what i wouldnt give for a decent local chippy instead of all these damn kebab shops everywhere.

fish n chips and mushy peas... i suppose i'll just have to dream on.

Hi Oscar, it's getting to be that way in some parts of England now. The chippy is almost exotic, nestled sparingly between all the Chinese, Indian, pizza and kebab places.

Nordsee has a fish restaurant in Zurich main station (Hauptbahnhof) - admittedly not a genuine chippie, but perhaps enough of an alternative to kebabs ...

Why don't you open one? We would be more than happy to provide the mushy peas and the vinegar

Good idea - I'd come along!

The problem is a good Fish and Chips has to be fresh!! Frozen fish doesnt do it and that will be a problem in Zurich(landlocked). The fish need to be caught in the morning and then cooked for lunch. The best!!! Have you ever tried Fish Knuspery???

Can I suggest you take the mobile (chippy van) option, that way more us in schweiz can have our chippy suppers
Its a sad fact that the rest of Europe's chip offerings do not compare well to the great british chippy.

Totally. When I lived in London I lived opposite a place called "Kareem Fish, Kebab, Burger" and it did none of them well.

Anyone know any good places for Fish and Chips in Geneva/Vaud?

I agree with Phillips on this one! Fresh not frozen!

I'm not from UK, but I love fish & chips with vinegar! and would give my third born child for some. No more kebabs!! They are vile...

Apparently there is a fish & chips van near Geneva on the French border. I hear it's not bad, but I could just be the nostalgia factor! At least it is run by a Brit. (if that helps!)

There is a chippie van on the French border. You need to listen to WRG FM and you'll hear about it. Or maybe call them, they can tell you where they are.

Huh? I guess you've never been to a Belgian "frit kot"?? Yummy!

You'd think there's be a market wouldn't you?

What about the joke that is Nordsee's idea of British fish and chips - idiots .

One of the problems is you become desperate - you start to think the stuff offered by one or two "English" pubs is ok and it takes a trip back to blighty and some fresh cod and chips from a Grimsby chippy to bring you to your senses.

Hungry now ......

Absolutely, bloody awful .

Shamefully, I have eaten Nordsee "fish and chips" twice since I got there. Mustbe the equivalent of going onto methadone after heroin addiction. You don't want it, it's not nearly as good, but it's all you've got...
Saying that, I did stuff myself with cod and chips on Tuesday when we went to Portsmouth. There's still chip grease leaking out of my pores, but I'm so much happier.
And KFC.
And Greggs.

Why am I coming back?

More like a weak shandy after being on two bottles of vodka a day .

1. fresh water fish - no possibility of being anywhere close to cod, haddock, etc
2. batter - words fail me
3. chips - deep fried cardboard is probably closer to the real thing

Do the Brits on this thread who say that the fish has to be "fresh" and not frozen really believe that this is what they have been eating when they buy fish and chips in the UK?

Fresh might have meant fresh in the times of your childhood, but I'm afraid that the term "fresh" when it comes to fish in the UK generally means "fresh frozen", in other words it is frozen shortly after catching for the long transport back to port (often thousands of kilometers).

Even when you eat fish in a "fishing village" there's a very good chance that the fish you eat comes from the other side of the world. Even in the case where a local fishing village still sends out a couple of boats (assuming that they can still find fish to catch), this will never cope with the demand.

The fact that Switzerland is land locked makes no difference at all. If a fish is already frozen, what difference does it make to transport it a couple of more hours? There's a considerable delay before it actually reaches your plate anyway. In the case of Zurich - I understand that fish markets are done only twice a week, rather than daily (I could be wrong about that). Fish isn't delivered daily to supermarkets, so the new deliveries may stay out the back until the older stuff in the front is sold.

This might be disappointing, but it's a simple fact that the oceans, especially around populated places, are almost bare compared to 20-30 years ago. The Atlantic is all but devoid of cod (used to be a popular fish and chips fish), stocks are down to 20% of their former levels and in many places totally collapsed.

The good news is that if you live in a country where fisheries are managed properly, and illegal fishing is strongly patrolled, you might actually get the chance to go to the fish markets and get something that is really fresh. However, even in a famous fish market like Tokyo, the tuna all arrive frozen.
But look on the bright side Brits - there's no shortage of chips...

Thanks Mark for point that out.
In fact, I rarely eat fish now because of the over-fishing issue.
Even the perch from Lake Geneva actually now comes from Poland.
I was in Liguria recently & went to buy some of their salted anchovies. There were none. The fishmonger said it was the first time in her 30 years as a fishmonger that she didn't have any anchovies!

But we can dream of a lovely batch of fish & chips!

My memories of fish 'n chips on the coast of the north of england are of the fish being so much softer and moister than you'd sometimes get at your local chippy.

Maybe its not fresh though - just less un-fresh. And perhaps they're just bloody good at frying fish.

I can remember doing an install in a shop in Cleethorpes once, and afterwards I asked the staff which chippy nearby was a good one, they replied 'all of them' - and I was not dissapointed.

Mark, obviously the stuff about fish stocks is well founded but on the fresh v frozen you're way out.

Fish sold as fresh in UK supermarkets cannot have been frozen - it can only be chilled. Therefore the availability of fresh fish is proven.

My local fish shop in the middle of the UK collected chilled fish from London every day. In Grimsby the Lincolnshire chippies collect it right from the boat.

Of course, there are many F&C shops that use cheap, frozen imported fish. They would only get my custom once - the difference in the product is obvious.