Five fish and chip shops from across the UK will be competing for the title of Britain’s Top Takeaway in a new TV series for BBC TWO next week.
Presented by Sarah Cox and comedian Darren Harriot, the show airs from Monday 9th May at 8pm with the first episode featuring Tony’s Chippy in Glasgow, Chris’s Fish and Chips in Leicestershire, Hird’s Family Fisheries in Huddersfield, Posh Fish and Chips in Cardiff, and Simpsons in Cheltenham.
The five chippies, made up of two-person teams, filmed the episode last year in a specially built kitchen in a warehouse in Manchester. The prep was carried out the day before filming for a menu that each shop had created specifically for the show to include a classic dish, a chef’s special, a vegetarian option and sides.
Viewers will see the orders come in to the kitchen via an app and the takeaways have to cook, package and send their order out for delivery to five local families who eat, rate and score it from the comfort of their dining table or sofa. The takeaway with the most points is crowned “Top Takeaway”.
Hugh Innes of Tony’s Chippy worked alongside manager William to cook and serve a menu that included a one and one supper – one breaded fish and one battered – a fried curry sauce and chips butty, as well as fish fritters and pea fritters.
Hugh says: “It was an amazing opportunity and it was challenging because we didn’t have a frying range, we just had small basket fryers, we had no means of keeping the food warm and we didn’t know what the orders were before they came in so we couldn’t really prepare ahead. It was way out of my comfort zone, frying with 10 or 20 cameras on your face, so it was nerve-racking and character building but more than anything it was great fun.”
Hugh says regardless of who wins the show, all five shops are winners having gained recognition on national television for what they do while shining a spotlight on the industry at a vital time.
He adds: “The industry is really struggling at the moment and I don’t think The BBC could have pulled this out the hat at any better time. It was scheduled for the end of January but it got put back until now, it’s a great bit of fun that promotes fish and chips. The amount of people that are going to call their local takeaways while watching this in the next few weeks is going to be huge.”
Other episodes in the eight-part series search for the best takeaway across categories including burgers, pizza and Mexican.