Meeting Mother Christmas at Simpson’s Fish and Chips

by stoppingattwo · December 12, 2018

Simpson’s Fish and Chip shop in Cheltenham won the UK’s Number 1 Fish & Chip Takeaway 2016, and it is easy to see why. The freshly cooked fish and crispy chips are worth going out of our way for. Whilst we have had takeaway, and enjoyed Simpson’s at the Cheltenham Food and Drink Festival, we have never eaten in the restaurant before. When we were invited to dine in and meet Mother Christmas in the run up to Christmas, we jumped at the chance.

The girls LOVE fish and chips, so it is nice to come out to eat together as a family knowing that we can all enjoy eating together. It is even better when the girls are given colouring to do as soon they arrive. Sharpened pencils and colouring kept the girls occupied (and helping to forget about rumbling tummies) whilst they waited for food. Not that we had to wait for too long anyway!

There was plenty of choice on the children’s menu. Freyja couldn’t resist the scampi and chips, but did help out her little sister with her huge portion of cod bites with her chips.

Rich and I went for cod and chips, served with tartare sauce and a side of frickles. The fish and chips were cooked to perfection, the tartare sauce is the best I have ever had, and as for the frickles, they must be one of my favourite foods of all time.

Frickles are basically deep fried gherkins. I love gherkins, but served hot, in batter, they are really something else. When I first told Rich about frickles, he was sceptical, but having tried them he was completely won over by them. Honestly, they are an absolute must. My only criticism would be that our two sides of frickles were served on one plate. Now, I love my husband, but I also love frickles, and I suspect he may have had more than half, and to paraphrase Joey from Friends “Karen doesn’t share frickles!”

Obviously, the plate of frickles disappeared quickly and before long the rest of the food had been gobbled up. Once again Simpson’s proved exactly why they have gained such a great reputation in the area. I think the food was even better eaten straight away in their restaurant than as a takeaway, so I wouldn’t hesitate to eat in again soon.

As a bonus to the fantastic food, every Saturday in December children can also meet Mother Christmas between 12 and 2pm. Mother Christmas helped serve food, chatted to the children and also posed for photos. Having two children who have been a bit wary of meeting big, bearded Santas in the past, Mother Christmas was far less scary! I think meeting her in a more relaxed atmosphere, with food, made the girls feel far more relaxed too. Mother Christmas gave each of them a copy of Simpsons’ new book, “Mother Christmas saves the day”, and a small gift.

If you have young children, I would thoroughly recommend a trip to Simpson’s on a Saturday lunchtime for them to meet Mother Christmas (more details here). And I would whole-heartedly recommend a trip to Simpson’s for their fish and chips and a portion of frickles any time!