The Fish Hut, Liverpool Road, Reviewed

THE FISH HUT, one of the city's only traditional fish and chip shops, is looking smarter these days after a change of ownership.

Maybe the Don Marco team and the very pleasant Latin ladies who serve are holding back a bit.

Fry ladies, fry hard on higher temperatures. Give your food a bit of lusty Lancashire character.

Dating from 1969 - as it proudly states on the facade - this is a three-storey affair. Chips and takeaway on the ground floor and cafe above.

The cafe gives the game away about the change of ownership. Here there's a counter with salads and boards on the wall advertising capuccinos.

In a chippy.

Heresy. Burn 'em.

But the new owners also own Don Marco, the Italian restaurant over the road, so there's a hint of the Med about this place. Not that people were much departing from traditional chippy grub and mugs of tea on the Confidential visit. 

The Fish Hut

Anyway, recently the plaice has been refishbished when the new owners haddock enough with the tired interior and wanted to clear it trout as it was crabbing their style. Using a lot of whiting they've made it much brighter which works very whelk.

Downstairs there's the main menu board for when you need to mullet over and want to be squids in. We don't know whether there are chub locks on the doors or where they keep their quays but if that floats your boat then you can always look things up on the net - if it doesn't drive you lobster potty.

(That last sentence doesn't make sense and this joke is wearing fin. Stop it. Ed.)

A big portion of fish and chips and curry sauce at the Fish Hut is £6.10 and is middling in quality, aptly it was 6/10 in scoring terms too.

The batter needs to be crisper on the fish, the chips need to be crisper too. The curry sauce was ok but erred on the side of watery. It was all a little insipid, reflecting the pale insipid interior of the cafe.  

Counter and prices

Maybe the Don Marco team and the very pleasant Latin ladies who serve are holding back a bit.

Fry ladies, fry hard on higher temperatures. Give your food a bit of lusty Lancashire character. 

I suppose the Fish Hut still provides a useful stoking up spot before a night out or maybe a stodge refill after a night out. The next door pub, Cask, still provides a steady stream of punters, handy that you can take the chips back into the boozer too.

But if it wants to be a destination chippy - one you'd cross town for - then those fish and the chips, the very essence of a chippy, need to improve drastically.

Food: 6/10 
Service: 3/5
Ambience: 3/5

Sandwiches and salads upstairs in the cafe

Much brighter

Upstairs in the cafe