Fish and chips that are worth the trip

To save yourself the hassle of finding a restaurant, what could be a better accompaniment to British summertime than a proper plate of good old fashioned fish and chips?

Scotter is a quintessentially traditional English village – humble, rural and charming.

It has all the hallmarks you’d expect from a village in this part of the world: a lovely local pub, rustic houses, your friendly corner shop – but does it have a cracking local chippy to put the cherry on the cake?

Scotter Fisheries is a very welcoming environment.

As I walked in, I was hit by that wall of the smell of good home-cooked fish and chips that really can’t be beaten.

Already salivating, I pondered their vast and extensive menu for quite some time.

As well as haddock, scampi, cod and fish cakes, they also offer a wide variety of pizzas, burgers, kebabs and pies – and all at very impressive and competitive value.

I was torn between a Pukka steak and kidney pie, a nice and hearty calzone and a ‘pizza supreme’ with chicken, mushrooms, onions and garlic.

If anything, I was fascinated by the Scotter Special – simply described as a pizza with ‘a bit of everything’.

Instead, I settled for a classic – large haddock and chips with a pot of curry sauce.

I was served swiftly and politely and was out of the shop in the blink of an eye, which was lucky because by this stage I was absolutely ravenous.

I parked myself on a bench to bask in the soothing Scotter sunshine and soak up the quiet calm and tucked into my meal.

The chips were just right – wholesome, chunky and filling without being too greasy. Not the best, but not bad by any means and the delicious and zingy curry sauce made for the perfect accompaniment.

My haddock came as a reasonable portion and was flaky, light, fresh and flavoursome. The batter was crunchy and tasty but seemed to distract slightly from the fact that the fish itself wasn’t quite as large as you’d like. Either way, I found myself satisfied.

There may be chippies around here of a far higher standard, but as far as fish and chips go, Scotter Fisheries is definitely worth a visit.

By Andrew Trendell

Star rating HHH