The British Chip Shop

Long long wait for food. Chips were good, curry ok, sausages not so much & pricey too.

Before I start, I’d just like to say that I’m not the biggest ‘Fish’n’Chips’ fan. I’ve got nothing against seafood but, it just doesn’t excite me like a good steak does.
So this place was facing an uphill battle with me from the get go.
Penrith seems to be getting more and more trendy food places and every time I drove past The British Chip Shop it was pumping. I figured with lines out the door all day every day it’d be the joint to win me over.
Everything on the menu looked great and had a British flare. You’ve got your classics like Haddock, Scampi and Cod, along with more exotic items (using the term loosely, this is British food after all,) like chip buttys, Yorkshire Pudding and deep fried Mars Bars.
I’ve got no idea what «Faggots in onion gravy» is but everything was so enticing that I wanted to try the lot.
Being that this was my first visit, I settled on Cod and cheesy chips.
Unfortunately, this is where things started to go a little downhill.
The shop itself is nicely decorated and furnished but it’s quite small. There are only a handful of tables and there’s nothing but a single rotary fan to keep it cool. I know its considered a drought in England if it doesn’t rain within a seven day period but here in Australia, Penrith in particular, we NEED air conditioning to be comfortable.
We were waiting for our food for about 20 minutes before we began to notice that people who ordered their meals after us were being served.
After going up to the counter to inquire about whether or not the fish had to be caught first before cooking it, we discovered that our meal had been forgotten.
The counter staff were completely unfazed by this and started from scratch without an apology or compensation.
All up I waited just under 40 minutes for my meal, hoping that it would wow me.
It didn’t.
It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t what it needed to be to win me over.
The fish was of fair quality and the meal itself was well priced — $ 12.50, but it wasn’t anything exceptional.
If you’re looking for a cheap and easy lunch or dinner, this will fill that need nicely.
I can just imagine grabbing a couple of mates, nipping in here for some take away and heading down the Nepean River for a relaxing feed.
But if, like me, you’re on the fence about Fish’n’Chips to begin with, this isn’t the place that’s going to win you over.