I visited UK’s ‘cheapest chippy’ – it cost more for car parking than the meal

THE phrase “cheap as chips” no longer carries quite the meaning it once did, thanks to the soaring price of the popular takeaway meal.

But in one seaside resort, you can still tuck into a plate of the original British fast food for just £5.25.

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Tower Fisheries in Blackpool has been hitting the headlines as the UK’s cheapest chippy, so it seemed only right that I take my son to
see whether it lives up to its reputation while we were on a day out
at the seaside.

Chips are one of my favourite foods and probably the only takeaway
treat that I couldn’t live without, so I consider myself something of
a connoisseur.

While neither of us is actually a fan of battered fish, we both got a good plate of grub to tuck into and still had change from £6.

In fact, that was 25p less than I spent on parking for a few hours
near the prom.

It was the only chippy that I spotted on our walk about town that was offering kids’ meals for a quid, without having to pay for an adult
meal as well.

My little one was quite happy munching his sausage and chips.

Adding a portion of beans for 80p almost doubled the cost of his plate of food, but at £1.80, it was still a bargain.

Meanwhile I had a cheese and onion pasty with chips for just £3.95.

Considering two cod and three portions of chips recently set me back
the princely sum of £27 at a chippy at home, this was a bit of a
result.

And it was even cheaper than car parking, where I had to fork out £6 for a few hours in a nearby car park.

Two clean plates later, we both agreed that we were chuffed with our
chippy tea and it really was excellent value for money.

The eat-in area was clean and bright, with nice artwork on the walls.

We were the only ones eating at first, but not long after we arrived, two couples ordered the special of cod, chips and mushy peas with bread and butter, plus a hot drink to wash it down, which cost just £6.50 per meal.

You really can’t grumble at those prices and the fish looked
freshly cooked with a decent portion of chips when it was served.

Tower Fisheries is tucked away on a side street near St John’s Square,
home to the famous Winter Gardens.

It’s about five minutes’ walk from the beach, but I was glad we’d heard about this hidden gem and walked past lots of bigger eateries to find it.

At Harry Ramsden’s underneath the Blackpool Tower, a small cod costs £15, while a meal deal for over-60s with fish and chips, hot drink and a pudding was £10.69.

Kids meals start at £7, so you’re certainly paying a pretty penny to enjoy a sea view.

We took a quick look inside the iconic Winter Gardens on our way past and I loved its sense of grandeur, both inside and out.

It’s currently in the middle of a multi-million-pound refurbishment, while St John’s Square has also undergone a facelift.

The spruce-up has certainly had the desired effect and there were plenty of picnic benches on the church side of the square, which would make an ideal spot to tuck into your fish and chips, as long as you could keep the seagulls away for long enough!

Next time I go to Blackpool, I know where I’ll be heading to get a good plate of food for next to nothing.

Tower Fisheries is definitely still cheap as chips!

Here’s where you can find the biggest portion of fish & chips in the UK.

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