The best fish and chips in the world?

The aroma hit me as soon as the car door was open. 

Modest, unassuming...

Like a siren's musk, it attracted my senses, instantly, wholeheartedly and unreservedly.

Chips. Frying - as our Lord, in His infinite wisdom, undoubtedly intended - in beef dripping. 

I say 'attracted my senses' because it's really more than just an aroma. It gets into your system on another level, possibly even engaging with ones sixth sense. Deep, rich, barely describable umami.

Before anything got to interact with my actual tastebuds, I knew it was going to be totally fucking awesome. The best chippy ever? In the entire world? It might well be.

 

Frying up nostalgia 

I used to take this sort of delicious and delightful scent for granted. When I was growing up not a few chip shops smelled like this. McDonald's too, though one wouldn't credit it nowadays. 

Unbelievably delicious

Historically, chips smelled - and tasted - so amazing because they were fried in beef fat - it's as simple as that. But at some point in the late 1980s or thereabouts, dripping started to fall out of favour. In much of the country, especially here down south, you'll struggle to find a 'traditional' fish bar that uses the stuff in their day to day business.

(Maccie Ds likewise made the switch to some sort of hideous vegetable oil at some point during my childhood and their fries haven't tasted the same since.)

But enough pointless meandering down memory lane - in 2025 Yorkshire is the only part of the country where it's still considered relatively normal to use beef dripping, meaning that even an average chip shop is likely to serve tastier chips than the best places in London.

Yeah, I know, upper-mid-market restaurants and gastropubs often make a point of putting 'cooked in beef dripping' like it's a special thing (and a warning to vegetarians) but that only underlines how unusual it has become to fry chips in this way, whereas in Yorkshire it's still their bread and butter. Or bread and dripping, if you will.

Go, go, go...

And of course it's in Yorkshire, in a residential suburb of Wakefield, that I think I've genuinely located the best chop shop in the world. 

George A Green Fisheries. 89 George A Green Rd, Lupset, Wakefield WF2 8HA.

Bookmark that now. And go there. Here's a gmap link. No excuses, lad.

 

Why so good?

I don't always agree with YouTubers Gary Eats and Rate my Takeaway, but they were very, very right about this place. And, fair play to them, they've both become more famous in the foodosphere than I'm ever likely to be, so I'm glad I took the recommendation this time!

The menu is admirably concise. Haddock (the owner is rightfully dismissive of Cod!), chips, potato scollops and maybe the occasional sausage, which is like an occasional table, but more sausagey, obviously.

Fry me a river!

There has been a lot of fuss about this place on social media, with people assuming the darker hue to the chips and the crunchiness of the batter meaning that it's served 'burnt'. And while they're entitled to their opinion, anyone who does say this can fuck off and drown in a vat of undercooked rapeseed oil.

I can categorically confirm that everything is cooked absolutely perfectly. The chips are wonderfully crisp on the outside, but with soft, yielding potatoey innards.

The fish is flaky and delicious, steamed to perfection inside its shell of crunchy batter, without going slimy or dry or watery - the balancing act performed flawlessly. The special batter recipe is apparently what gives the darker colour, and it's so good, I'm not about to complain.

And of course there are scraps to be had - and who wouldn't pass up the chance to enjoy extra batter, infused with the delightful umami of beefy goodness?  

Homemade mushy peas and curry sauce complete the meal, if you're into that sort of thing.  If I were to make one request, it would be to have homemade tartare sauce as an option rather than making do with a little blue sachet, but that's nitpicking when the chips are so good I never want to stop eating them. 

Pricing is definitely competitive. A pretty big portion of Haddock and chips with scraps, pickled onion, a load of condiments and a can of Dandelion and Burdock cost about £11. You might pay almost double that down South for a vastly inferior meal.

Opening hours are limited. 11 to 2 for lunch service and then from 4 to 7:30. At busy times there can be long queues, which I avoided by arriving just after 4 PM - I wouldn't normally consume a large meal at this point in the day, but frankly I'd eat this at literally any time.

It's a takeaway, but there's pub-style tables outside so you can seat down and eat - I was desperate to tuck the fuck in as soon as possible, obviously. 

An hour or two later, I felt absolutely fine. And that's important to me, because usually after eating fish and chips I feel bloated, sluggish and nauseous. It's almost certainly an intolerance to the vegetable oil that most places use, and not unrelated to sickness I get from margarine and crisps. 

The only problem is that I don't live anywhere near George A Green, and I'm going to struggle to eat 'normal' fish and chips now, knowing that it will be markedly disappointing in comparison.

This is what fish and chips can - and should - be. It's not complicated, just use quality fresh ingredients and fry in dripping! If I lived round here, I'd be eating this a couple of times a week.

 

The aroma hit me as soon as the car door was open.