Fish and chips is one of the few British institutions that gets worse the harder you try to improve it. It needs crunch, salt, vinegar, aggressively hot chips and at least one sauce capable of ruining a white shirt. Anything beyond that risks missing the point. The Mayfair Chippy, thankfully, understands the assignment.
Set on North Audley Street, this popular Mayfair restaurant has been serving its polished take on classic British fish and chips since 2015. The interiors nod to the traditional chippy with chequerboard floors, white panelling and booths, but there is enough Mayfair gloss to remind you exactly where you are.
And yes, this is Mayfair. Of course there is caviar. You can order it with mini sourdough crumpets, Kentish egg, sour cream, red onion and chives, or add a spoonful to another dish. Putting caviar anywhere near fish and chips sounds like something invented after three martinis and a dangerous amount of disposable income, yet here it somehow feels completely reasonable.
What matters more is that beneath the Mayfair extras sits a proper commitment to good seafood. The Mayfair Chippy focuses on responsibly sourced fish and seafood, with the offering changing seasonally depending on availability.
The Mayfair Classic
If you are visiting The Mayfair Chippy for the first time, The Mayfair Classic is the obvious place to start.
The restaurant’s signature fish and chips pairs crisp battered fish with hand cut chips, mushy peas, tartare sauce and your choice of chip shop curry sauce or HP gravy.
This is not the paper wrapped Friday night fish supper of childhood, particularly once the Mayfair postcode enters the pricing equation, but the fundamentals are reassuringly familiar. Crisp batter, flaky fish, chunky chips and proper sauces. No unnecessary reinvention required.
And that is arguably what makes The Mayfair Chippy one of the more convincing places for fish and chips in Mayfair. It knows when to embellish and when to leave a British classic alone.
More Than Fish and Chips
The menu becomes considerably more interesting once you stray from the obvious.
There is Cornish salt and pepper squid with chilli, lime and ginger, a kedgeree Scotch egg with smoked haddock and curried mayonnaise, and TMC prawn toast with king prawns, fried butter loaf and sriracha mayonnaise.
The lobster and crayfish roll comes with Mary Rose sauce, crispy capers and lemon and garlic mayonnaise, while the Soft Shell Crab Burger combines crisp crab with sriracha mayonnaise and Mayfair slaw.
It is classic chippy territory after someone handed it a Mayfair expense account.
Then there are the chips. Sensible people order the standard version. Sensible people are missing out.
Loaded options include truffle and Berkswell cheese or HP gravy with smoked cheddar and bacon bits. There are also house pickles, mushy peas and, importantly, scraps. Because regardless of postcode, the crunchy bits of leftover batter remain one of Britain’s greatest contributions to civilisation.
Gluten-Free Fish and Chips in London
The Mayfair Chippy also caters particularly well for diners with dietary requirements.
An alcohol-free and gluten-free batter is available, making this a useful option for anyone searching for gluten free fish and chips in London. The wider menu also includes vegan and vegetarian choices, including tofu with nori and sriracha mayonnaise and fried West Sussex halloumi.
For a cuisine traditionally built around battered fish, bread and chips, it is refreshingly inclusive.
The Final Catch
That balance is really why The Mayfair Chippy works.
It has caviar, oysters and wine, but it also has curry sauce, gravy and a fish finger butty. Nobody has attempted to deconstruct the mushy peas. The chips are still chips.
Mayfair has plenty of restaurants capable of turning dinner into a financial event. The Mayfair Chippy offers something rather more useful: very good British comfort food treated with enough respect to make it feel special without stripping away everything that made people love it in the first place.
If you are looking for one of the best fish and chip restaurants in central London, particularly somewhere that works equally well for visitors, Londoners and gluten free diners, this deserves a place on the list.
Just add vinegar. And possibly caviar.
@mayfairchippy | mayfairchippy.com/
14 North Audley Street, W1K 6WE
