The story
Fried fish came to England with Jewish immigrants who coated fish in flour and fried it in oil so it could be eaten cold on the Sabbath, and London had fried fish shops by the 1830s. Fried potato chips were being sold separately around the same time. The shop usually credited with first selling them together is Joseph Malin's in London's East End, said to date from around 1860 and later run on Old Ford Road in Bow until the 1970s. John Lees of Mossley, in Lancashire, is said to have sold the pair from about 1863. Trawlers and railways then made fish and chips a national staple.
Rival claims
Joseph Malin's shop in the East End (Cleveland Way, then Old Ford Road, Bow), c. 1860, is usually credited; John Lees in Mossley, Lancashire (1863) and Oldham's Tommyfield Market also claim the first.
Also known as fish 'n' chips, chippy, fish supper.
On the Meridish menu
Fish and chips was the main course on menu No. 23 on October 23, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Battered white fish with thick chips, wrapped in paper. An immigrant is said to have opened the first shop selling both around 1860; a northern mill town claims 1863.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
