The best chippie in Britain? TOM PARKER BOWLES eats the finest fish and chips he has had for years... in a VERY surprising venue and for under £10

EATING OUT 

Tom finds a salt-of-the-earth Scottish chippie worthy of Rick Stein – just much cheaper

Sea Salt + Sole is, like most decent chippies, not much to look at: a clean, modern building on the edge of Dyce train station, just outside Aberdeen. 

There’s a small ordering area, a long, glass-fronted counter, scrupulously clean, and a battalion of gleaming fryers.

The walls are plastered with various awards, the menu beaming out from overhead screens. It’s just past four, and the shop has opened.

We order a large haddock supper from smiling, immaculate staff, the fresh fillets dipped into a thin batter before being plunged into the seething oil. Battered smoked sausage, too. And a pie, from Charles McHardy Butcher in Stonehaven.

I briefly eye up the ‘puddings’ section, filled with every hue, from black to white via red and haggis. But time is short. Appetite, too. Rick Stein is cooking turbot with hollandaise sauce at the Braemar Literary Festival opening dinner in a mere two hours. We must leave some room for that.

The haddock flesh falls into thick, fresh alabaster flakes 

Ten minutes later, three boxes are slid across the counter. We go outside, to the station platform, and sit on a hard plastic bench. Trains slide in and out, disgorging their punters before us. But our minds are on higher things – haddock, wearing its batter like a silk slip, crisp, golden and greaseless. 

We tear it apart with our fingers, the flesh falling into thick alabaster flakes. It’s incandescently fresh, still scented with the sea and artfully steamed within that burnished shell.

Below the haddock, chips, lots of them, soaked in salt and vinegar, fat, with just the right ratio of crunch and squelch. Curry sauce is suitably sweet and viscous.

Smoked sausage, in a gossamer wisp of that batter, has snap, smoke and succulence: a saveloy with a PhD in good taste, just like that pie, its fine shortcrust case barely able to contain the mass of soft, savoury, slow-cooked beef. The bottom is slightly soggy, just as it should be. 

Within four minutes, everything is gone, right down to the last crumb of batter.

This dinner is, quite simply, one of the finest things I’ve eaten for years. And every bit the equal to Rick Stein’s magnificent tranche of turbot. Albeit at about a quarter of the price.

• About £9 per head. Sea Salt + Sole, Station Road, Dyce, Aberdeen; seasaltandsole.co.uk

DRINKS: Charlotte’s winter whites

When the chill of winter descends, I love stocking up on rich and aromatic, palate-warming whites to pop open for cosy, comforting evenings. 

How about a spicy Viognier with a binge-worthy Netflix series? Or a full-bodied Chardonnay with an indulgent, gooey macaroni cheese? 

I’ve selected this week’s great-value winter white line-up specifically to keep you company through the frosty months.

Specially Selected Côtes De Provence Blanc 2022 (13%), £9.99, Aldi. 

Roll over, rosé! Winter gives Provence whites a chance to shine. This apéritif choice evokes citrus peel, almonds and dried herbs.

Yalumba Gen Organic Viognier 2022 (13%), £10, Ocado. 

This friendly Viognier, with its hints of exotic fruit and spice, is an excellent match for a takeaway dinner on the sofa – perhaps prawn pad Thai or chicken biryani.

The Society’s Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc 2022 (13%), £9.95, thewinesociety.com. 

Here’s a light Grenache-Blanc-led blend, lemony and minerally, from the Perrin family, the force behind many iconic estates in the Rhône.

Expressions Marsanne 2023 (13.5%), £9, M&S. 

The lesser-known grape Marsanne gives this textured white a bouquet of yellow pear and white pepper: perfect to pair with roasts or rich veggie dishes.

Robert Oatley Signature Series margaret river Chardonnay 2022 (12.5%), £12.50, Co-op. 

 This subtly peachy, gently oaky white goes with cheesy treats like baked camembert and welsh rarebit.