Lucas Oakeley

Eating fish and chips should be a full-on sensory experience. Hearing the cry of a nearby gull and feeling the salty sea air inflate your lungs as you munch away are almost as integral to the fish and chip ritual as mushy peas and tartare sauce. But that’s not to say that excellent landlocked chippies don’t exist: you just need to know where to look. This list of the best fish and chip shops in the UK includes everything from seaside operations where you can get that 360-degree experience to chippies in Nottingham knocking out tremendous fish suppers in spite of their geography.  We honestly believe that a strong number of the fish and chip shops in this guide should be counted as listed buildings considering how much value and history they offer to their local communities. Whether you’re a strictly-cod or only-haddock person, there are plenty of brilliant options here for you to sample. Go on, get stuck in: here are the best places for fish and chips in the UK.  RECOMMENDED:🍽️ The best restaurants in the UK🍺 The best pubs in the UK

There are good restaurants to be found just about everywhere you look. Travel 30 minutes from your front door and I guarantee you’ll stumble on at least one brilliant mom-and-pop operation quietly going about its business, serving honest and delicious plates of food. Making a list like this – a round-up of the very best restaurants in the UK – is difficult because there are simply too many to choose from. There are good spots dotted all across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland working tirelessly to create dishes that will, yes, fill you up but also provide you with napkin-stained memories that you can carry with you for the rest of your life. This list is about those places. These aren’t the 15 best restaurants in the UK, but they are 15 of the best restaurants in the UK. Eat up.  RECOMMENDED: The best things to do in the UK

The UK isn’t usually the first place that people think of when it comes to wine. Way above the UK in that hierarchy are countries like France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Chile and Australia. It makes sense. For one, the UK’s climate isn’t the most hospitable for grape vines. And geographically speaking, there are only really a few areas of the nation with enough space for the grapes to thrive and eventually turn into something drinkable. That being said, there are still some brilliant vineyards and wineries in the UK – and plenty that will transport you so you feel like you’re much further afield. From natural-leaning producers in East Sussex to bucolic vineyards set against the backdrop of Snowdonia, these are some of the very best vineyards in the UK that are really worth visiting. RECOMMENDED: ⭐ The best places to go stargazing in the UK🍴 The 15 best restaurants in the UK🏰 The best castles in the UK💜 The best lavender fields in the UK🍺 The 22 best pubs in the UK

The pub is a place where most people in the UK spend a frankly inordinate amount of time. It’s a safe space – a neutral ground where you can meet your friends, colleagues and family without having to put on any airs or graces – and one of the few venues that’s just as appropriate for a first date as it is for a wedding ceremony or a wake. Everyone out there has probably got their favourite. It’s usually the one closest to your gaff or, à la Cheers, the one where everybody knows your name. There are different drinks for different needs. So don’t get upset if your favourite doesn’t make an appearance on this list of the best pubs in the UK. We aren’t saying these are the only good pubs around. This is simply a selection of brilliant pubs that you can rely on for their excellent drink, food and atmosphere. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in the UK

In George Orwell’s 1946 essay, ‘The Moon Under Water’, he goes to great lengths to describe the perfect pub. According to Orwell, the ideal watering hole is a place where it is ‘always quiet enough to talk’, the staff ‘know most of their customers by name’ and ‘you can get a good, solid lunch’. Although The Moon Under Water he writes about is entirely fictional, good old George was inspired by a real pub in the London borough of Islington that he was a regular patron of. That perfect pub is The Compton Arms. And it’s a pub that desperately needs your help right now. The Compton Arms – which we just happened to name the second best pub in the UK – is currently being taken to ‘licence review’ by four nearby households. The four have alleged that it is a public nuisance, a danger to health, poorly run and that those in charge have no interest in communicating with them. If you think that this is simply a local dispute that has no wider significance to anyone who doesn’t live in the postcode, think again. The Compton Arms, tucked down a lovely backstreet of Highbury, has provided the local area with a safe place to sup pints since the 1800s. Pubs are a part of the fabric of any city’s social life and The Compton Arms was around long before those households moved in. It is, quite literally, a piece of history. Asking for its licence to be removed because you don’t like the fact it’s a pub would be like moving next to a football ground and complaining about the crowds at the weeke

Drinking with pals in a pub is a lot of fun during winter. We know this. But what about those times when you want to be with pals in a pub during winter, outside? Tricky, but manageable. London thankfully has a load of top pub gardens equipped with heaters, blankets and the like, meaning you won’t need to rely solely on your famous ‘beer jacket’ to stay warm. Here are our favourites.   NORTH The Faltering Fullback View this post on Instagram A post shared by Time Out London (@timeoutlondon) Yes, this pub is named after a rugby position and, yes, it is technically a ‘sports bar’ but don’t let either of those facts prevent you from travelling to Finsbury Park and cosying up under the heaters in The Faltering Fullback’s multi-storey beer garden. The sedgy outdoor terraces here are strategically spread across four floors, making the most of the Fullback’s limited space and allowing for you to safely distance yourself from anyone in boat shoes.   What’s the actual pub like? Sporty, to be sure, but Daniel Radcliffe once filmed a music video here, so I guess it’s got that going for it too? 19 Perth Rd, N4 3HB. The Spaniards Inn View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ju Shardlow (@jushardlow) Thought that the Heath was the only thing Hampstead had going for it? Well, you thought wrong. Located about a mile or so from the nearest tube stop, The Spaniards Inn is home to one of London’s best-looking beer gardens – the kind of manic pixie dream garde