Southampton's best chip shop: Best Fry in the West End

Southampton has no shortage of chip shops, so it helps to know which ones actually walk the walk. At the top of the list is Best Fry, over in the West End at 83 High Street, which has spent the last few years collecting the kind of awards that are hard to ignore. It took the Daily Echo Fish and Chip Shop of the Year title in 2025, beating out J-Henry's in Hedge End, and it carries a 5 Star Fish and Chip Award, a 2018 listing among the top 20 stores in the UK and a place among the top five in the South and Central region. Its food hygiene rating sits at a full five, last updated in June 2026, and its Uber Eats score hovers around 4.7 across more than 700 reviews.

There is some real history behind the counter. The shop opened in April 2011 and is run by the Lee family, who took over the original Codfather back in 1999. Adrian Mikai has managed the place since 2022, alongside John-Henry Lee, the eldest son of founder Shane Lee. John-Henry's fish-frying days go back a long way: he cooked his first piece of fish at eleven at Jhenry's in Hedge, named after him, and was an assistant manager at The Codfather by fifteen or sixteen. The family business actually started in Hedge End in 1988, and they now run seven sites, including The Codfather, which John's brother Sonny looks after, and a partner shop in Lyndhurst, in the New Forest, that was once Bertie's and is now New Forest Finest. The whole operation runs on a simple philosophy: keep it simple, and stick to the basics that work.

On the menu, the prices are fair for the quality. A cod fillet is £11.50, the lunchtime haddock and chips come in at £7.99, and the cod combo is £16.95. If you are after a quick snack, regular chips are £4.50, chips with curry sauce £6.50, and a portion of six onion rings £4.00. There is a kids menu too, with a fish meal and a four-piece nuggets meal both at £6.95. Beyond the fish, they do burgers, loaded chips, southern fried mini chicken fillets, mega boxes, sausages and chicken, and they have even launched their own homemade crisps in six flavours, sold at 99p a 75g bag. A free VIP membership hands you a discount code in your birthday month, access to the 99p menu in January and a break on party orders of over 40 meals, and the shop lists on Too Good To Go if you fancy a magic bag at the end of the day.

Getting your fix is easy. You can call ahead on 023 8047 3489, walk in, order click-and-collect, or get it delivered through Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Southampton Fish and Chips, the latter of which adds a 50p admin charge. Uber Eats covers the West End, and Uber One members get a £0 delivery fee on selected orders. It runs six days a week, with a split shift on most days: 11:30 to 14:15 and then back from 16:30 to 21:30, closing a bit earlier on Fridays and Saturdays and shutting completely on Sundays. If you are weighing it up against the rest of the city, the 2025 shortlist also took in Fish & Co on Hinkler Road, Harefield Fish Bar on Somerset Avenue, Sib's on Civic Centre Road and Top Catch on Shirley Road, but Best Fry is the one that came out on top.