British food might have a rep for being all a bit beige and boring, but if there’s one thing we do excel at, it’s fish and chips. But the UK has so many chippies, how do you separate the perfect fries from the soggy chips? Thankfully, the Observer has come to shine a light on some of Britain’s best chippies, so you can be saved from frozen fish and overly greasy tatties.  

In the Observer’s recently-published list of the 20 best fish and chip shops in the UK, one was in London. 

Fish Central in Clerkenwell is officially one of Britain’s top 20 fish and chip joints. We’re not sure this restaurant can be classed as a chippy – it’s got white table cloths and serves oysters – but the family-run spot in central London has been feeding families, black cab drivers and office workers since opening in 1968. 

Highlights on the menu include prawn cocktail, mushy peas and cod fried in crisp golden batter. Fish can be ordered battered, fried in matzo meal or even grilled. Fish Central is not to be slept on. 

The Observer described Fish Central: ‘At lunch, expect black-cab drivers, pensioners and Friday office friends; on weekends, the vibe is lights off, saucepans banging, staff singing happy birthday to locals.’

Some of the other top fish and chip shops in the UK, according to the Observer, include Harbour Lights in Falmouth, Cornwall, The Cod’s Scallops in Birmingham and Frankie’s Fish and Chips in Brae, Scotland.

All this talk got you hankering for a chippy tea? Here’s Time Out’s list of the best fish and chips in London, plus more on the Observer’s full list of the nation’s best chippies. 

In recent London fish and chips news on Time Out, did you see that a chippy in the capital was named the best in the UK? And in less-good news, a grand total of zero London chippies made it to the final of the National Fish & Chip Awards 2024. 

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