THIS fish and chip shop has been named as one of the top 50 best chippies in the country.

Staff are celebrating at The Fish Bank in Sherburn in Elmet near Tadcaster after making it in to this year’s Fry Magazine Awards.

Through unannounced mystery dining visits, shops and mobile units were marked on more than 40 aspects, from quality of food and customer service to their social media presence and Covid safe practice.

Owner Jonathan France said: “It’s an absolute honour for me and the whole team to receive this award and be rewarded for the care and attention to detail we put in place every service.”

He's run the business for three years and before that was an environmental health consultant for 20 years.

He employs two full-time staff, including manager, Karen Culkin, and eight part-time workers.

The award follows two rounds of mystery dining in which an anonymous judge sampled the food and assessed key aspects of the business from the cleanliness of the premises to staff knowledge and professionalism to social media presence.

With the pass mark set high at 96%, The Fish Bank scored 98% with the mystery diner particularly praising a number of aspects of the business: “The fish was white, flaky and thick. It was tasty and well cooked.”

“The batter was light, crispy and evenly spread. It was very tasty and not greasy.”

One of the criteria asks the mystery diner to “suggest anything you feel could help to improve this business and service” the response was: “I can't think of anything that could be improved as the staff member was friendly and polite, the food was hot and tasty.”

Reece Head, competition organiser, said: “Fish and chip takeaways have really had to up their game over the past year in order to handle the growing number of click and collect and delivery orders generated as a result of Covid and integrate these new ways of working with their walk-in customers.

“Whether operating from a bricks and mortar site or a mobile van, these operators are working against a background of increasing costs, labour shortages and rising VAT. Yet they have continued to invest in their premises, their staff and their processes to ensure fish and chips remains a top quality, value for money takeaway.

“It is with great pleasure that we congratulate them on being one of the UK’s 50 Best Fish & Chip Takeaways.”

Fry Magazine is considered the leading trade publication for the fish and chip shop sector and has been holding these awards since 2012.

The full list of winners are listed below in alphabetical order: 

50 Best fish & Chip Takeaways:

Alrewas Fryer, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Auckley Friery, Doncaster, South Yorkshire

Burnham Fish and Chips, Slough, Surrey

Callaway’s Fish & Chips, Dorchester, Dorset

East Coast, Musselburgh, East Lothian

Catch Fish & Chips, Ashford, Kent

Chips @ No.8, Prestwich, Greater Manchester

Churchill's Fish & Chips, Langney, Eastbourne

Cods and Rockers, Tadley, Hampshire

Croft Street Fisheries, Leeds, Yorkshire

Davenport’s Fish & Chips, Louth, Lincolnshire

David’s Fish & Chips, Brixham, Devon

DJ's Fish and Chips, Paignton, Devon

Dunkeld Fish Bar, Dunkeld, Perthshire

Eric's Fish & Chips, King’s Lynn, Norfolk Fiddlers Elbow Fish & Chips, Leintwardine, Herefordshire Fish ’n’ Fritz, Weymouth, Dorset

Fish Kitchen 1854, Maesycwmmer, Monmouthshire

Fochabers Fish Bar, Fochabers, Moray

Frydays of Kendal, Kendal, Cumbria

Garioch Fish Bar, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire

Greg & Lou’s, Redruth, Cornwall

The Little Chippy, Tyldesley, Manchester

Heavenly On The Go, Crosby, Cumbria

Hikary’s Fish Bar, Neath, West Glamorgan

Hiks, Brynhyfryd, Swansea

Hill Top Village Fisheries, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

Howe & Co Van 19, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire

Howe & Co Van 22, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Howe & Co Van 66, Granborough, Buckinghamshire Land & Sea, Sowerby, North Yorkshire

Low’s Traditional Fish & Chips - Berryden, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire Marina Fish and Chips, Chapel St. Leonards, Lincolnshire Market Hill Fisheries, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire

Moore's Fish & Chips, Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway My Plaice Fish & Chips, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk Port Chippy, Amlwch, Anglesey

Priory Plaice Fish and Chips, Ulverston, Cumbria Shap Chippy Mobile, Appleby, Cumbria

St John's Fish Bar, Warwick, Warwickshire

The Cafe Royal, Annan, Dumfries and Galloway The Chippie Van, Penrith, Cumbria

The Chippy, Dartford, Kent

The Codfather, Northwich, Cheshire

The Esk Cafe, Longtown, Cumbria

The Fish at Goose Green, Wigan, Greater Manchester

The Fish Bank, Sherburn in Elmet

The Fish Works, Largs, North Ayrshire

The Golden Fry, Benllech, Anglesey

The Lincolnshire Fryer, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire

The Oyster Shell, Bath, Somerset

The Plaice To Be, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire

The Village Fish & Chips, Orpington, Kent

Tony’s Fish and Chips, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire

Towngate Fisheries, Idle, West Yorkshire

Yan’s Fish Bar, Cardiff

10 Best Fish & Chip Restaurants:

Catch Fish and Chips West End, Glasgow

Chipmongers, Portstewart, County Londonderry

Eric's Fish & Chips, King's Lynn, Norfolk

Fish City, Belfast

Fisherman’s Bay, Whitley Bay, Tyne & Wear

Fish ’n’ Fritz, Weymouth, Dorset

Harlees, Westbury, Wiltshire

Port & Starboard, Indian Queens, Cornwall

The Cod’s Scallops, Market Harborough, Leicestershire

What The Fish, London