The Master Fryer - Reading

£2.70 for regular chips and they were not great , chewy like they’d been sat ages , dry and they only take cash! Yes we need to keep cash alive but for a fish and chip shop ?!

Consistently good food, friendly and efficient service and a pleasure to use. The batter is crisp, choice is like a ‘proper’ British chip shop and the shop is immaculate. Thank you!

A disappointing experience at The Master Fryer in Emmer Green tonight. A refusal to serve me chips that were hot. I paid for some chips and when the guy opened the storage section, it was clear that all that was left was the last section of that batch. He had to scrape the scoop across the bottom of the section to get the chips out. Foreseeing that they may have been sat there for a while, I asked if they’d be cold. He said they are fresh and would be hot. Once in a bag, I touched a chip and it was barely even warm. I politely asked if he could make a fresh, hot batch. He refused to do so and offered me just a refund. He insisted this batch of chips was hot and only made a few minutes before. When I asked him numerous times to touch the chip to show what I meant, he continually refused to do so and just insisted they were hot. The batch had clearly not just been made. Aside from them being cold, they would not, being a Friday night, make a fresh batch of a small amount like that. He continued to refuse to serve hot chips and gave me a refund. No doubt those cold chips went back into the storage to be served to another paying customer. Before anyone jumps down my throat and says “It’s only chips what’s the big deal?’ … the issue isn’t the chips, it’s the very poor customer service. Refusing to provide what a customer is paying for and denying there’s an issue when there clearly is, just to save a matter of pennies. Could I not just have heated it up once home? Of course. But I’d planned to eat them on the way home.

Right so, I reviewed this chippy a little while back and gave it a pretty harsh and critical rating of 3/5. However, I did state in that review that I had been before and knew it was a very reputable chippy that served up some incredible grub in the past. That particular trip was obviously bad timing with the luke-warm chips. SO, I decided to go back and give it a second chance. This time I was not disappointed. Went for the Jumbo Sausage this time with a pot of classic “curry sauce”. The chips were piping hot, fresh. 50/50 ratio to crispies and floppies which I can’t fault. Something for everyone. Jumbo sausage was a proper jumbo. I also think it’s worth pointing out the 50p buttered bread rolls in a pot at the counter, love that. Real nostalgia. Also any chippy that has a slushy machine wins every time. No I didn’t get one because I’m not 10.. Okay yeah I got a slushy.

We all love a chippy for different reasons. This place is a decent chip shop. I’ve been a couple times. However, this time wasn’t brilliant. Unfortunately the chips were luke warm, the battered sausage batter was a bit too greasy for my liking, a bit more slimy than crispy if that makes sense? I don’t want to say much else about it because I dislike giving bad reviews. I gave this place a 3/5 because I know it’s been better in the past. It was just this trip that let it down.