To honour the national day of Britain’s favourite dish, the Hereford Times team tried a local chippie.

After a cancelled order that “couldn’t go ahead this time” according to a Just Eat order update from Hereford’s highest-rated chippy on the app, Mr Chips, we instead opted for the second-best rated chip shop, Whitecross Fish Bar.

“Our food is cooked at the highest level and turns our comfort classics into something truly wonderful. All of our food is freshly homemade by our staff,” says the Fish Bar’s website.

We successfully placed our order with Whitecross at 1.09pm and received our meal from a Just Eat delivery man about an hour later, but it was certainly worth the wait! We ordered a fish cake each and a large portion of chips, soon discovering just how well the quantity of chips lived up to their description!

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Bridie, Charlotte, Gavin and I shared out the portion of chips between us and even after that, some of us were struggling to finish our portions: one thing that Whitecross Fish Bar undoubtedly provides is astounding value for money. Having painstakingly divvied the many chips up between us, we were definitely in the mood to eat.

The food itself was delicious, with the chips being a perfect texture of “soft but not soggy” according to Gavin, but the fishcakes were “the highlight,” Bridie said.

 “The fish cake had a nice bite to it and a great flavour”, Bridie continued, “but an extra dash of salt and vinegar wouldn’t have gone amiss”. Gavin also pointed out a noticeable lack of a straight-from-the-shop, piping hot temperature that perhaps came with the delivery time of our fish and chips, but still found the meal “a familiarly gratifying experience.”

After some research into the national day itself, we were surprised to discover why this National Fish and Chip Day in particular stood out from the rest.

The fish-and-chip-based celebration had moved its typical date of the first Friday in June to Thursday 6 this year “to honour all those involved in the D-Day landings,” according to National Fish and Chip Day’s official website, as June 6 also marks the 80th anniversary of the landings.

“The event has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 2015 and National Fish and Chip Day will recognise the huge importance of fish and chips during WW1 and WW11, and on D-Day in particular,” the Fish and Chip Day website explains.

“Fish and Chips were often considered the British national dish and this humble meal was a vital ingredient of the war effort in both the first and second world wars.  The British Government safeguarded the supply of fish and potatoes during both world wars in order to keep up morale,” – a role that our beloved national dish still fulfils to this day.