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The Golden Anchor

The Golden Anchor

The Golden Anchor is an independent fish & chip shop in Mitcham, South West London.

One of Mitcham's most renowned local shops, The Golden Anchor has been in Lou's family for over 70 years. Lou himself has honed his culinary skills for 50 of those years; earning The Golden Anchor a mountain of certificates and accolades in the process.

But how has he done it? The newspaper clippings describing how he 'battered the competition' give a hint... His food is simply of better quality. A small blackboard on the wall gives details of the farm in Cambridgeshire, Ely Farm, that supplies his potatoes.

All of Lou's fish is caught sustainably - a catch-all phrase that Lou explains is much more difficult in practice than it sounds. It means going to the fish markets on a weekly basis to find the freshest supplies as the stocks of sustainably caught fish fluctuate. It's not the easy way, but what it does mean is that each meal can be traced back to the sea, company, dock and vessel that it came from.

With such experience in the business, Lou has learnt that the key to success is to give customers exactly what they ask for. Some of his regulars struck up a conversation about pollution in the sea, and now Lou offers biodegradable boxes on request, as well as organising community litter picking trips to the coast. On a separate occasion, a local mum mentioned her gluten intolerant daughter, and now every Wednesday morning the fryers are scrubbed down completely to cater for the gluten free batter that Lou has concocted himself.

We could write all day about this amazing shop, but it really is best to see it in person and meet the team behind it. Lou's motto is 'quality fish, at the right price', but what he fails to do is mention the efficiency of the service and the sense of community the shop brings & enjoys.

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