'Number 1 chip shop' in North Wales where customers are on first name terms

Barmouth lies on the coast between the mountains and the sea in one of the most beautiful parts of the country. The perfect seaside destination for a bag of fish and chips.

They have been cooking their award-winning chips at the mermaid chip shop since 1964, right on the beach front. Originally The Victoria Hotel, owned by British Rail, The Mermaid Fish Bar was first run by Nora Evans of Liverpool and remains a family run business.

The mermaid fish bar believes in a traditional approach to their food and service, keen to give the customers the very best quality and care at all times. Their food is strictly fresh and natural for the best-tasting, traditional seaside experience. No re heated old fish and chips on the menu here.

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There is sign on the window, which celebrates their 60th anniversary of frying chips, so they must be doing something right. They have won awards from both the Times and Telegraph as well as the more prestigious ‘Daily Post’ award. There is even a footnote on the wall menu that declares it’s Wales no 1 chip shop.

The chippie is easy to find once you have arrived in Barmouth. Simply keep on the road into the town and you will see them near the train track or you can simply look out for the queues of hungry customers.

The menu offers old fashioned chip shop favourites such as saveloy, potato scallops and faggots and peas as well as having the usual big hitters. You can have your chips in a cone or have them smothered in cheese. You can have mini versions of fish and chips for £5.25 or even go for a Yorkshire fishcake or spam covered fritters.

We decided to go for good old cod and chips with curry sauce instead of mushy peas. We opted to eat our fish and chips on one of the tables inside the café with the winter sun pouring in through the steamed-up windows.

The fish had a delicious crunchy and flaky batter on the outside with a fresh meaty moist white fish on the inside. It tasted of the sea and we could see the palm trees and the beautiful Barmouth beach in the distance.

The chips were lovely and fresh with just the right consistency. They were proper chippy chips with some delicious crispy ones at the bottom of the tray, which hadn’t been doused in vinegar. The curry sauce was of the fruity variety and went perfectly with both the fish and the chips. It added a bit of zing and moisture to proceedings.

We also went for a steak and kidney pudding, which was served in a round tin foil tray. The pie was encased in a suet pastry, with a lean stewing steak and a rich, thick gravy that oozed out of the steaming lid. Just glorious, you really can’t beat eating proper chips at the seaside

Old and returning customers were welcomed in by their first names and there was a steady queue of customers coming in despite it being out of season by the seaside. The mermaid chip shop say that their motto is that ‘the old way is the best way’ and when it comes to fish and chips, you can’t really argue with that. Sixty years and counting

The Facts

Cod £7.00

Steak Pie £3.00

Chips £3.25 x 2

Curry Sauce £1.50

Total £18.00

Opening Times:

Monday -Saturday

12PM to 8PM

Sunday Closed

Atmosphere- Frying tonight

Car Parking- Car park was £1.10 for 2 hours on the beach front

Disabled Access- Three steps up to the entrance but there were benches outside the chip shop as well.

Service- The chips were methodically shovelled on to the trays really quickly.

Overall- For over 60 years, The Mermaid has served the best Fish and Chips in Barmouth. (and perhaps the whole of North Wales)

The Mermaid Fish Bar

Jubilee Road,

Barmouth

Gwynedd,

LL42 1LT

01341 280614