Getting a fish 'n chip shop right is a tricky business. So much part of our cultural history and memory that any deviation from the norm is met with scepticism, even moral outrage. Aim too low and you’re in deep-fried-burger, anti-social-behaviour-on-the-street territory; aim too high and you lose touch with the essentially working-class roots of it all. There are a select few who have cracked it: The Mayfair Chippy is one, Victorian-tiled and with a delightfully moreish menu or fish! Kitchen in Kingston-upon-Thames which sources fish from its own fishmonger, Jarvis, next door. 

Über fresh, excellent quality fish and superb chip-shop chips are a must, but how often have one or other (or both) been scandalously absent? You also want a bit of flair and a few things beyond the ubiquitous cod, haddock and plaice.

The Grosvenor Fish bar has it down pat. It shares the outré decor of its boho neighbours: beneath the pretty standard but wildly friendly/efficient take away lies a charming dine-in cellar where fighter-bomber zinc panelling and the odd whiff of damp somehow only stands to enhance the briny, vinegar tang of its crispy-fried ambiance. Who needs windows and natural light when you have the likes of soft-shelled crab buns with fried green tomatoes and Po-boy sauce or the jauntily named Seven Quid Squid with garlic aioli to tuck into.

There are plenty of more trad things like cod cheeks and battered sea bass, but both the familiar and the new offer real, tasty value. Wine comes with limited “white Sauvignon” and “French rosé” credentials and is palatable if nothing more. But you can cheer yourself up with the battered gherkins (pictured) – unmissable.