Fish and chips voted UK’s favourite takeaway

Battered fish six times more popular than battered sausage, poll finds

'Fish Friday' has helped the appeal of traditional fish and chips thrive (iStock)

Fish and chips is still the nation's favourite takeaway, a new poll has found.

At least one in four named the classic British dish as the best, according to the poll which had 2,000 responses.

The classic dish even beat Chinese and Indian takeaways for the top spot.

Nearly one in five Brits said they visited their local chippy once a week, while another third enjoyed a fish takeaway at least once a month.

The tradition of “Fish Friday” is also going strong as more than a third said they would most likely stop in at the chip shop to signal the start of the weekend.

As for the ultimate fish supper, battered fish with chips, salt, vinegar and ketchup was voted as the quintessential chip shop combination.

The poll also revealed the most popular dish. Classic battered fish was six times more popular than battered sausage, while just 8 percent chose fishcakes as their choice.

While a desire for the traditional dish is a key reason for many customers, the poll also showed that the hygiene of a restaurant would help decide where they went.

Nearly half would be put off visiting a restaurant with dirty tables, while a third said they would avoid if it appeared that staff weren’t wearing hair nets.

However, super cleanliness wasn’t as much of an issue as at least four in 10 said it did not matter if their regular had a hygiene rating below four-stars.

Customers often stick to their regular restaurant as they know they will get a great meal (Getty)

“While fish and chips is perceived as the most quintessentially British dish, one in five restaurants often receive a bad hygiene rating online,” said Greg Elmore, from P&G professional who commissioned the research. “Given the impact, cleaning should be a key business strategy for chip shop owners to help the industry thrive.”

Three in five participants also said they had a favourite chip shop to visit, citing food quality as the biggest reason for returning.

The kitchen was judged to be the part of a chip shop Brits would most likely scrutinise for cleanliness, followed by staff members.

Following the poll’s findings, the founders of Krispies, which won Fish and Chip Shop of the Year 2019, stressed the importance of restaurant hygiene.

“Keeping Krispies free from grease is important to maintain a high standard of hygiene,” says co-founder Kelly Barnes. “This is crucial as the process which creates our crispy and golden fish can cause quite a lot of dirt. This is something we don’t want our customers to experience.”

SWNS