Fish & Chip Prices

[bearhugger]

We went to Trenchers(I think),opposite the station.
Its amazing how in Whitby every chippy advertises it has won some kind of "chippy of the year" award/accolade, I'm sure of them are either made up or have one entry.

That's the place I usually head for. It's the only chippy I've been to that does crinkle cut chips. The fishcakes from there are amazing too.

 

[route101]

Down south chippies tend to use cod but it's mostly haddock in Scotland. That's one explanation for a difference in flavour.

I always thought it was cod in the west and haddock in the east . Yes Scotland is mostly haddock.

 

[route101]

I'm the opposite. The batter in Scotland is generally too salty and crispy for my midland tastes, and the chippy sauce thing is just evil!

I used to have a chippy most weeks in Edinburgh before my local one failed to make it through lockdown. I generally make a point of having some while I'm in England though, just to get something more to my tastes.

As I recall, the best fish anywhere used to be in a fish butty from the chippy under the dark arches in Leeds. Perfect after a Saturday night at the Cockpit.

I find the batter in Scotland thicker and softer , more orange colour to it , actually i love chippy sauce , i live in Glasgow so just salt and vinegar here. I noticed in England they tend keep the skin on the fish.

The scottish chippy menu seems more extensive with all the suppers. Down in England , its a chip butty rather than roll n chips.

 

[py_megapixel]

The scottish chippy menu seems more extensive with all the suppers. Down in England , its a chip butty rather than roll n chips.

Chip butty, chip balm, chip bap... take your pick.

Incidentally Roll'n'chips implies that they don't put them in the roll for you

 

[route101]

Chip butty, chip balm, chip bap... take your pick.

Incidentally Roll'n'chips implies that they don't put them in the roll for you

Do love a roll and chips but quite often they run out of rolls !

 

[Bletchleyite]

The scottish chippy menu seems more extensive with all the suppers. Down in England , its a chip butty rather than roll n chips.

I think Scottish chippys are more into "meal deal" type arrangements with the "suppers", whereas in most of England items are priced individually and you just put together whatever combination you feel like.

 

[Mojo]

The reality is the cost of living is hugely different across the country. That shouldn't really be that surprising, but it still is to most.

I would disagree with this statement. It purely depends on your lifestyle and what you want to buy and how you live your life.

Discounting property prices, my cost of living in London is cheaper than family who live in the north. I do not spend thousands running a car, I have a wide choice of local chain and independent restaurants and supermarkets charge the same price nationwide. I rarely visit pubs which is the other noticeable difference.

 

[py_megapixel]

I think Scottish chippys are more into "meal deal" type arrangements with the "suppers", whereas in most of England items are priced individually and you just put together whatever combination you feel like.

My local place (or one of them, there's at least a dozen round here!) does a meal deal type arrangement - I think you get either a piece of haddock, a sausage or a cheese and onion pie; a portion of chips; a packet of sauce and a bottled soft drink for about £7-ish. I think it's only 11am to 1pm though which suggests they're targeting people who are coming in for lunch.

 

[py_megapixel]

I would disagree with this statement. It purely depends on your lifestyle and what you want to buy and how you live your life.

Discounting property prices

I'm not sure that discounting property prices is a particularly fair comparison, as housing is a very major cost of living for most people!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Chip butty, chip balm, chip bap... take your pick.

Incidentally Roll'n'chips implies that they don't put them in the roll for you

I assume you mean "chip barm" (as in barmcake, one of many regional terms for a bread roll). A "chip balm" (sic) sounds a bit gross!

 

[py_megapixel]

I assume you mean "chip barm" (as in barmcake, one of many regional terms for a bread roll). A "chip balm" (sic) sounds a bit gross!

Ooops....



Yes, I did mean barm.

 

[philjo]

I think our local sells the fish for about £4-5 depending on size plus the chips.
I normally order a jumbo haddock which costs a bit more more. However they normally serve too many chips so find a child portion Of chips for £1 is plenty when served with a large fish!
sometimes I just buy the large fish and have it at home with mushy peas and salad instead of chips.

Fish and chips for 3 doesn’t leave much change from £20 !

 

[najaB]

I would disagree with this statement. It purely depends on your lifestyle and what you want to buy and how you live your life.

However, you can't disagree that realistically achieving the same lifestyle will normally be more expensive in the south of England than it will be in the north.

 

[Bletchleyite]

However, you can't disagree that realistically achieving the same lifestyle will normally be more expensive in the south of England than it will be in the north.

Not least because of property prices. You can't discount that as in London it'll eat most of your income.

I don't doubt that you can live in a rented single room in a rathole in London for less than the mortgage on a 5 bedroom detached house with a large garden in a posh part of Cheshire. But that's a pointless comparison, you can only compare like for like. Yes, you might be able to save on a car in London, but in urban Manchester you could, too.

 

[westv]

From memory, haddock and chips is around £7-£8 in this part of Hull.

 

[takno]

I find the batter in Scotland thicker and softer , more orange colour to it , actually i love chippy sauce , i live in Glasgow so just salt and vinegar here. I noticed in England they tend keep the skin on the fish.

The scottish chippy menu seems more extensive with all the suppers. Down in England , its a chip butty rather than roll n chips.

Ah fair enough. It sounds like what you're getting in Glasgow is more like what I grew up with in England and get in London. Edinburgh chippies seem to be their own little microcosm, and I don't like it as much as elsewhere.

The range of stuff varies a lot - classic Yorkshire chippies really only seemed to do fish or battered sausage. As a kid I used to be able to get at least fish, sausage, faggots, two kinds of pie, potato fritters, and possibly spam fritters. The only thing I really miss from Scotland when I'm down south is the battered haggis (the flatter ones, not the round ones)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Lancashire chippies always seemed to have pie, but then I suppose it is the home of that

 

[Altrincham]

I find that a lot of chippys these days tend to list everything separately price-wise, with Cod or Haddock being anything upwards of £4.50 each, and chips being somewhere in the region of £1.90 - £3.00, based on what size portion of chips you want. There’s a tendency in a lot of chippys to also offer mini fish which I’ve seen for about £3.50.

So somewhere in the area of £7.00 seems to be a common price for regular fish and chips these days.

There’s also a lots of places doing meal deals, and I think in the last couple of years I’ve paid something like £3.75 for a mini fish and chips.

Years ago, you could go into a good back street chippy and see a set price for fish and chips; or fish, chips and peas. With everything then listed separately underneath if you wanted to by individual items. No choices of sizes, just a one size for each item.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Years ago, you could go into a good back street chippy and see a set price for fish and chips; or fish, chips and peas. With everything then listed separately underneath if you wanted to by individual items. No choices of sizes, just a one size for each item.

Depends on what you mean by "years ago" but in the North West I found when I was growing up (80s-90s) it was always individual items, never combinations. If anything they appeared later. But you're right about sizes - there was just "a portion of chips", not small/medium/large as you tend to get now.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Discounting property prices, my cost of living in London is cheaper than family who live in the north. I do not spend thousands running a car, I have a wide choice of local chain and independent restaurants and supermarkets charge the same price nationwide. I rarely visit pubs which is the other noticeable difference.

Property and transport prices are the killers in the south east, definitely. If you don't have those, for whatever reason, then in a lot of cases there's not so much difference. There is a difference though, my experience is the supermarkets down south put 5p-10p on a lot of items, just not the staples (bread, milk, etc) that people really notice. It makes sense, staff wages are higher and that has to be paid for. Tesco charge more here than in the north east because of their additional transport costs, which again is fair enough really.

Pubs, as you say, and restauarants depending on where you are and whether you pay the "discretionary" service charge which always seems to be 5% higher than up north.

That said, when I lived in Muswell Hill a fish supper from the place on the Broadway was about nine quid, it wasn't massive, and that was six years ago now. I also can't get away with the southern chippies leaving the skin on.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I would disagree with this statement. It purely depends on your lifestyle and what you want to buy and how you live your life.

Discounting property prices, my cost of living in London is cheaper than family who live in the north. I do not spend thousands running a car, I have a wide choice of local chain and independent restaurants and supermarkets charge the same price nationwide. I rarely visit pubs which is the other noticeable difference.

Not sure how that is a disagreement really!
You are talking about a cost of living difference because of lifestyle, whereas I was just varying location.
Also I really don't think you can discount property prices when it comes to cost of living - doing so only gives half of the issue!
And even if you do ignore housing, even chains rarely will charge exactly the same price nationwide. It may not be a large difference, but there usually is one!

 

[The North Briton]

From memory, haddock and chips is around £7-£8 in this part of Hull.

But there’s one not too far from the football ground doing a ‘small’ fish and chips (which wasn’t that small) for £3.20 up to last year, at least.

 

[westv]

But there’s one not too far from the football ground doing a ‘small’ fish and chips (which wasn’t that small) for £3.20 up to last year, at least.

Now is that rugby football or association football?

 

[Altrincham]

Depends on what you mean by "years ago" but in the North West I found when I was growing up (80s-90s) it was always individual items, never combinations. If anything they appeared later. But you're right about sizes - there was just "a portion of chips", not small/medium/large as you tend to get now.

Pre-1980s a lot of chip shops displayed prices for fish & chips together, usually first on the menu, followed by pie & chips, or fishcake & chips, or sausage & chips. Individual items and their prices were then displayed further down the menu. Items were displayed and priced that way because the ‘something’ & chips was the standard fare - portion sizes were not overwhelming so ‘something’ & chips left you nicely full.

Chip shop menus were a lot simpler pre-1980s. (On rare occasions I still come across the odd chip shop that runs a simple menu, i.e. no meal deals, just fish and chips, or other items and chips, plus a few individually priced items).

Fast-forward through the 1980s and 1990s and everyone was presented with far more choice and options on menus, which then led to a wider offering of portion sizes, which in turn led to combinations and a variety of offerings and specials. I think simplification of chip shop menus nowadays days commonly comes in the form of meal deals.

 

[John Hunt]

60s-70s-early 80s Leicester was single items. And you took pot luck with portion sizes (varied from one shop to another).
We should bring back the good old days; fish and chips (with scratchings) wrapped in newspaper and a bottle of Tizer.

 

[route101]

Ah fair enough. It sounds like what you're getting in Glasgow is more like what I grew up with in England and get in London. Edinburgh chippies seem to be their own little microcosm, and I don't like it as much as elsewhere.

The range of stuff varies a lot - classic Yorkshire chippies really only seemed to do fish or battered sausage. As a kid I used to be able to get at least fish, sausage, faggots, two kinds of pie, potato fritters, and possibly spam fritters. The only thing I really miss from Scotland when I'm down south is the battered haggis (the flatter ones, not the round ones)

Do love a haggis supper, last time it was sausage shaped. Around Glasgow id say sausage supper is a popular chippy meal.

 

[Tom B]

Back in Doncaster there was a local chippy (open 11.30-13.30 and 16.00-20.00) which was absolutely wonderful, and low prices to boot. At lunchtime, you could get a small fish, chips, gravy/mushy peas and scraps for £3.50. Slightly smaller than their normal portions albeit.

 

[PeterC]

That's the place I usually head for. It's the only chippy I've been to that does crinkle cut chips. The fishcakes from there are amazing too.

Whitby has a lot of fish and chip restaurants but very few proper chippies. I always stay faithful to Silver Street.

 

[Bevan Price]

I don't like fish or sea food, so my normal choice is chips + sausage or beefburger (although not all sell burgers). Unfortunately, I have not used the nearest chippy - just down the road, because it does not open at (midday) dinner time. The next-nearest charges around £2.50 for "small chips + large sausage", my most common choice.

 

[scotrail158713]

I think it’s around £6 or so around me although maybe slightly more if I go into Edinburgh. I do like a deep-fried pizza occasionally as well though - but usually go for fish & chips.
Whatever I go for though it’s got to be with chippy sauce, there’s nothing nicer. I’m always disappointed when I’m through in the west of Scotland and it’s salt and vinegar.