These two fish and chip shops have been named the best in Northern Ireland

The Dolphin Takeaway in Dungannon, County Tyrone and Silverfin’s Traditional Fish & Chips in Newry, County Armagh have both been shortlisted for the prestigious award and will take on eighteen fellow chippys from across the United Kingdom.

Run by Mallachy Mallon, the Dolphin Takeaway have enjoyed success in the prestigious competition recently, picking up the award for Best Fish and Chip Shop in Northern Ireland in 2017. The County Tyrone chip shop prides itself on its attention to detail.

Silverfin's was also shortlisted last year, but narrowly missed out on the award to the Dolphin Takeaway, despite its locally famous cod and chips, and friendly service.

Searching for the nation's number 1 chippy

Organised by Seafish, the annual National Fish & Chip Awards is a prestigious competition which recognises true excellence in the fish and chip industry. These Top 20 shops represent the best in the UK and will now compete in two further rounds of judging in their quest to become the nation’s number one.

As part of the judging process, each shop is carefully assessed on a variety of elements including: sustainable sourcing policies, menu development and innovation, staff training policies and processes and wider marketing and promotional activity and techniques – and of course the quality of fish and chips on offer and the levels of customer service provided by staff.

Over the coming weeks the shops will undergo a further phase of mystery diner judging inspections in order to whittle the UK Top 20 down to a UK Top 10 shortlist, before the final stage of judging held in London in January 2019.

'Commitment to quality'

Marcus Coleman, chief executive officer at Seafish, said: “This flagship award category showcases the leading fish and chip businesses across the country. These shops have demonstrated real commitment to quality in a number of areas, not just food, and have worked extremely hard to earn their place on this list.

“There’s a tremendous amount of talent to be seen across the UK Top 20, and we wish them all the best in the next round of judging as we know how much this competition means to all of them.”

The winner of the Fish and Chip Shop of the Year Award will be announced at The National Fish & Chip Awards’ 31st anniversary ceremony in London on 24 January 2019.

To view the full shortlist visit: fishisthedish.co.uk or follow @fishisthedish #FishnChipAwards.