Neil Littman samples three very different meals in his quest to find the borough’s best and chips

Most sources seem to agree that a young Jewish immigrant named Joseph Malin opened the first ‘chippy’ in 1860 in London.

When I was at school a long, long time ago we used to buy ‘six pennyworth’ of chips (2.5p) served in newspaper on the way home from sport activity days. This was equivalent to 65p in today’s money – allowing for inflation – but now that potatoes are more expensive, a portion of chips costs around £3. The price of fish has gone the same way.

To make up for the price hike, the quality needs to be good. So I began my mission to find Enfield’s best fish and chips with high expectations. In the end, it was a mixed bag – and with no newspaper in sight.

Cannons in Southgate Green (Cannon Hill) is somewhere I have eaten numerous takeaways previously and it is usually good quality cod and great chips. My visit day after a bank holiday Monday may have been a bad time to go there, however, because various dishes were unavailable. I ordered plaice and new potatoes and my friend had cod fishcakes. He ordered mashed potato and his fishcakes contained a lot of… mashed potato. Our starters of whitebait and a prawn cocktail were perfect but the plaice had too much batter, which resembled shoe leather, and the fillet lacked flavour – plus I wasn’t asked how I wanted it served.

Burlingtons in Windmill Hill (near Enfield Chase Station) is another well-known chippy locally. But an empty restaurant on a Saturday night at 7pm, with no friends in tow, isn’t my idea of fun. There was a smell of frying that hung around the back of the dining area, but at least the front section is air-conditioned. I ordered skate wing and chips, plus a side order of gherkin. The fish was good underneath its batter overcoat – and arrived with an unexpected salad Next time, however, I will go for grilled and stick to a takeaway rather than sitting in. I will give it an extra plus point though, for providing a proper fish knife!

While chippies have a long history in this country, I’m not sure when pubs first started putting fish and chips on their menus. But you can now find it on the menu almost everywhere, so I decided to visit one local pub known for its good food.

I visited The Salisbury Arms in Winchmore Hill (Hoppers Road) on a Monday evening with a friend, with Arsenal playing live on the big screen. The fish (not identified but maybe whiting, pollock or another sustainable fish such as Atlantic cod) was served with a small portion of chips, plus minted peas and tartare sauce on the side. It tasted fresh and went down very well with a couple of pints of draught beer. For me, it was the best fish and chips of the three places I visited, which I found surprising.

Do you know a better place to buy fish and chips in Enfield? Email [email protected] and tell us which is your favourite local chippy.

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