Dish · 8 kitchens in 2 cities
Fish and chips
White fish battered and fried, with chips — cod, haddock and rock (huss), the London chippy fish.
Nobody paid to be here. Each kitchen is described from its own menu where it publishes one, unranked, so each note says how that kitchen makes it.
In London
Haddock
The Fryer's Delight · Holborn · ~£14 pp
Haddock battered and fried in beef dripping, chips on the side. The fish we'd have every time.
This version: The old London chippy at a Theobalds Road counter, pickled onions on the side.
Pick it if: You want a quick central lunch from the counter.
Cod Fillet
Toff's of Muswell Hill · Muswell Hill · ~£30 pp
Icelandic cod fried in batter, with chips or boiled potatoes. The matzo coating is the other way to have it.
This version: A sit-down room on Muswell Hill Broadway, with the matzo fry on request.
Pick it if: You want a north London fish dinner at a table, booked by phone.
Cod and chips
Golden Chippy · Greenwich · ~£16 pp
Cod fried in the shop's own batter, with chips. Our reason for the trip.
This version: Cod in the shop's own light batter, with whole-tail scampi in breadcrumbs, on Greenwich High Road.
Pick it if: You're finishing a walk in Greenwich and want fish on the way home.
Rock/Huss
Olley's · Herne Hill · ~£18 pp
A small shark, battered and fried — the old London chippy fish
Rock, also sold as huss, a small shark long fried in London chippies, in batter. The fish we'd pick.
Wimbledon Pale Ale battered fish & chips
The Fox & Grapes · Wimbledon · ~£35 pp
Fish in a batter made with Wimbledon Pale Ale, with chips, mushy peas, tartare and lemon. The pub classic with the local beer.
Fish & Chips
The Old Bank of England · Fleet Street · ~£30 pp
Beer-battered fish with thick-cut chips, smashed peas and tartare. Our pick for fish.
Cod and chips
The SeaShell of Lisson Grove · Lisson Grove · ~£28 pp
Cod battered and fried, with chips. The chippy classic, first.
This version: Battered cod in a seated fish room, with sole from Cornwall when someone wants the bigger plate.
Pick it if: You want a sit-down fish supper near Marylebone; worth booking.
In Edinburgh
Fish & Chips
Ryrie's · Haymarket
Welch's of Newhaven haddock in the house's own Leith Juice IPA batter, with chips, garden peas and tartare. A pub plate with a named fishmonger behind it.