Northumberland & South Tyneside fish and chip shops among best in UK

During a recent list drawn up by The Guardian, the newspaper has ranked the best seaside chippies across the UK – and dubbed each one of them ‘national treasures’ of the food world.

The list, which has been put together by journalist Sarah Turner, compiles 20 of the best venues that are in seaside towns and villages and spans the Isle of Scilly, Aberdeenshire, Llandudno, and even Shetland.

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While many residents in the North East might battle for their local chippy to be included in the top-20 list, and have a favourite dish from each, The Guardian has decided to include two fish and chip shops from the region within their list – one in Northumberland and the other in South Tyneside.

The first in the list from the North East mentions Blyth-based restaurant Coastline, which is praised for having “a sign telling you what spud varieties are being fried, alongside properly northern portions of mushy peas, gravy and curry sauce”.

Located in the Mermaid Car Park at Blyth Links, the shop finds itself right by the beach.

Two North East chippies have been included in the Guardian's top 20. Picture: NORTHERN ECHO

Customers that choose to go to Coastline can choose to eat their fish and chips inside the restaurant or eat while walking on the path through the dunes to Seaton Sluice, or even taking them to nearby Whitley Bay for an added view.

Alongside making the top 20 list in The Guardian, it seems like people agree that Coastline in Blyth is a superior fish and chippie, after rating it four stars from 736 reviews on TripAdvisor.

Of the 736 satisfied customers, 320 have ranked it excellent and 177 as very good.

According to the manager of Coastline, Debbie Walker, the morale of the staff makes the restaurant one of the best around – and that translates to “incredible” food for the customers.

Coastline in Blyth. Picture: GOOGLE

She told The Northern Echo: “This mention from The Guardian is great for the staff and management. It’s nice to know and it’s an extra boost for us all here at Coastline.

“We’ll hopefully get some extra customers off the back of this, but we also have loyal customers that have given us a boost over the pandemic.

“We were closed for ten weeks but then we were open all of the other times, it was a challenge, but our amazing staff and customers pushed us through.”

The other North East chippy to get a mention in The Guardian article was Colmans on Ocean Road in South Shields, which the newspaper called “part of Sandhaven history since the 1920s. Scampi is doused with a secret-recipe batter, served with homemade tartare sauce.”

Queues outside Colmans in South Shields. Picture: NORTHERN ECHO

Recently hosting former US presidential candidate Hilary Clinton for a classic fish and chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce, this isn’t the first time that Colmans has got a positive nod, with the North East institution picking up numerous awards, while the owner of Colmans, Richard Ord, picking up an MBE in 2020.

The South Shields chippy is clearly a popular choice with customers – having racked up a four and a half star rating from 1744 reviews; 1216 of which were excellent.

You can read the full Guardian article here.

Let us know your favourite fish and chip shop in the North East.

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