Fish and chips are one of the UK’s favourite dishes, but there is one particular chippy that seriously takes things to the next level, with one added extra that is a total gamechanger
This fish and chip shop has taken things to the next level by combining two of the UK’s favourite treats. A Friday night trip to the chip shop for a fish supper is a sacred ritual for many families across the country, and everyone has their go-to chippy of choice in their area, but this one might be worth commuting to try.
The Mermaid in Barmouth has been named one of the very best fish and chip shops in the country by The Times and for good reason. The Gywnedd chip shop made the top 20 of the newspaper’s definitive list of the best in the country, and one of the ways they’ve got so high in the rankings is partly by combining the UK’s favourite food with its favourite hot beverage: a cup of tea.
As reported in The County Times, the owners at the Mermaid bring together the most succulent chips and crunchiest batter with a seriously thirst-quenching cup of char – the perfect combination. “What beverage pairs best with fish and chips? Champagne? An unoaked chardonnay? A pint of bitter? All are good, but none beats a mug of tea. In most chippies that’s a teabag on a string in a polystyrene cup, but at the Mermaid (established 1964) it comes out of a metal pot, strong and slightly overstewed — the perfect accompaniment to a crunchy fillet of battered cod and crisp yet fluffy chips.
“The owners, Will and Nina Huntley, could gentrify their menu and halve their portions to appeal to the green-welly crowd, but there’s no place in Barmouth for an unoaked chardonnay,” the newspaper reports. The Mermaid was one of three Welsh chip shops that made the cut in the best fish and chip shop list, and it seems the general public concurs with this assessment, with the Mermaid Fish Bar boasting 4.5 stars on Tripadvisor, with over 1000 reviews. The top twenty fish and chip shops according to The Times are a pretty impressive bunch, take a look below to find the tastiest fish shop closest to you:
- John Long’s, Belfast, Co Antrim
- Redcloak Fish Bar, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire
- Harbour Lights, Falmouth, Cornwall
- Finney’s, Benllech, Anglesey
- Colmans Seafood Temple, South Shields, Co Durham
- Little Wolf, Strangford, Co Down
- The Tunny Club, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
- Whitehead’s Fish & Chips, Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire
- Les and Rita’s Fish Bar, Rhyl, Denbighshire
- The Rocketeer, North Berwick, East Lothian
- French’s Fish Shop, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
- The Haven, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire
- Bennett’s Fish & Chips, Weymouth, Dorset
- Morton’s, Ballycastle, Co Antrim
- Lighthouse Fisheries of Flamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire
- The Mermaid, Barmouth, Gwynedd
- East Coast, Musselburgh, East Lothian
- Steel’s Corner House Restaurant, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire
- Fraser’s, Penzance, Cornwall
- Fishers of Hunstanton, Norfolk
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