Whittled down from an earlier judging round top 20 shortlist for the Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award - one of 15 categories in the 2018 National Fish & Chip Awards – the six restaurants that will now compete to clinch the title of ‘UK’s best fish and chip restaurant’ are:

• Eric’s Fish & Chips, Thornham, Norfolk
• Poppie’s Fish & Chips, Soho, London
• Something Else Fishy, Millborne Port, Dorset
• The Cod’s Scallops, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire
• The Pelican, Barnstaple, Devon
• Trenchers Restaurant, Whitby, North Yorkshire

To reach this stage of the competition, the finalists have been judged by industry experts across a wide variety of criteria including responsible sourcing policies, diversification and innovation, restaurant facilities and appearance, staff training and development practices, and marketing and promotional activity. They have also received mystery shopping assessments to evaluate customer service levels and the quality of the fish and chips on offer.

Over the coming weeks, the shortlisted restaurants will face additional in-depth judging audits to assess both the front and back–of-house operations. This final stage of competition judging will determine the overall national winner who will be announced at the 30^th anniversary awards ceremony.

Marcus Coleman, Chief Executive at Seafish, said: “Fish and chips have always been one of Britain’s best loved dishes. With changing trends, it’s encouraging to see that our long-standing tradition has evolved with the rise of the fish and chip dining experience.

“With more and more people opting to dine out, this award category has never been so relevant. As many businesses across the country vie to be crowned the UK’s best fish and chip restaurant, the competition is well and truly on as our finalists will now compete at the highest level to claim the number one spot.

“Congratulations to our top five on making it to this final stage - they are the reason why the UK is known as the home of the world’s best fish and chips.”

Award sponsor Alan Pearce, Field Sales Manager at Goldensheaf, added: “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 5 restaurants in reaching the final of the competition and wish them the best of luck in London next January 2018.”

The winner of the Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award will be announced at The National Fish & Chip Awards’ 30^th anniversary ceremony in London on 25 January 2018.

Prior to this, the finalists will embark on an educational study trip to North East Scotland’s fishing port of Peterhead. In early December, the shortlisted restaurants will learn first-hand how cod and haddock caught in the icy North Sea waters makes its way from the bustling fish market at Peterhead to fish and chip outlets across the UK.

For more information visit www.fishandchipawards.com or follow @FishnChipAwards #FishnChipAwards.