Fry praise for Idle shop’s chips (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Tasty fare nets fisheries the honour of being best in county

8:00am Tuesday 19th February 2013 in News By Julie Tickner, T&A Reporter

From the left, Towngate Fisheries staff Joanne Hoole, Mark Lyness and Caroline Thornton celebrate their best-in-Yorkshire award

Forget seaside towns – the best fish-shop chips in Yorkshire are served up right here in Bradford.

Towngate Fisheries in Idle officially has the best chips in the region, and owner Mark Drummond said the award was all the more tasty as it was voted for by customers.

The High Street shop won the Choice Chip Awards title in the Potato Council competition held to mark Chip Week 2013, which runs until Sunday.

More than 500 shops competed for ten regional titles voted for by the public online and through voting cards in participating shops.

The popular shop based in Idle was frying high after customers’ passion for their perfectly-cooked portion helped them bag first place.

Mr Drummond, who took over Towngate Fisheries in 1997, was thrilled. He said: “This is fantastic news and confirmation that we’ve got it right. Being voted for by customers is the best award you can get. We’re really delighted that our customers have gone to the effort of voting for us. It’s all about attention to detail and giving customers a great experience.

“This starts with a clean shop and friendly and helpful staff, and ends with great-quality chips. Ours are cooked in beef dripping to give that wonderful flavour.

“Everybody knows the best chips come from Yorkshire, because it’s one of the few areas that still fries in beef dripping,” said Mr Drummond, who added that his chips are cut thicker too, so they absorb less oil.

The shop, which helps train others, has also had its fish, chips and mushy peas nutritionally analysed and the chips contain only 7.2 per cent fat, which Mr Drummond said was far less than other takeaway food options.

And he is delighted that the Curry Capital is on the map for boasting another cuisine.

“People think of fish and chips and the seaside, but I’ve always thought Leeds and Bradford’s are better than anywhere else. It’s nice for Bradford to have won something like this – it’s not just the curries that are good from Bradford,” Mr Drummond said.

Kate Cox, marketing manager for the Potato Council, said: “This year’s Choice Chip Awards have been incredibly popular, with more than 35,000 votes made by customers who were keen to give their favourite chips their stamp of approval.”