SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

You're right Trojan. I've lived all over the country, and I'm really trying not to be biassed, but the fish and chips in this area really cannot be beat. I don't know which are the best spuds for chips, but haddock is the best fish for frying in batter...bar none. The only other place (absolutely no pun intended) where haddock is the fish of choice seems to be central Scotland. Got to be fried in dripping, an'all!The worst fish and chips are in London...they truly are disgusting (skin on, full of bones, species indeterminable, soaked in sunflower oil) and give totally the wrong impression to the rest of the world.

North Lane fisheries.Roughly opposite the new mini-supermarket.They were never great but my sister worked there as a summer job in her student days and gave me whacking great portions after nights out in Headingley.

The chippie on Marshall Street, Cossgates finally closed a couple of years ago, supposedly for a re-furb but it is now a private house/flat.    

I was brought up in Morley. Our geography teacher at school said that the geography of Morley was " 'ills, mills and fish 'oils" Well the hills are still here, the mills are flats and the fish 'oils are getting pretty thin on the ground. When I was a kid with five minutes walk of our house on King Street were five chippies, within ten minutes walk there were probably a dozen more. Many have gone completely, most of the others are Chinese takeaways - who eats all this Chinese food in Morley? I'm sure they can't all be making a profit. However, we used to get our fish and nerks at Fountain Fisheries, which was a wood hut near the Fountain Inn on Fountain Street, now get this, it was a wooden structure, and the fish and chip range was coal fired. What would health and safety say today? The fat caught fire occasionally and the fire brigade came to put it out occasionally - but they carried on. As for quality, fish and chips in around Leeds are the best in the country in my experience - the worst? Just over the hill in Lancashire, I'm not being a Yorkshire chauvinist, but they're rubbish over there.

Si wrote: You're right Trojan. I've lived all over the country, and I'm really trying not to be biassed, but the fish and chips in this area really cannot be beat. I don't know which are the best spuds for chips, but haddock is the best fish for frying in batter...bar none. The only other place (absolutely no pun intended) where haddock is the fish of choice seems to be central Scotland. Got to be fried in dripping, an'all!The worst fish and chips are in London...they truly are disgusting (skin on, full of bones, species indeterminable, soaked in sunflower oil) and give totally the wrong impression to the rest of the world. And Batter died bright orange.Son works for a food ingredients company who supplies batter mix to chippies all over the country. Ever region gets a different blend.They are also very unsatisfactory in the Scottish Borders (Pathhead on the A697 south of Edinburgh) and as expensive as hell.

Si wrote: You're right Trojan. I've lived all over the country, and I'm really trying not to be biassed, but the fish and chips in this area really cannot be beat. I don't know which are the best spuds for chips, but haddock is the best fish for frying in batter...bar none. The only other place (absolutely no pun intended) where haddock is the fish of choice seems to be central Scotland. Got to be fried in dripping, an'all!The worst fish and chips are in London...they truly are disgusting (skin on, full of bones, species indeterminable, soaked in sunflower oil) and give totally the wrong impression to the rest of the world. thats the key si...it has to be dripping,all that veggie oil stuff is...well its c.r.a.p..end of'.    

Bramley4woods wrote: Si wrote: You're right Trojan. I've lived all over the country, and I'm really trying not to be biassed, but the fish and chips in this area really cannot be beat. I don't know which are the best spuds for chips, but haddock is the best fish for frying in batter...bar none. The only other place (absolutely no pun intended) where haddock is the fish of choice seems to be central Scotland. Got to be fried in dripping, an'all!The worst fish and chips are in London...they truly are disgusting (skin on, full of bones, species indeterminable, soaked in sunflower oil) and give totally the wrong impression to the rest of the world. And Batter died bright orange.Son works for a food ingredients company who supplies batter mix to chippies all over the country. Ever region gets a different blend.They are also very unsatisfactory in the Scottish Borders (Pathhead on the A697 south of Edinburgh) and as expensive as hell. It's a vivid yellow hue in London. And there's a curious layer of white spongy stuff between it and the fish.

We used to go to Kirkstall fisheries on the crossroads behind the Leisure centre when I was a kid, they were brilliant, wrapped in newspaper and everything!Last time I drove past, it was a Chinese takeaway, as someone else mentioned, surely the world isn't short of chinese takeaways.And on that subject, does anyone else call having a chinese, going for a "chinky". I've always known it as that, but the other week, someone was saying they thought it was racist. Normally I scoff at PC nonsense, but it did get me thinking as to whether it was just me (us)!!

Trojan wrote: I suppose the major lost chippy in recent years in the centre of Leeds is Nash's on Merrion Street, which had a a take away and a Tudor restautant. There was another fish and chip restaurant in central Leeds, called Youngmans, it was up a ginnel/snicket (?) near the Odeon just off Upper Briggate.Yorkshire fish and chips take some beating, especially those from the Leeds/Bradford area, but there are far fewer now than there used to be. There's still some good ones left. But fish and chips is fast becoming a luxury meal. How long the traditional Yorkshire chippy can last in anyone's guess. i can't believe they've closed down. they always seemed so busy :-(i used to work near there and you had to go to the little door at the back to get takeaway, but then they opened an actual takeaway shop...and shortly after they were no morei miss kirby's in meanwood (well, yes i know its still there but its not the same since it was bought out a few years ago)

kierentc wrote: Trojan wrote: I suppose the major lost chippy in recent years in the centre of Leeds is Nash's on Merrion Street, which had a a take away and a Tudor restautant. There was another fish and chip restaurant in central Leeds, called Youngmans, it was up a ginnel/snicket (?) near the Odeon just off Upper Briggate.Yorkshire fish and chips take some beating, especially those from the Leeds/Bradford area, but there are far fewer now than there used to be. There's still some good ones left. But fish and chips is fast becoming a luxury meal. How long the traditional Yorkshire chippy can last in anyone's guess. i can't believe they've closed down. they always seemed so busy :-(i used to work near there and you had to go to the little door at the back to get takeaway, but then they opened an actual takeaway shop...and shortly after they were no morei miss kirby's in meanwood (well, yes i know its still there but its not the same since it was bought out a few years ago) I 've live North, South, East and west but you can't beat Fish and Chips from Leeds and Bradford area. In the 50s and 60s Saturday lunch was ALWAYS fish and chips from Fields on Scotthall Road/Potternewton Lane Junction. Then as a teenager on a Friday night in the early 60s a gang of us from Potternewton/Miles Hill, usually after a few pints in the 'Melbourne or the Beckets' then had fish and chips at Kirby's. In the 90s, when my daughter lived in Bradford, when we visited her one of the meals during the visit, apart from a Bradford curry from Naseebs at Lidget Green, was fish and chips and mushy peas from Odsal Top. A bit of a difference from the Cypriot Fish Meze this evening!!