Fish and Chips Sheffield: Harry's Fish Bar is a Friday night or midweek treat that never breaks the bank

For one heart-stopping moment this week, I thought my local chippy had closed down.

“Did you hear?” said my colleague Kirsty. “That fish and chips shop you like is shut.”

“Not Harry’s??” I declared. My world turned at the thought my favourite nip-across-the-road takeaway, Harry’s Fish Bar in Wostenholm Road, had gone for good. Truly, I hadn’t appreciated it while it was here. In fact, if I had eschewed my ghastly unending meal prep routine for but a night every now and then, it might still be here. Farewell, Harry’s - gone but not forgotten.

“What?” said Kirsty. “No, not Harry’s. The one by the Utilita Arena, Papa’s. It’s being refurbished.”

Okay, so maybe there are two chippies I quite like.

But the momentary fright gave me pause and changed my evening plans in one bolt. The cravings were immediate and irresistible. “Steve,” I texted to a mate, “pick a film and come round mine after work, we’re having a chippy.”

Sure, these reviews for The Star are maybe intended for sit-in restaurants across the city. But, this time, I’m sacking them all off to say Harry’s Fish Bar is my absolute favourite and I’m very lucky to have them so close to mine.

Owner Mehmet has been serving Sharrow from his corner by the Lansdowne Estate for 23 years, and his food comes out of the fryer fast, hot and crispy. Scampi, haddock or cod, Harry’s is a Friday night or midweek treat that never breaks the bank. Where overly modernised chippies serving out of cardboard boxes elsewhere in Sheffield are charging £12+ for the privilege, Harry’s is a fish-and-small-chips bargain, wrapped in paper, blasted with salt and vinegar, and yours for £7 a head on average (£8 if you want a Vimto and maybe some curry sauce, which for me are both pretty terrific).

Consider this a call to action. Readers, don’t leave it too late - support your local takeaway while you still can, and do not take them for granted. Like Scrooge’s vision of his future, the shock I felt thinking I had lost Harry’s was a scare I will learn from.