'I visited Britain's best fish restaurant loved by celebs and the odd ghost'
Glastonbury may be known for hosting the biggest festival in the world, but there’s now something else putting the Somerset town on the map - the local chippy.
Nestled between a shop selling crystals and a tattoo parlour is Knights Fish Restaurant, which has just been crowned Britain’s best Fish Restaurant 2024. As I walk towards the quant mediaeval building, the unmissable smell of a chippy wafts down the street - a scent that's been tempting locals, tourists and some big celebrities through the door for the last 115 years.
When you walk into the cosy space, you can either order a takeaway or grab a seat and enjoy your meal in front of the gorgeous log burner - which is just what I needed on this chilly March afternoon.
Knights Fish and Chip restaurant in Glastonbury has just been crowned Restaurant of the Year. (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)After ordering my food, I chat with fellow diners Tom, 64, and Jenny, 87, a mother and son who are here for their weekly post-supermarket shop treat. “I’ve been to lots of chip shops over the years but what’s special about Knights is the great food and lovely atmosphere,” says Jenny.
“The batter’s very light and you know you’re always going to get a good meal. Sometimes you go into fish shops and they’re not always very nice chips if it’s at the beginning or end or a run but here they’re always up to par.” Tom agrees telling me when they first moved to the area they tried out lots of pubs and restaurants but this is the only place that has never disappointed. “It’s absolutely well deserved that they’ve won this award,” Tom adds. “The prices aren’t bad either.”
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Jenny and her son Tom are regulars (Jackie Annett)Jack Isaacs, 28, who lives in Somerton but is working in Glastonbury then pops in on his lunch break. He’s been a regular customer for more than 10 years and looks forward to working in Glastonbury as 'it’s the best fish and chip shop around'. “All my customers recommend it. They deserved to win the award 100%.” When I ask him what makes it so special he replies: “It’s the flavour and the chips are really light".
When my food arrives - the Haddock and Chips with mushy peas - I can see exactly what he means. Since news of the award has spread, owners Kevin and Charlotte Mitchell (nee Knight) have been busier than ever. On a Saturday staff can dish up to 500 portions of fish and chips in a single day. Usually fish and chips can leave me feeling bloated and a little bit sickly because of the grease but thanks to Head Fryer George Morey - Charlotte's son - the batter was succulent, not at all greasy and the chips were light and fluffy too.
Waitress Amber Pulham dishes up cod and chips (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)It’s not just myself who is a big fan of a fish and chip supper - they have some pretty famous customers who pop in from time to time. “We regularly get Michael and Emily Eavis in,” George said. “We’ve also had Dom Joly, the comedian off Trigger Happy TV. Many years ago Nicolas Cage came in and my sister served him and had a photo taken with him. I think he ordered about six pickled eggs and six pickled onions and a few gherkins as well so he’s a big fan of his pickles obviously.”
Charlotte told me she’s served a few celebrities in her time. “Micheal Eavis puts on an event in the town called the Glastonbury Extravaganza for the residents every summer,” she explains. “I remember jigging along to the Lightning Seeds and realising I’d served them in the restaurant earlier. I couldn’t help telling everyone what they’d eaten.”
Claire Morey couldn't believe it when Nicholas Cage walked into Knights (Jackie Annett)
The team are still gobsmacked after winning the award (Knights)Family is extremely important to the Knights, and there are currently seven of them working within the business. Charlotte worked here as a teenager in the 1970s and was even born in the building. “Most of the family have come through the doors and worked here at some point,” she says. "About seven of our family work here at the moment and then there’s five members of another family who aren’t related to us. Lily, my granddaughter who is 15 is sixth generation and the oldest member of staff has to be Kevin, my husband who is 64.”
You could say the family is fish and chip obsessed, George is getting married in April and is even having fish and chips at his wedding - although he has agreed to let someone else do the cooking. And Charlotte says she never gets sick of fish and chips, despite dishing up hundreds of fish suppers a week.
While cod and chips is their most popular dish, younger customers are opting for battered sausage, chips, curry sauce and cheese. It’s a combination that would probably make their ancestors turn in their grave. “As grandchildren we were banned from having ketchup on our fish and chips! Our grandfather Bill was very anti putting anything on his fish and chips and wouldn’t let us put ketchup on them, never mind curry sauce.” George laughs.
Knights is a family business that has been in Glastonbury for over 100 years (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)“We like to remain traditional so we don’t have gimmicky items on the menu but we also have to keep up with the times. I’ve got to say I quite like the battered sausage, curry sauce and cheese and at Christmas we cook Pigs in Duvets which are sausages wrapped in bacon and our customers can't get enough of them.”
When it was established as a family business back in 1909 it used to be famous for its faggots with customers queuiing round the block with their china dishes. In 2010, Kevin and Charlotte took over bringing with them more family members to help carry on the family tradition. They’ve been chipping away at entering awards over the last few years but couldn’t believe it when they came first place in the Fish Restaurant category of the Best Fish and Chip Shop awards.
George set up a livestream of the awards ceremony so the staff could watch and said their reaction was explosive. “It was a bit like Yeovil going to the FA cup Final - we didn’t expect to win,” Kevin laughs. “We’re fish and chip fryers, not qualified chefs. When they shouted out our name, Charlotte almost fell off her chair."
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The batter was succulent, not greasy and the chips were light and fluffy (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)Charlotte adds: “When we came back to Glastonbury from the awards in London a lot of our regular customers said “see, we told you”. We’ve been overwhelmed by the support - it’s been really humbling."
So what's their secret and would they like to share it with Mirror readers?
Kevin says: “We couldn’t put our finger on the one thing that won us the award, we obviously have a secret recipe for our batter but we’ll be keeping that to ourselves. I suppose it’s being able to produce that consistently irrespective of who is actually doing the frying and of course we focus a lot on staff training and using the best products.”
They welcome visitors from all over the world and all over the UK who come to visit Glastonbury and try out the restaurant while they’re here. One couple made the trip from Wolverhampton this week after hearing the news and the family did their best to cater for them even though they arrived just 10 minutes before closing time.
Not many fish and chip restaurants have a warming log burner (Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)Some visitors are perhaps a little more unwelcome than others. Rumour has it that Knights is haunted and customers and staff report seeing apparitions of a white figure at the bottom of the stairs. “I’ve seen and heard things I can’t explain,” George says. “Some time ago I was putting money away in the safe and I heard the toilet seat upstairs slam even though there was nobody else in the building.
“Another time I could see something standing at the bottom of the stairs where a lot of other people have said they have seen something. It was a big white tall figure - maybe it was my great grandfather in his frying jacket.”
A picture of his great grandfather Frank sits next to their shiny award which takes pride of place on the shelf above the cosy log burner. If he's watching over them - I’m sure he’d be very proud. And so would the rest of their ancestors - as long as they're not putting ketchup on their chips.
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