Chippy in Central London?

July 7, 2008 3:12 PM

Are there any proper "traditional" chip shops within central London (zone 1 and 2)?

I've had several friends who live in London remark to me there's not a 'real' British chip shop like you'd find in the rest of England in central London, but rather just lots of restraunts and places that appeal to tourists. From what I've seen of London, this seems to be true, sadly. As someone who is considering moving to London, this seems very unfortunate as I like a good visit to the chippy every now and then.

Is there one that's hidden away somewhere that's managed to elude me? If not, where is the closest one?

posted by HaloMan to food & drink (15 comments total)

Don't know if it's still there, but there used to be one on Gloucester Road, just south of the station and on the opposite side of the street.
posted by JakeWalker at 3:20 PM on July 7, 2008

There were. Ten years on, it might not be the case.

There used to be a great place on Drury Lane.
posted by popcassady at 3:22 PM on July 7, 2008

I've been living in London for over eleven years now, and it has gotten remarkably homogeneous in many ways.

I do recall a lot of noise back in 2000 or so, when a shop in Soho closed which reportedly was the last remaining Central London establishments to still serve Cod 'n Chips in newsprint. Don't know how "traditional" you'd consider that, but our local wraps orders in special, white, plastic coated, sure to be sterile paper (*grumble about cost*).

But what's the worry? England is so small that you can get most anywhere via train fairly quickly. Get yourself to London Bridge or Euston, hop a train and within one hours trip you'll be able to find no limit to obscure towns and chips shops. We like to head down to Brighton most weekends, and find the locals out towards Hove and other such coastal evirons very pleasant (and for me that means different).

FWIW, we currently live in Whitechapel, E1, Zone 2. Before moving to The East End I lived in Camden Town, NW1 and the chips shops weren't much different.
posted by Mutant at 4:04 PM on July 7, 2008

The gloucester road chippy is still there and pretty good.

There is another good one on the kings road, near world's end, opposite Tadema road, but the name escapes me. Hopefully somebody else will remember the name.
posted by gadha at 4:04 PM on July 7, 2008

Gosh I omitted some words:

Don't know how "traditional" you'd consider that, as I'm an American ex-pat and its all good, but our local wraps orders in special, white, plastic coated, sure to be sterile paper (*grumble about cost*).
posted by Mutant at 4:05 PM on July 7, 2008

The Fryers' Delight at 19 Theobald Place near Holburn. Excellent. Cops and cabbies eat there, I've never been able to sit down, but take your lunch and eat it in the park around the corner.
posted by zaelic at 4:18 PM on July 7, 2008

I would try somewhere round Angel... here's two that I found with simple googling. I've not been to either.

I live in zone 2 and there are two decent chippies within walking distance, but you would have to be on a real mission to strike it out to the wilds of Hackney just for chips.
posted by Helga-woo at 4:33 PM on July 7, 2008

The Golden Fish Restaurant on Farringdon Road is totally traditional (a takeaway chip shop, with a little formica-tabled restaurant next door).

I think this is non-Londoner propaganda. It's true that a lot of the chip shops in London are restaurants too, but they always have been, for decades and decades. They're still genuine.
posted by game warden to the events rhino at 5:57 PM on July 7, 2008

There is one near Finsbury Square (you can sit down upstairs as well). Huge lines of City types queue for takeaways on fridays, it is pretty good.
posted by zemblamatic at 1:04 AM on July 8, 2008

Get off the main roads and go to a residential area. I live at the edge of Zone 2 and I've got a cracking chip shop right opposite me. This place is just down the road from me too.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:09 AM on July 8, 2008

Zone 2 is huge, I'll bet there are hundreds. In zone 1, there's the Fryers Delight on Theobald Rd (as already mentioned) which is supposed to be fab, and the North Sea Fish Restaurant on Leigh St near Kings Cross which does takeaway (the restaurant part is posher than your average chippy).

Don't believe everything you hear. Of course, if you stay around the Leicester Square/Oxford Circus area you're not going to find much, but that's a tiny part of central London.
posted by altolinguistic at 2:42 AM on July 8, 2008

It is probably true that there is a smaller ratio of chippies to fried chicken/kebab/etc in London than elsewhere in the country but there are still hundreds of them. I'd particularly recommend Faulkner's in Hackney (yes, it's Zone 2.)
posted by ninebelow at 4:28 AM on July 8, 2008

If you're in Soho, there's a fish and chip shop at number 20 Berwick Street, called, originally enough, "Fish & Chips" - to be honest, it looks a bit grotty to me, but I think that's got to be part of a real chippy's charm.

Here's a handy shopfront view of Berwick Street so you can see it in context.
posted by iivix at 6:55 AM on July 8, 2008

The Fish Bone in Fitzrovia is amazing. Honestly, the best fish and chips I've tasted anywhere in the UK. This (slightly old) article, might also help (I can recommend the Seafresh fish restaurat from personal experience).
posted by featherboa at 3:12 AM on July 9, 2008

This might be of use. Went to Fishcotheque once and it was pretty good. Also like the chippie by Tooting Bec tube.
posted by laukf at 5:45 PM on July 11, 2008