Many thanks to Oliver and James Kirkpatrick and all the team at The Fish Plaice.
The Fish Plaice, with its bright blue frontage, is an unmissable Swanage landmark, well known for its fish and chips but also gaining a reputation for providing a gluten-free alternative once a month.
The chippy prides itself on being family-run and is co-owned by brothers, James and Oliver Kirkpatrick. The team aims to cook the best fish and chips they possibly can, alongside other popular items like burgers, battered sausages and pies .
How to cook excellent fish and chips
To achieve the best quality, the team filter their oil everyday, freshly prepare the chips from potatoes on site, cut their own fish fillets from sustainably managed seas, produce their own batter using a special recipe and make their home-made fishcakes daily.
“We get the spuds delivered and then obviously they are freshly cut and then blanched up and finished off at the front here. We use frozen fish fillets of cod. I make all the homemade fish cakes in the morning as well. Yes, it’s just a constant process really.”
Oliver Kirkpatrick
The Fish Plaice has been in business since 2004, although there has been a fish and chip shop on the site from at least the 1970’s. It’s extremely popular, especially during the summer and despite the friendly, efficient service and the upgrading to eight high efficiency pans for frying, there can often be a queue at peak times.
Gluten-free fish and chips
Since 2017, The Fish Plaice has organised monthly gluten-free frying days. On these days, they put aside separate pans with fresh oil to fry the gluten-free battered fish and chips. These usually run on the first Thursday of each month.
