Fish and chips is perhaps the pinnacle of British cuisine. With fish prices soaring and local businesses facing high rents and a decline in customers’ disposable income, it’s becoming tougher to get a box of the stuff and near-impossible to get a decent one for the low prices of yesteryear.
Londoners will know all too well that a regular cod and chips with some mushy peas will set you back by £15, and the fish itself often pales in comparison to the stuff you get on the coast.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty of great chippies out there keeping the fire lit, and some of them are pushing the envelope for the much-loved dish.
Archie’s Fish and Chips in Minster, Thanet, is one such establishment. It’s been drawing a lot of attention online, including from British food-averse Americans, with its 2.2kg battered fillet and the resultant eating challenge that’s seen it amass around 12 million views on TikTok.
The £65 – ‘ow much?! – platter features the 2.2kg fish fillet, four portions of chips, four sides, four drinks and, as if you would need it, some bread and butter. To be fair, that isn’t actually a bad deal.
Chip shop owners Alex and Natalie Bovalyaev have been running Archie’s Fish and Chips for 11 years and have said the £65 platter was originally a one-off treat for some friends.
However, people’s reactions to it inspired them to make it a permanent menu fixture.
“It’s bringing more customers in, as I think people enjoy something unusual,” said Alex.
A regular portion of cod weighs around 300g or less once battered, to put the jumbo fillets ranging from 1.5kg to 2.2kg into perspective.
It has to be pre-ordered if you want to give it a go, and there’s a faintly comical twist in being given a bread knife and tongs to help you to cut through it.
As it stands, no solo visitor has managed to see it off.
“We had two fellas in a competition try to eat the whole meal, but they couldn’t do it,” said Natalie.
“Nobody has managed that yet, so if someone does, I’d like to see.”
She continued: “We have had people come here from California and Germany who have family in the UK and came here on the way.”
Alex has lived in the UK for over 35 years, arriving from Moscow at 17 to study English. He learned the art of running a chippy near Herne Bay Clock Tower, and he’s seen the weather change for chip shop owners in recent years.
“Fresh fish is very expensive now, and cod is quite rare to get in this area compared to up north,” Alex said.
“The season for cod in the UK is December, January and February, so we have to get frozen fish and buy different brands to find the biggest ones.
“Sometimes we’re lucky, but sometimes we don’t get any big sizes.”
Featured Image Credit: John Keeble/Contributor/Getty ImagesTopics: UK Food, Social Media
Rachael Davis