East Lancashire has more than its fair share of chippies, even compared to the rest of the county.
Seeing queues snaking down the street on a Friday evening with the smell of your fish supper wafting towards you is a quintessential experience in towns and villages across the region.
It should come as no surprise then that throughout the years our talented friers have experimented with what we can order, and I may have found the latest addition to the list.
Award-winning Westend Fish and Chips in Oswaldtwistle serves up perhaps the finest of our culinary innovations, the John Bull, but with a bit of a twist.
The John Bull is a delicacy that involves minced meat and two slices of potato, which are then fried in batter to create a handheld delight with plenty of crunch.
However, at the Westend, they’ve added cheese into the mix, so I went to test it out.
The conditions were perfect for a good chippy tea, like when a sailor looks out over a still ocean. It was drizzly, it was dark. Perfect for a warm meal.
Upon entering, I was served straight away. "Good choice," the friendly server said after I ordered.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper chippy tea if I didn’t get fish and chips as well - I hear Olympians eat similar meals.
Westend chippy is one of the busiest in the area, and from the amount of Deliveroo and Uber Eats drivers collecting orders that was evident.
My wait was between 10 and 15 minutes, so not quick by any means, but hardly surprising given how popular the takeaway is.
But, eventually, my cheesy John Bull and fish and chips had arrived, and I scurried out to take my evening meal home.
Once home it was time to tuck in, first up, the cheesy John Bull.
Cutting it through the middle, the contents began to be revealed.
After taking a bite, my first impression was the overwhelmingness of the cheese, and the tasty, wonderful grease.
With every bite, it felt like a month was being knocked off my lifespan, and the contents of my meal were heading straight for the walls of my arteries.
Was it tasty? Yes.
The fact is, if you mix meat, potatoes and cheese, and then fry it, it's going to taste nice.
So as a treat, I'll approve of Westend's cheesy take on the Lancashire staple, even if it may be responsible for any future coronary issues.
The fish and chips were next on the agenda, and they were far lighter on the stomach.
Tender is the word I would use to describe the fish, a slight flick of my knife was all that was needed to break it down.
However, the batter wasn't quite perfect, a bit on the soggy side.
A solid eight out of 10 fish though.
As for the chips, they were absolute perfection, the potato-to-skin ratio, and the thickness were all done brilliantly.
As for the cost, the meal came in at £12.50.
At £8.50, that is the going rate for a chippy tea these days, but at £4 for the John Bull, I felt it was a bit pricey for a delicacy that's supposed to be cheap.
All in all, it was a tasty end-of-the-week meal, though given how heavy the cheesy John Bull was, I don't think I'll be making it a regular fixture and will save it as a rare treat.
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