Not Edinburgh but was in Whitby at the weekend on a business research trip which involved trying fish and chips from three of the best known outlets.

First up was Trenchers which has a fantastic reputation for fish and chips, it was awful. Chips although not bad in texture had a chemical taste probably not been rinsed properly from the dry white used to keep them looking good. The Haddock was battered with skin on (yuk) and the batter was so thin and soggy they shouldn’t have bothered, the tartar sauce was so vinegary. On top of that the service from the counter staff was abrupt and unhelpful.

In comparison the Quayside was fantastic, told us they served skin on haddock and asked if we wanted it with skin removed before battering which we did, fantastic fish and chips, crispy batter but not too thick and lovely crispy chips and decent tartar sauce.

The Magpie Cafe was also very similar to Quayside although we had cod there as they never offered to remove the skin from the haddock. Their tartar sauce was the best of the lot as it was chunky how I like it.

Overall Whitby was a nice place, we were there for a specific purpose though and Trenchers was such a let down.

I don’t mind skin on fish when it is being pan fried or grilled so it crisps but in batter, not for me!