Helen Martin: Vote for your favourite chippie!

Fish and chips is a perennially popular takeaway choice. Picture: PA

AMONG the few outlets which are thriving in Edinburgh and other cities are fast food shops, especially the beloved chippie.

Excitement is building for the Evening News Chip Shop of the Year 2018 – and that’s a prized and important award.

We all have different tastes they have to accommodate. I hate cod, love haddock. Hate breaded fish, love it battered.

Chippies offering pale, yellow, flaccid chips rather than firm and golden, or a thin sloppy batter rather than crispy crunch, will not get my vote.

Revealed: The 10 finalists in Chip Shop of the Year 2018

Fish that’s been left on a hot shelf for 15 minutes? No, serve it fresh from the fryer.

Hailing originally from the west, I loathe the eastern “brown chippie sauce” and some fryers give me a funny look when I ask for salt and vinegar.

Winning Edinburgh’s Chip Shop of the Year is almost equivalent to an Oscar or a Michelin star among chippies and is a boost for their local business. Worth a vote.