Where to find proper fish and chips in North London, from old-school chippies to sit-down restaurants, and what to look for in a good piece of battered cod. A local guide.
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The Best Fish and Chips in North London
Fish and chips is the dish everyone has an opinion on and few places get completely right. The fish should be fresh and flake apart, the batter crisp and not greasy, the chips proper chips, thick and soft inside. North London has good chippies if you know what to look for, from old-school takeaways to sit-down places that treat it as a proper meal. Here is the guide, with the marks of a good one.
What makes good fish and chips
The fish comes first. It should be fresh white fish, cod or haddock, that flakes cleanly and tastes of the sea rather than the freezer. The batter should be light, crisp and dry, not thick, pale or oily, which means the oil was the right temperature and clean. The chips should be the proper British kind, thick-cut, crisp outside, fluffy inside, fried in good oil. Salt, vinegar, maybe mushy peas or a pickled onion, and you are done. It is a simple dish that exposes any laziness immediately.
The old-school chippy
The traditional takeaway chippy is the heart of it. North London has long-running family-run chip shops that have been frying for decades, and these are often the best, because they do one thing and have done it forever. Look for somewhere busy with a turnover of fresh fish, where the queue is locals rather than tourists. A good chippy wrapped portion eaten soon after, ideally outdoors, is hard to beat and usually cheap.
The sit-down version
For fish and chips as a proper meal, North London also has restaurants that do it with table service, a wider menu and a glass of wine or a beer. These cost more and are a different experience, less the paper-wrapped classic and more a sit-down dinner. Both have their place. The takeaway is for a quick, cheap, brilliant feed; the restaurant is for when you want to sit down and make an evening of it.
Eating it the right way
Fish and chips does not improve with waiting. The single biggest factor in how good it tastes, after the cooking itself, is how soon you eat it. Hot from the fryer, the batter crisp and the chips steaming, it is excellent. Twenty minutes later in a cooling bag it has lost half its appeal. Buy it close to where you will eat it, and if the weather allows, eat it outside, which somehow always makes it better.
Where and how
For the classic, find a busy old-school chippy with a turnover of fresh fish.
For a proper meal, choose a sit-down fish restaurant with table service.
Eat it immediately, ideally outdoors.
Judge it on the fish (fresh, flaking), the batter (crisp, dry) and the chips (thick, fluffy).
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best fish and chips in North London?
The best are usually the long-running, family-run chippies that have fried for decades and have a fast turnover of fresh fish. Look for somewhere busy with locals rather than tourists. Sit-down fish restaurants offer a more expensive table-service version.
What makes good fish and chips?
Fresh white fish that flakes cleanly, light crisp batter that is not greasy, and proper thick-cut chips that are crisp outside and fluffy inside. Clean oil at the right temperature is the secret to all of it.
Should I get a takeaway or a sit-down fish and chips?
A takeaway from a good chippy is cheap, quick and excellent eaten straight away. A sit-down restaurant is a more expensive, made-an-evening-of-it version. Both are worth it for different occasions.
How soon should you eat fish and chips?
As soon as possible. The batter and chips are at their best hot from the fryer and lose a lot within twenty minutes in a bag. Buy it close to where you will eat it.
Beatrice is a food writer and former restaurant critic who moved to Hampstead after falling in love with its independent café culture. She writes about the best places to eat, drink, and linger in North London, with a particular weakness for a well-made flat white and a slab of Victoria sponge.
