The UK’s top 10 fish and chip restaurants have been announced today (Tuesday 18 October) by the 2017 National Fish & Chip Awards, organised by Seafish.

Shortlisted as part of the awards which are widely considered as the ‘Oscars’ of the fish frying industry, the 10 businesses will now compete for the Independent Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award and aim to claim to the title of ‘best fish and chip restaurant’ in the UK.

Hailing from across the UK, the 10 finalists are:

• Trenchers Restaurant in Whitby, North Yorkshire
• Mister C’s in Selby, North Yorkshire
• Harbour Lights in Falmouth, Cornwall
• Lloyds in Lampeter, Ceredigion
• The Fisherman’s Wife in Whitby, North Yorkshire
• The Elite Fish & Chip Company in Lincoln, Lincolnshire
• The Pelican in Barnstaple, Devon
• Catch Fish and Chips in Glasgow, East Renfrewshire
• Seafresh Restaurant in Pimlico, London
• Something Else Fishy in Sherborne, Somerset

To get to this stage and secure a place in the coveted shortlist, the restaurants have faced appraisal by industry experts across a wide variety of judging criteria including fish sourcing policies, restaurant facilities and appearance, staff training and development practices, menu diversification, and marketing and promotional activity. They also received mystery shopping assessments to ascertain customer service levels and the quality of the fish and chips on offer.

Over the coming weeks, the restaurants will be subjected to further mystery shopping assessments and in-depth judging audits. This next stage of the competition will whittle down the top 10 to establish the top five UK fish and chip restaurants that will compete for the top accolade to eventually be presented at the awards ceremony, held in London on 26 January 2017.

Award sponsor Alan Pearce, Field Sales Manager at Goldensheaf, said: "As the UK’s leading batter mix producer, with a heritage of over 60 years, we can identify with the importance of being recognised as a quality performer within the fish and chip industry.

"This award category rewards those that provide an outstanding fish and chip dining experience for their customers, while continually striving to improve their standards and diversify their offering. We congratulate the 10 restaurants in reaching this stage of the competition and wish them the best of luck in the next round of judging.”

Marcus Coleman, Chief Executive of Seafish, said: "This award recognises our country’s best fish and chip restaurants for their commitment and high level of professionalism across all aspects of running a successful restaurant.

"The quality of entries this year has been outstanding; I know the judges were extremely impressed with the businesses’ in-depth knowledge and thorough understanding of our industry – it was a tough job determining a final 10.

"I would like to thank our finalists for upholding our industry’s high standards, helping us to reinforce the UK’s reputation as the home of the world’s best fish and chips.”

The National Fish & Chip Awards are recognised as one of the most prominent and respected seafood industry events in the UK. They celebrate the Great British tradition of fish and chips, showcasing the best talent, quality and choice offered by fish and chip businesses through 13 different award categories.

For further information on The National Fish & Chip Awards please visit www.fishandchipawards.com. Follow @FishnChipAwards on Twitter for all the awards news and information.