After all the good reports I decided to try the new Furness Vale chippy out on Tuesday evening on a spur of the moment thing.  Not a good idea I found as it is shut then (and had i have remembered all the posts I should have realized that). Moreover, I have discovered that they only put a proper sign up on the building when it is open, which explains why It took such a long time to find the closed building. So then I decided I would go in search of Dennis in a layby 'somewhere near' Chapel. I never found him, and I suspect he wasn't around that evening. For those that may wonder why I was searching for Dennis in a layby, Dennis now runs a mobile chippy ,having originally taken over from Nancy and Neils establishment in Whaley.  I did however find a large fishing lake in the road between Ferodo roundabout and Chapel which someone in Chapel must really do something about, but which livened up the journey no end.

Nancy and Neil produced the best fish and chips in the world.  With a spotlessly clean shop, and working together as an almost mechanically efficient team they turned out  some magificent fish and chips. Fish and Chips  were absolutely faultless, cooked in proper beef dripping, and perfectly served. Not a bad chip in sight. The batter on the fish was light and crisp, and the fish was mouth wateringly fresh. I consider myself lucky to have been around to have tasted the fish and chips which has now moved into local folklore. The portions were by no means large (was it just 2 visits from trading standards??) , but they were so good that people simply bought double portions! 'Fish bits'  were there if you were lucky! My mouth still waters at the thought of a portion of Nancy and Neils fish and chips - they really were that good.

After Nancy and Neil left, Dennis took over, and  worked from the same shop. Lets face it, no-one could ever match Nancy's however hard you tried, so he was off to a hard start, but Dennis was always only a fraction away from that status. Dennis then moved round into the Horwich End chip shop, previously a newsagents, and continued to serve fish and chips of the same  top standard.  Always busy and full , he continued to serve top quality fish and chips until he sold the business and moved to France.  I hadn't realized that a standard clause in these sorts of sale contracts generally forbids the seller from returning to within a prescribed area of the same business for x many years, but that obviously makes sense. Hence I understand that that is why Dennis, having returned from France, is now selling fish and chips from just outside the said area from a layby near Chapel. That's the layby I didn't find.

Now you understand what high standards I have seen in the past, you may understand how I judge the competition. On Wednesday  evening I tried again at Furness Vale. This time they were open. The place is spotlessly clean, and they are all bright and friendly. As I say, I found that the sign outside only goes up when they are open, which is why I drove past it the first time. I ordered fish and chips, and it was cooked to order with a five minute wait. Very nice service. Because I was taking it away, it was put in a polystyrene box inside a substantial paper carrier bag. Snaffled a few before I took them home to eat and there was no real deterioration.

The chips were a lovely golden brown, not quite as crisp as Nancy used to get them, but full of flavour, and with not a single bad bit to be seen. The oil they were cooked in was obviously good quality and fresh. They clearly cared about the quality of what they were serving. There were masses of chips- almost too many, but  that's going to please a lot of people. Certainly pleased me at the time. I like my chips a touch crisper hence an 8/10. The chips were salted and vinegared as I asked, and I particularly noticed the salt. It wasn't at all overdone but on the contrary it was really fine and nicely  dusted on the chips. Really nice. Not sure if it was something different - i will ask when i GO BACK.

The fish was fantastic. It was beautfully cooked and incrediblly tasty. I could eat this all day long, and become even fatter than I am. 10/10 for fish.

The  batter was lovely and light , but for me the only thing that let it down, is that, like my chips, I like the batter to be a touch more crispy . Crispy batter is where Fish bits come from. This batter was quite thin and not really as crispy as I like. 7/10 for batter, which was a bit of a dissapointment.

So great chips, but only a fraction off as crispy as they could be, fantastic fish, and lovely light batter which could just be a bit bubblier and crispier. On top of that super service and a spotless shop. Overall 8/10

So, I have yet to try Dennis's, and once i manage to synchronize his layby appearances to mine,  I will be able to do a proper comparison of  quality local fish and chips. 

Cheers

Jon.

Can someone enlighten me please? The fish and chip shop which was "Nancy and Neil's" - was this the one at the bottom of Macc Road, just before the lights? Were they running it for a long, long, long time? My grandparents (on mum's side) lived on Macc Road and we often used this chippy. What was their surname?

Just wondered

Gnats

Edited by user 11 July 2009 13:05:21(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I find that very very hard to believe!

I have suspected you have an involvement from the first day you posted this and re-reading you comments in this post, coupled with the comments above I am now sure you do Harry!

Still they are good Fish and Chips all the same and worth promoting I suppose.

Regarding High Peak Harry's posting  today (11.07.09), with reference to sprinkling of salt on chips, there is actually a directive (no doubt of Government origin)  through the trade that says that by a shortly forthcoming date, that the salt dispensers must have no more than two holes. No doubt the thinking behind that is that it assists the public not to overdose on salt and be a drain on the NHS.

I dare say that this conclusion has been reached by many committee meetings at some expence to the taxpayer. However, they completely miss the obvious which is that all you have to do is shake the dispenser longer hence getting more excercise

You started it!

Oh dear, you let people off for a few spelling mistakes and everything goes to pot!

The use of text typing (lol) is also to be discouraged. You have a full keyboard at your disposal, please use it or add the emoticons at the side. No wonder the country is in the state it is if the use of the Queen's English has dropped so low. I bet you only eat with a fork and off a tray in front of the television.

See me afterwards!

I have been to the new chip shop in Furness and it was very good, as with anything you can get a good batch or a bad batch. Mine were a great batch!

What year did the picture house close down? I once nearly had a date with a young lady there round or about 1961 but she never turned up! Which was lucky because I then went on to meet my wife and we married in 1963.