Quayside has maintained its place among the UK’s top fish and chip shops by yet again scooping a prestigious food quality award for “consistently serving some of the nation’s finest fish and chips”. 

After a rigorous inspection process that involved shop visits and testing, The National Federation of Fish Friers’ (NFFF) confirmed this week that Quayside has been given its ‘Fish and Chip Quality Award’. 

Quayside’s head chef and director Stuart Fusco said he was delighted to gain the award, which the takeaway and restaurant has attained regularly since the scheme began.

“Quality fish and chips that exceeds our customers’ expectations is what we’re all about and this comes down to simple things like good products, good training and good hygiene, which we’re very much committed to here,” said Stuart. “The Fish and Chip Quality Award is a badge of excellence that gives our customers confidence that we are serving them among the best fish and chips in Britain.”

The NFFF, the trade body that represents the nation’s fish and chip shops, runs the scheme as a way of raising standards within the trade, rewarding and promoting shops that provide good quality products and high standards of hygiene, as well as friers who show a high level of competence.

To qualify, each shop has to go through an inspection by an NFFF approved assessor who looks at the shop’s presentation, hygiene and cleanliness, staff training, equipment, frying and sales skills and most importantly the quality of the cooked product. 

Since opening in 1999, Quayside has been a consistent award-winner both nationally and locally for its food. It was voted champion chippie of Yorkshire and the Northeast for two consecutive years and recently became the first fish and chip shop in Yorkshire to get the prestigious Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) stamp of approval that the fish it serves is sustainably sourced. Only 12 fish and chip shops in the UK have MSC certification along with a handful of restaurants including Raymond Blanc’s Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.