightly embarrassed Mrs P waited while I chatted to a few of them, finally agreeing that I'd have a bag of codling which had been landed minutes earlier.
For £9 I got six small cod weighing 5kg in total and when we got them back to the house we were staying at, i went to work filleting them all.
I wish i could say I then made a great beer batter and some thrice-cooked chips but given the lack of utensils and essential equipment I had to freeze them.
Anyway, I have twelve good fillets of young cod to get through, starting tomorrow when we have guests coming for masala cod, spiced lentils, paratha pizza and chili and coriander dressing, amongst other things.
I will fry up the rest in batter!
Oh, and I can recommend the fish platter at The Magpie Cafe in Whitby - delicious!
eta - salmon, cod, haddock and plaice.
Edited by Pferdestarke on Friday 8th October 22:42
Pothole said:
Simpo Two said:
Aldeburgh in Suffolk springs to mind, and its legendary F&C shops (both owned by the same people I understand). You can queue for 40 minutes, then sit on a concrete step in the wind, and it's still worth it.
yummy.
Can of Diamond White for the full-on 'park bench' experience.
Mobile Chicane said:
Pothole said:
Simpo Two said:
Aldeburgh in Suffolk springs to mind, and its legendary F&C shops (both owned by the same people I understand). You can queue for 40 minutes, then sit on a concrete step in the wind, and it's still worth it.
yummy.Can of Diamond White for the full-on 'park bench' experience.
Well think it's about time i posted my first comment on ph long time lurker.I would of thought frozen at sea fish is better (or fresher) then fresh fish,let me run this by you all:
FRESH FISH
Boat leaves fishing port travels to fishing ground maybe barents sea or other so time wise could be 2/3/4/ days depends where base is.
Boat then has to find fish then stay out there to fill it's tanks to make it worth while going back to the docks with full tanks could be another 2 or 3 days.
Boat travels back another maybe 2/3/4/ days.
Boat at docks unloads, the merchants buy the fish take back to there cold stores could be there another couple of days depends when there delivery day is to the fish and chip shop(most chip shops have only one delivery a week) so another 1-5 days
Last stop: chip shop gets it's delivery on monday you go in saturday for your yummy meal that fish could well not not be that fresh.
All the time fresh fish sits there it's leaching all it oils.
FROZEN AT SEA
Boat leaves fishing port travels to fishing ground maybe barents sea or other so time wise could be 2/3/4/ days depends where base is.
Boat finds fish catches,fillet,grades and quick freeze the fish.
Next stop chip shop defrost fish in the morning then frys away.
UK300 said:
Well think it's about time i posted my first comment on ph long time lurker.I would of thought frozen at sea fish is better (or fresher) then fresh fish,let me run this by you all:
FRESH FISH
Boat leaves fishing port travels to fishing ground maybe barents sea or other so time wise could be 2/3/4/ days depends where base is.
Boat then has to find fish then stay out there to fill it's tanks to make it worth while going back to the docks with full tanks could be another 2 or 3 days.
Boat travels back another maybe 2/3/4/ days.
Boat at docks unloads, the merchants buy the fish take back to there cold stores could be there another couple of days depends when there delivery day is to the fish and chip shop(most chip shops have only one delivery a week) so another 1-5 days
Last stop: chip shop gets it's delivery on monday you go in saturday for your yummy meal that fish could well not not be that fresh.
All the time fresh fish sits there it's leaching all it oils.
FROZEN AT SEA
Boat leaves fishing port travels to fishing ground maybe barents sea or other so time wise could be 2/3/4/ days depends where base is.
Boat finds fish catches,fillet,grades and quick freeze the fish.
Next stop chip shop defrost fish in the morning then frys away.
Very true but in alot of small coastal villages the chip shops buy fish locally from local fishmongers and small boats that are in every day or two.
Thats how it is with us, I can stand on our boat and look across the harbour at the buyers shed and the chip shop which is next door.
Edited by Ritchie335is on Friday 8th October 23:34
Edited by Ritchie335is on Friday 8th October 23:46
or perhaps not gone to the right chippys.there is a chip shop at the mouth of the Dene in Seaton Sluice near Whitley Bay that will take in some of your catch and return it battered and with chips...and hot 
..or at least it used to do that for me most saturday evenings when I was a young fellow
hmm, seems it's still well regardedhttp://www.thefoodplace.co.uk/restaurants/gill-fis...
..or at least it used to do that for me most saturday evenings when I was a young fellow
hmm, seems it's still well regarded
http://www.thefoodplace.co.uk/restaurants/gill-fis...Edited by minimax on Saturday 9th October 00:42
What UK300 says is true to an extent, it's worth pointing out though that much of the frozen fish sold is 'double frozen' - headed and gutted on the boat, frozen, shipped to a processing plant, often in the far east, defrosted, filleted etc, re-frozen and then shipped back.
You can't beat the quality of fresh fish landed by day boats, but good frozen at sea, i.e. fully processed on board will often be better than 'fresh'.
It's also worth pointing out that the vast majority of the 'fresh' fish sold in the UK has been previously frozen, often double frozen.
You can't beat the quality of fresh fish landed by day boats, but good frozen at sea, i.e. fully processed on board will often be better than 'fresh'.
It's also worth pointing out that the vast majority of the 'fresh' fish sold in the UK has been previously frozen, often double frozen.
Simpo Two said:
Aldeburgh in Suffolk springs to mind, and its legendary F&C shops (both owned by the same people I understand). You can queue for 40 minutes, then sit on a concrete step in the wind, and it's still worth it.
and if you go to the north end of the town you can buy it fresh from the fishermensidicks said:
petemurphy said:
one up the road from me in tunbridge wells village does according to the paper and he won GQ's best fish and chip shop this year
Which one is this?Thanks!
Sidicks
http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/news/Codfather-competi...
petemurphy said:
sidicks said:
petemurphy said:
one up the road from me in tunbridge wells village does according to the paper and he won GQ's best fish and chip shop this year
Which one is this?Thanks!
Sidicks
http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/news/Codfather-competi...
" using high-quality fresh ingredients, including fish sourced from suppliers in Grimsby and Billingsgate."
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