The National Fish and Chips Awards 2019

Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).

The Quintessential National Dish

The best of the fish & chip industry took on stage to both announce the winners and collect the nominations in not less than 16 categories. Marcus Coleman, the CEO of Seafish – organisers of the event – opened the event with customary annual highlights of the past year.

With pride for the industry, Marcus reported that chippies saw a steady rise of 5% over the past ten years and an increase of 1% in 2010. Increasingly, the industry embraces gluten-free and allergen-free trends with winners of Healthy Eating Category, pushing the envelope and leading the way.

We were given an in-depth account of the complex judging process, with some judges making up to 3 thousand miles to taste 67 portions of fish and chips. Marcus’s summary of last year’s winners was full of personal details –including recent family additions and marriages – as he is clearly passionate about the people who make the best fish and chips. By then we were already looking forward to Lancaster chef’s best culinary endeavours.

201 million portions of fish and chips sold in the UK in 2018

What was served that the fish & chip awards 2019

It is a widely accepted fact that fish & chips is our national dish. With 201 million portions of fish and chips sold in the UK in 2018, it is no surprise that the chef of the awards elaborated on the very dish in question. The banquet saw a three-course meal prepared by Lancaster Hotel head chef John Robinson.

For starters, a Scottish warm smoked salmon, smoked haddock fishcake, ballotine of herbered Scottish salmon were served, on a bed of ‘quinoa crumb’ – boiled quinoa in layman’s terms.

For a second, we enjoyed the roast fillet of Norwegian cod caught and supplied by the Norwegian FAS vessel Ramoen, duchesse potato, baby carrot, spinach, sugar snap peas and crispy kale topped with red wine and fish jus.

And last but not least, a chocolate brownie with dark chocolate ganache, raspberry coulis and raspberry sorbet decorated with glittery mermaid tail made from dark chocolate.

Winners of Fish and Chip Awards 2019

Out of the 16 winners, only 1 was from London. Which is not dissimilar to last year’s shortlisted chippies. The distribution of best fish and chips shops is more even this year compared to the previous when most of the awards went to Yorkshire, Cornwall and Devon.

Below is the full list of 2019 winners.

Best Newcomer Award – Fish & Chips @ Weston Grove (Chester, Cheshire)
NFFF Fish and Chip Quality Champion award – Black’s Finest Fish & Chips (Halton, Lancashire)
From Field to Frier Award – Papa’s Fish & Chips (Cleethorpes Pier, North Lincolnshire)
The Good Catch Sustainable Seafood Awards – Frasers Fish and Chips (Penzance, Cornwall)
Staff Training and Development Award – Krispies (Exmouth, Devon)
Marketing Innovation Award – Nana Jan’s (Buckshaw Village, Chorley, Lancashire)
Fish and Chip Restaurant of The Year Award – Trenchers Restaurant (Whitby, North Yorkshire)
Best Foodservice Operator Awards – The Little Brown Jug (Tonbridge, Kent)
Best Seafood Week Campaign Award – Quayside Restaurant & Fish Bar (Gourdon, Aberdeenshire)
Healthy Eating ‘Fish and Chips’ Award – Harbourside Fish and Chips (Plymouth, Devon)
Best Mobile Fish and Chip Operator Award – Dodson’s Fresh Catch (Leeds, West Yorkshire)
Outstanding Achievement Award – Andrew Crook
Young Fish Frier of the Year Award – 3^rd James Workman (Miller Fish & Chips, Haxby, North Yorkshire); 2^nd Alex Walker (Low’s Traditional Fish & Chips, Westhill, Aberdeenshire); 1^st Lauren Kellaway (Kellaway’s Fish & Chips, Truro, Cornwall)
Fish and Chip Shop of The Year – 3^rd Low’s Traditional Fish & Chips (Westhill, Aberdeenshire); 2^nd Captain’s Fish and Chips (Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire), 1^st Krispies (Exmouth, Devon)