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Language and Culture

Town and Country

FOOD AND DRINK

Some fish and chip shops only sell food to take away but others have an area where you can sit and eat. This can range from a few tables and chairs in the take-away shop, to a large restaurant next door to the take-away section. Of course it is usually more expensive to eat in than to have a take-away.

When you enter the shop there is normally a long counter facing you, behind which are containers of hot oil in which everything is being fried. If there are people waiting to be served you join the back of the queue. In smaller shops the person serving will sometimes ask you straight away what you are going to order, so that they can make sure they are already cooking the type of fish you want. In bigger shops they are generally cooking lots of fish so they don't bother to ask.

If they are busy there is sometimes a delay while they wait for a new batch of chips or fish to finish frying. Then the assistant will say something like 'It'll be 5 minutes!'

In the past these shops only sold various types of fish with chips plus a few other dishes such as sausages, portions of chicken and various meat pies. The sausages are fried and can be had either plain or with a batter coating. Now you often see chip shops combined with Chinese take-aways or kebab shops. I think it is best to look for a traditional shop to find the best fish and chips, although these shops are fine if you just need a quick snack.

There is usually a large price list displayed on the wall of the shop. The fish that people most commonly order are cod, haddock and plaice. If you order 'cod and chips' you will receive a portion like the one illustrated above or perhaps a bit smaller! You can order a large cod and large chips if you are very hungry, or you could share it between two people if you are taking it away.

The person serving will put your food in a plastic dish or on some greaseproof paper ready to be wrapped in more paper. They will often ask you if you want it wrapped or open. If 'open' then the parcel will be folded so that you can eat it as you walk along the street, as people often do on a night out or at the seaside.

You are usually asked if you want salt and vinegar to add flavour to the food. I usually ask for 'just a little' otherwise they put on lots of salt! The assistant will add it before closing the parcel. If you have asked for the parcel to be open then you usually add salt and vinegar yourself from the container on the counter. There are also often little wooden forks available to use. If you only want a small snack then you can order just a portion of chips and these are usually eaten with the fingers.

On the following pages for a bit of language study we have included two pages from the menu of a London fish and chip restaurant called Faulkner's (located at Kingsland Road, E2.) As they are a specialist fish restaurant they don't do a lot of non-fish dishes, but the fish they sell if very fresh as it comes the same day from London's famous Billingsgate wholesale fish market.