lost chippies of leeds

Old, disused, forgotten and converted pubs
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jim
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Post by jim »

Perhaps Lancastrians can't tell the difference?

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tilly
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Post by tilly »

jim wrote: Perhaps Lancastrians can't tell the difference? Yes Jim We have had trouble with that lot before.lol
No matter were i end my days im an Hunslet lad with Hunslet ways.

geoffb
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Post by geoffb »

My dad was a Wiganer or pie eater. He used to talk about been a lad and having chips, scratchings and pea wet, pea wet was the liquid on top of the mushy peas, another Wigan gastronomic delight like the famous Wigan kebab:-)

majorhoundii
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Post by majorhoundii »

geoffb wrote: My dad was a Wiganer or pie eater. He used to talk about been a lad and having chips, scratchings and pea wet, pea wet was the liquid on top of the mushy peas, another Wigan gastronomic delight like the famous Wigan kebab:-) Or the pie barm

geoffb
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Post by geoffb »

majorhoundii wrote: geoffb wrote: My dad was a Wiganer or pie eater. He used to talk about been a lad and having chips, scratchings and pea wet, pea wet was the liquid on top of the mushy peas, another Wigan gastronomic delight like the famous Wigan kebab:-) Or the pie barm That's the one.

Steve266
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Post by Steve266 »

The most exotic the fish and chips got was salt and vinegar back in the olden days none of this mushy peas malarkey or gravy in fact nothing moist at all this is more your seventies and eightiesAnd once you've left the hallowed city try asking for once and fish and BBC blank looks
life is not a dress rehearsal

majorhoundii
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Post by majorhoundii »

Steve266 wrote: The most exotic the fish and chips got was salt and vinegar back in the olden days none of this mushy peas malarkey or gravy in fact nothing moist at all this is more your seventies and eightiesAnd once you've left the hallowed city try asking for once and fish and BBC blank looks I don't like anything with my f&c, no mushy peas, no brown sauce, no tartare sauce, just salt & vinegar - but has to be malt vinegar none of your non brewed condiment muck. I'll admit I sometimes like to put pickled onion vinegar on.

CroggyLad
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Post by CroggyLad »

Stree wrote: Thought it about time to put my two pennorth in.My family moved to Marshall St in 1964, in fact it was my Mum and Dad that had the Chippy in the middle. Keir`s Fisheries, for those that might remember. The other chippy at the bottom of the street was long gone by then. It used to be run by two elderly sisters and was I believe the last coal fired range in Leeds if not Yorkshire. - No knowledge of the fellow with the fag ash mentioned earlier.Liits spoke of my Mum and Dad`s chippie with a bit of a sneer.Commenting on "crinkle cut chips and small fish"By way of explanation, our customers preferred the chips crinkle cut although we also had straight cutters in the chipper as well if wanted. Plenty of places to go and get oversized undercooked chips or French Fries if these are your idea of chip perfection.As for the fish.. All portions were weighed. As were Coe`s and many others and believe it or not all the local chippy owners got on fine, any time anyone ran out of fish or spuds greaseproof or newspaper, the others would make sure you got supplied until you could make up the stock again.And we all did the same weight fish portions, apart from when we sold frozen.........which is coarser looser older fish. Cheaper by weight, but then tonic water is cheaper than beer by weight and volume.The smaller portions would be the fresh fish, brought straight from the docks that morning, Hull Aberdeen and Grimsby were the usual ones. Not Frozen unless the weather stopped the trawlers going out or getting back to port, or the fishermen were on strike. " Cod Wars did not help either.The fish purchase was negotiated the night before, when the merchants knew what was coming in, the size of the catch and the cost per stone. We never bought cod. Dogfish.Haddock came topped and tailed so all had to be skinned and filleted.Some late springs all the adult fish stocks were overfished, usually by foreign freezer trawlers sneaking in the 12 mile zone, so we had to resort to "counts". all that the boats could bring in. These were very young haddock, very tender fresh tasting and difficult to handle, often 2,3, sometimes 4 pieces laid together to make one fish portion.Everything was fried as it should be, at the right temperature and in beef dripping.Too often now you find a chippie, no fish ready so cooked to order, oil instead of fat and just hot side of warm, fish is battered and dropped in THEN gas is turned up......So the fish is boiled not fried and the batter is a mess.We got regular dinner orders phoned in from Barnbow, Charles H Roe, Treats Ice Cream, and others. I have to assume they were all happy enough with the portion sizes and crinkle cut chips when as we hear, oversized portions with soggy batter is so readily available locally as well.I suppose every eaterie has clientelle ranging from gourmet to glutton and whatever ours were I am proud my Mum and Dad`s reputation for good fish and chips.Oh, and to correct an earlier post, it was a Morris Oxford not a Standard Eight, His name was Ronnie, not BrianRIP Keir`s Fisheries, 1964 to 1994 Thanks for this post. Marshall Street Chippy (as we called it!) was a childhood favourite and to our family, they were the best. We loved the crinkle cut chips! And they had the best curry sauce. I was sad to see it go as I far preferred Marshall Street's crispy battered fish to Coe's 'orrible dark battered fish!
"I fight for truth, justice and a decent cup of tea!"

mayslass
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Post by mayslass »

wiggy wrote: i got this idea from someones flippant remark on the lost pubs thread and thought why not! i shall begin this thread with:J T BISHOP,the eight shops,gipton,it was later taken over by his daughter audrey and her husband alan,audrey was a real charachter,the best chips ever,but the fish were a bit small.it was always open late too,and the queue was always down the road.the fish cakes were real yorkshire ones,not like the breaded rubbish you get down this way.saturday lunch i was sent for twice and fish cake and chips 3 times and a bottle of scotts pop,plus five buns from rigg's the bakers next door...all gone now. Well done Wiggy, definitely the best fish & chips are from Leeds Kirbys at Meanwood is a good one, but so is Drakes Potternewton Lane. There used to be a good one in the Ascots at East End Park called Johns but sadly he passed away and his wife sold to another couple - not half as good now.Always has to haddock though, cod too watery and tasteless I think.

raveydavey
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Post by raveydavey »

A resurrection of this popular thread with the news that Rockfords on York Road is up for sale, with the current owners set to retire.http://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-p ... 35470.html - although perhaps it's a little generous to describe it as a 'restaurant' given there is nowhere inside to sit and eat...Fish and chips are very much a matter of taste - what some enjoy others can't stand, but for me Rockfords has always been consistently a safe bet on this side of Leeds - they're almost always busy and the staff are warm and friendly. On a good day Coe's might arguably shade it, but (in my experience) Coe's are very hit and miss of late, so not worth the risk...So on that note, I hope whoever buys the shop continues the excellent work done by the current owner and sticks to being a quality traditional fish and chip shop and doesn't turn it into one of those dreadful "we do everything" (but none of it particularly well) takeaways that now seem to spring up everywhere. We've lost a few good chippies to like that locally in the last few years and don't need to add another one to the list.    
Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act – George Orwell

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