A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Aldos

Aldos - Sighthill
Price: £6.40 (Supper)
Our original intention was to go to a shop at the end of the 33 bus route in Wester Hailes.  This area was originally in the 1750-1902 a quarry and in the 1970s became a council estate.  It has the Union Canal running through it now.  Originally this was bricked over until a development in 2001 by the council to extend the canal from Falkirk to Edinburgh.

At the end of our journey, we stepped off the bus onto Westside Plaza (not in a musical).  There were a few people hanging about and many of the shops had shutters down since we arrived so late.  Not to be deterred, we decided against Javits as we have already reviewed one previously so we will have to come back to this one at a later date.  We went to the only open shop in the vicinity to buy some Irn Bru.  I've never been in a shop where you can't touch anything before, but all of the goods were behind a glass window and I had to point to what I wanted.  An interesting experience!

After doing a bit of a look around, we decided to go to another chip shop, which was supposed to be in the area however I suspect was closer to Sighthill.  Sighthill was mainly an area of farmland and farm houses up until council estate developments took over.  It is now mainly ex council and has a few high rise areas that are rapidly being demolished.  It also featured in a horror film Looking after Jo Jo.

We finally arrived at our target and proceeded to order our food.  A few of the locals kept coming and going while we were there and there was a lively pub next door.  The staff were very friendly and seemed to know all of the locals.  One of the group, went off round the corner to get cash and came back a few short minutes later.  Shortly after, a rather friendly local stuck his head in the door and said "Mate, you didn't take your cash from the cashline.  Here's your £10!"

A 10 minute wait ensued and we were finally presented with our food in a polystyrene tray.  I was rather disappointed with the food, considering the amount of waiting I had to do for it.  Many of the chips were burnt and if they weren't burnt they didn't taste of anything in particular.  Sadly my fish followed a similar trend.  The slight flavour I tasted at the start was only a little hope that was soon dashed.  That being said I did eat most of the tasteless food so it can't have been that bad.  I have definitely had worse.

On average:
5/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Giulianos

Giulianos, Union Place
Price: £6 (Supper)
I ventured out of work and headed towards the Omni Centre for a delicious dinner.  Stopping only for a short half hour at Primark to meet my friends.

This is a cleanly presented shop, which sadly had no seating.  The staff were in excellent humour and were even dancing along to the radio that was on in the background.  Our food was served up very quickly with only a 3 minute wait.

I received my meal in a polystyrene tray.  This did not detract from the flavour.  The fish was quite flaky and the batter was quite crunchy.  When I finished the fish, there was a little oil left, however this may have come from the chips.  There were a few burnt chips that I could not bring myself to eat, although the rest were of a decent standard and they seemed to opt for crunchy again.  Afterwards we ordered our final deep fried sweets having tried the full pallet.  My deep fried dark chocolate Bounty had to be made again as there wasn't enough batter the first time.  Due to his mistake I ended up with 4 bits of chocolate - a little too much for me.

Overall this place was excellent and if I was on a night out here and didn't fancy the walk further down to Rapido, I would go here,

On average:
7/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Pizza Palace

Pizza Palace, Gorgie Road
Price: £5.80 (Supper)
A short walk up from Princes Street we visited Gorgie Road.  I used to get the bus from here to go to University every day so it was familiar ground for me.  This place was well presented and clean with some very efficient staff, who gave us a little bit of chat.

We ate in the place at the very comfortable seats at the front window, looking across to McDonalds and listening to the radio as we ate.  I discovered that this shop is on JustEat and also sells bottles of Edinburgh Chippy Sauce for £1.  They also do Munchboxes for £5 and £10 depending on the size.

Our food was made fresh for us and the server took real pride in serving it freshly made.  I noticed that there was no premade fish on the counter.  I was served this in a polystyrene tray with some delicious salt and vinegar.  The fish was really nicely made and really benefited from being fresh.  So often you find that places will serve you premade food.  My chips were quite crispy and the vinegar really made these chips.

In summary I would say this is one of the best in Gorgie.

On average:
8.5
/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Stefanos

Stefanos, Morningside Road
Price: £6.70 (Supper)
On this beautiful evening, I ventured forth on a walk from Princes Street to Morningside with constant cries of are we nearly there yet from Ryan.  It only took a few short half hours for us to arrive.

The main attraction at this chip shop is it's pizzas with a few friends telling me that the pizzas are one of the best chip shop pizzas in Edinburgh and indeed if looks could kill this, surely would.  Pizza boxes were the main feature of the display on top of the counter.  The staff had some good chat and enquired how our food was before we left.  They seemed to know all of the locals suggesting that this is one of the best chip shops in the area.

My food was cooked fresh, in a cardboard box, so there was a 10 minute wait, allowing me to check out the meal deals that were on offer.  I have to say that the food was worth the wait.  My fish was delicious, slightly flakey and not oily at all.  Prior to serving, the staff had a little look through the chips to remove the bad ones so I didn't have to throw them away, making sure I was satisfied by every chip.  The vinegar was beautiful.  It had a slight twang to it but this added to the flavour.

I will be back to this chip shop at the earliest opportunity to try the pizzas!

Overall:
9/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Fountain Fish Fry

Fountain Fish Fry - Fountain Park 
Price: £6 (Supper)
A mere 5 minutes from my work, the newly refurbished Fountain Fish Fry sits.  I had been in here previously and came back to see if there was an improvement with the refurb.  I was not to be disappointed.  The presentation of the shop is now very clean and professional.  The staff did not chat much but seemed to know the locals.

They offered my food in a cardboard box which is a vast improvement to the polystyrene tray they offered before.  Edinburgh Brown Sauce is on sale there a mere £1.  There was nowhere to sit so we alighted to my friends flat to enjoy our meal.

Sadly this was where the shop fell down.  The fish was nice but a little oily and there was more batter than at the Euro 2016 Cup.  A lot of the chips were sadly burnt and the whole meal was very oily.  I couldn't finish my meal and a lot of the chips ended up in the bin.

I am yet to find a nice chip shop at Fountain Park, however my quest will go on.

On average:
6/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Toni's Fish and Chip Bar

Toni's Fish and Chip Bar - Niddrie Mains Road
Price: £6.80 (Supper)
This evening took me on a journey to a chip shop nearby my flat at Prestonfield.  Historically this area was farmland before the city council began building public housing on the state.  Up until 1960, there was a creamery and at least 6 breweries on Niddrie Mains Road.  This area is seeing huge regeneration efforts recently.

I walked up on this beautiful evening and sampled the fish and chips from this shop.  It took about ten minutes for us to be presented with our meal in a cardboard box.  The shop was quite cleanly presented and the staff were quite pleasant, although there was no seating on offer.  They do offer a lunch menu and are available on Just Eat.  They also sell their Edinburgh Brown Sauce for £1.80 a bottle.

Not to be deterred we sat outside on the public benches facing the new Community Center.  I was a little disappointed with my fish as it was quite greasy and oily.  It was I would say average, nothing special.  The chips were mediocre as well, although had a bit of a twang to them with the vinegar.  It is often the vinegar that makes the chips so this went in their favour.

Altogether this was a mediocre shop, which offered nothing out of the ordinary.

On average:
6/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Dinos

Dinos, Craigentinny Road
Price: £5.90 (Supper)
After a few wrong turns and wandering past many interesting looking taverns, we ended up at Dinos.  It was a short 40 minute walk from Princes Street to here.

I was immediately struck with how untidy the shop was.  The girl behind the counter had her dinner lying out on the counter and was wearing a stained top.  She didn't seem that happy to be there overall.  They did offer you the option to order on Just Eat however so their delivery staff might be a little friendlier.

After a ten minute wait, we were given our food on a polystyrene tray.  I was very disappointed with the quality of the food.  It was all very oily and greasy and did not taste good at all.  I scored it a mere 6 on the food count and sadly I felt a little ill later on in the evening.

Overall I might consider going back there at the end of a night out and I was local, however I would not go out of my way to visit this place again.

Overall:
5/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Supperbowl

Supperbowl - Gilmerton
 Price: £6.60 (Supper)
After the drama of the last few weeks, we decided to go on an adventure down to Gilmerton.  A simple 33 bus away and we arrived at this rather large looking shop at the centre of Gilmerton, coincidently near the amazing Gilmerton Cove - a mysterious and wonderful little cave.  It is called Gilmerton's secret for a reason!

The shop is very large and I felt a lot of the space at the front of the shop was wasted.  There was enough room to fit a pool table or indeed some chairs to sit and eat your food at.  They decided to just keep it empty however.

My food was served by a glum looking girl, although she brightened a bit when we commented on the size of the fish.  We were given a cardboard box and vacated to a bench at the other side of the road in order to eat our food.  I believe the place is on Just Eat so you can look it up on there.

Despite it's very large size the fish was largely tasteless.  It tasted like vanilla ice cream without the vanilla.  Sometimes I wonder why some chip shops give you such large portions.  It is very wasteful.  The chips had a tiny hint of a flavour but otherwise were as tasteless as the fish.

I have been told that this is a very good chip shop so I will maybe have to review this later, but I won't hold my breath.

On average:
5/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Central

Central, Potterrow
Price: £6.80 (Supper)
A brief walk from the centre of town took us to the Central chip shop.  We had seen this on our outing to Marchmont so decided to revisit.  I had heard great things about the Edinburgh Chip Shop sauce from this place.

The shop needs a little spruced up as the seating and decoration was past its best.  There was an old TV on the wall that looked a little broken and a model ship that provided something to look at.  My food was served by a man who gave little to no chat and took ten minutes to serve my food in a polystyrene tray.  It was efficient, but not exactly the most pleasant experience I have had.

A discount is offered at lunch time, so if you are in the area, it is worth a visit.  They do sell bottles of their famous Edinburgh Sauce
for £1.60 a bottle.  They are served by Just Eat.

My fish was one of the most delicious that I have had.  It was not too flaky and a little bit meaty.  The chips were a close match to my second rated chippy L'Alba Doras.  One thing that made the food a magnitude better was the vinegar.  I've found that the vinegar can either break or make a meal but this place has learned that lesson long ago.

All in all, if you want to go for some delicious food in the centre of town and do not care about the decoration or what the chat is like then this is the place for you!

Overall
8/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - The Dolphin

The Dolphin, North Junction Street
 Price: £6.60 (Supper)
After a little discussion about what exactly makes up an adventure, we decided that to have an adventure you must either get the bus or walk to the place you are going to eat at.  With that decision we set off on the 30 minute walk from Waverly down to North Junction Street with many laughs along the way.

We eventually arrived at this very well decorated shop that had everything pristine.  There were very comfortable stools and a TV with a film on to watch while I ate.  My food took 10 minutes to prepare and they reacted with humour when I asked them to drown Ryan's in vinegar.  They served it all up in a cardboard box.

My fish was beautiful.  Not too oily and not too meaty.  I would say this was second only to Eatalias.  The vinegar was lovely and left you wanting more.  The chips reminded me very much of L'Alba Doras and I would happily demolish another box of them.

Now this was done on a slightly different day as it was a Wednesday, traditionally the day before the oil is changed though we didn't ask.

Altogether I would recommend this place to anyone passing through that way or at the Ocean Terminal.

On average:
9/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Leo Burdock

Leo Burdock, Temple Bar, Dublin
Price: £7.60 (Supper)
After an eventful first night in Dublin, we set out for dinner and ended up at this fish and chip shop!  The shop was very well decorated with 1970's style wooden panels and had a very large seating area.  There was even a group of about 10 (Spanish?) students there for a birthday party.  My food was served up by a rather banterful gentleman who due to his Irish charm was very funny.

An immediate choice was offered between fresh and smoked cod instead of haddock.  I decided to stick for continuity and went for the fresh cod, although I was fortunate enough to sample the smoked cod which was one of the nicest I have tasted.  The fresh cod was beer battered which meant that it was very very filling but thoroughly delicious.  It had very little oil and was quite meaty.  The vinegar covering it was very nice.  My chips were quite heavy also, which was a bit of a let down.

If you are ever around the Temple Bar area, pop in here and get a smoked cod!

On average:
9/10

A quest to find the perfect Fish and Chips - Salvatores

Salvatores, Marchmont
Price: £6.20 (Supper)
After a fairly enjoyable Christmas break, we set off into the unknown area of Marchmo
nt to have our first supper of the year on this stormy and blustery day - much like a Winnie the Poo adventure.  This was a very nicely decorated little cafe/fish and chip shop in the centre of Marchmont.

We were served promptly and they took about 10 minutes to bring us our food on a plate, although I noticed they served their takeaway in a cardboard box.  My fish was fairly bland but was nicely flaky.  The chips were not that impressive either compared to some of the other places I have been.  What really made this meal was the vinegar that was left at the table for you to put your own on.

Our meal was interrupted halfway through by two incidents with the staff.  The elderly server decided that it was appropriate to discipline one staff member in the front shop and in front of the customers.  Following this public humiliation, a customer asked if the server knew him as he had been away for a year or 2.  The server abruptly declared he had no idea what he was talking about and let him go on his way.  I learned all I needed to from this exchange.

Despite the poor staffing, the food was adequate, although if I was in the area I would go to the Marchmont Takeaway instead for some delicious Mackerel.

On average:
7/10