Leo Burdock’s, Ireland’s Original Chipper

Everyone says that they know the best chipper in Ireland. But unless they tell you that it’s Leo Burdock’s, they’re talking a load of potato waffle.

Ireland’s oldest chipper was here long before the likes of Borza and Macari. It’s gloriously unhealthy and a really consistently reliable treat.

I really don’t see the point of chippers cooking their food in vegetable oil under the silly pretence that this is better for us. Burdock’s have no such pretense. Their fish and chips are cooked in animal fat. Always have been, always will be. They’re served and wrapped in big thick sheets of paper rather than those utterly pointless little bags – the ones that they always put in a bigger brown bag and fill with a measly few more chips.

The Food

• Burdock’s fish is always properly fresh, having been picked up from the market earlier that day. If you go there late in the evening, you may find that the fish is all gone – they don’t keep any in the freezer. When the fresh fish is gone, it’s gone. The lemon sole goujons at Burdock’s may the most wonderful fish you will ever eat.

• None of their food leaves that awful coating of the roof of your mouth. Their batter is always light and crispy, never stodgy like in most chippers.

• It’s just in a different league to every other fish and chip shop in Ireland. This was an occasional treat when we were kids and I still love going back. In the Celtic Tiger years, they bowed to the inevitable and added such nonsense as chicken and burgers to their menu. Forget it. It’s all about the fish and chips.

The Prices

It’s a bit pricier than other chippers.

• A bag of chips is €2.95 at their original (and best) Christchurch branch but €3.25 at the Epicurean Food Hall, where you can eat in.
• Cod, ray or lemon sole goujons will cost €5.95.  The meal deals are different in Christchurch than at the other branches.
• It’s worth every cent, because it’s a million billion trillion zillion times tastier, much more satisfying, and of infinitely superior quality than any other chipper. There’s other branches in Rathmines and Phibsboro (eat-in or take out), or they will deliver to certain areas.

Burdock’s is delicious, filthy and wrong. In all the best ways. They never disappoint, always satisfying at a decent cheap price. There’s a reason they’ve been around since 1913.