The Best Fish and Chips in North Shields

Few towns are better placed to serve a proper fish supper than North Shields. This is a working fishing port, where boats still land their catch on the Fish Quay and the market sells it on within hours. That short journey from sea to fryer is the reason a bag of chips tastes better down here, and the town has the chippies to match. Here are the places worth seeking out.

Kristian Fish Co

You cannot get much closer to the source than Kristian Fish Co, which sits right on Union Quay in the middle of the Fish Quay itself. Much of its fish is landed and traded within sight of the fryers, which makes for about the shortest supply chain a chip shop could hope for. It works as both a sit-in restaurant and a takeaway, so you can settle in with a view over the river or carry your parcel down to the water.

The menu keeps to the traditional line: cod and haddock in crisp batter with proper chips, plus the odd quayside special that comes with being on a working port. On a fine day the benches along the front are the place to eat it.

Best for: Best for freshness — fish landed a few steps from the fryer, eaten with a river view.

The Waterfront

Up the bank on Union Road, The Waterfront has been a family-run fixture since 1995, and it has built its name the old-fashioned way: fresh fish, generous portions and consistency over three decades. There is a comfortable sit-in restaurant as well as a busy takeaway and delivery service.

Fish is fried to order in traditional beef dripping, with alternatives available, in light crisp batter with hand-cut chips. Regulars point to the friendly service and the value as much as the food, and on a good day you can take your supper across the road to the benches and look out towards the sea.

Best for: Best for a traditional sit-down supper — beef-dripping chips and thirty years of practice.

Magpie Chippy

Away from the Quay, in the residential Marden area, the Magpie Chippy on Ripley Avenue is the sort of neighbourhood chip shop a suburb runs on. Its black-and-white name nods to Newcastle United, and its reputation rests on doing the simple things well: freshly fried fish and chips, cooked to order and served hot, at everyday prices.

It had a brush with fame when Lewis Capaldi picked up a supper here on a visit to the town, but the locals were queuing long before that. It is a proper community chippy, worth the short trip out from the centre.

Best for: Best for a classic neighbourhood chippy — no frills, freshly fried, fairly priced.

Frying it yourself

If you would rather cook at home, the Fish Quay is one of the best larders in the region. Phil's Plaice at Clifford's Fort carries more than thirty varieties chosen fresh each day, so you can pick up a fillet of haddock and do the honours in your own kitchen. It is a reminder that in North Shields, good fish is never more than a few minutes from the sea.

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