According
to many on TripAdvisor the Castle Chippy is superb. More evidence that TripAdvisor
isn’t always the most reliable place to get recommendations.
We
parked up near the chip shop and I popped in for two portions of fish and chips
plus a large portion of peas which came to the incredibly reasonable price of
£9.50. Tragically what I saw coming out of the display section of the range
were two incredibly uniform pieces of fish that wouldn’t have looked out of
place in a Birds Eye frozen battered fish packet. I was feeling anxious!
The
chippy does have a small table but it was a wee bit cramped so we drove to the
car park next to the outstanding Swan with Two Necks pubs in the charming
village of Pendleton.
Thankfully
it wasn’t Birds Eye but fresh fish that just happened to be similarly shaped.
The fish itself had a good flavour and chunky flakes that on its own was good,
but it was let down by the batter which was far too oily and tasted like it had
been sat in the display cabinet for too long.
The
chips were pretty poor - both limp and anaemic. They did taste of potato but
the heavy flavour of oil overwhelmed any quality chip taste.
The mushy
peas on the other hand tasted of virtually nothing. They had been boiled to
within an inch of their lives and had lost the will to hold on to any flavour
some hours ago.
On the
positive side they had provided excellent plastic forks which meant that you
could avoid getting your hands too oily.
A
genuinely disappointing chip shop experience and I was reminded of its oiliness
for a few hours more as the meal sat heavily on my stomach.
One chippy
that’s definitely off the list.
