Fish & Chips at 149 in County Durham

We Travel 32 miles there and back to find once again the cafe is closed 5pm and it looks like the new owner can't handle the restaurant and the fish shop

Staff were unpleasant, abrupt and not polite. Food was nice and service was fast.

Visited 149 at Barnard Castle for fish and chips today (Good Friday), and while I expected it to be busy, the experience was incredibly disappointing from start to finish. To start with, a lovely lady took our order and payment, which was fine—though they were already out of large cod and fish bites. Not ideal, but we were happy to make do. However, we were never asked if we wanted our food open or wrapped. When our order number was called, I went over and politely asked if we could have curry/gravy over the top of the food. The staff member already had it in pots and, after shaking her head at me, reluctantly poured it over. Unfortunately, all the portions ended up with curry—even the one I’d asked to have gravy on. I said it was okay and that we’d just have curry, but she had to go out back for more anyway. When we got to the park to eat, the disappointment continued. I have never seen a cod so small—it was tiny, the batter was burnt on the outside but weirdly soggy and undercooked on the inside. The chips were cold, and the curry sauce was horrible: thick, powdery, and just unpleasant. None of us—me, my partner, or our three kids—could eat the food. We’ve always liked this chippy in the past, but today’s experience was shocking both in terms of customer service and food quality. We ended up throwing most of it away, which is unacceptable given how expensive it was. I’m not someone who normally complains, but I felt really let down and won’t be returning after this.

Popped in again great service from netty,Ben and miles

Where we we staying wasn't doing an evening meal so fish and chips it is from At 149. Excellent. Plenty for us both.

Excellent fish and chips. Best I've had in a long time.

Absolutely excellent food crisp batter white fish and tasty chips what morecould you ask for

Absolutely amazing fish and chip shop. Fish was cooked to perfection, fried perfectly. Ben was the fryer, and I must say it was the best fish i have had. Friendly, quick and excellent service. Thank you Ben and the team.

My favourite place for fish & chips in the UK I moved to the seaside in the South West and I still haven’t found Fish & chips as good as 149! My sister is cealiac so she can enjoy gluten free fish and chips fried in separate fryer. They are very clued up on allergies and cross contamination. Highly recommend this restaurant it’s amazing!

Had our meal there today Service was excellent as was the meal I would highly recommend

Ordered online and collected only to find the order was wrong. Had to reattend to get fish. Both fish and scampi slightly over cooked

Netty very friendly and helpful

Good chippy grub. All the food was well cooked just how we like it. Thanks to Netty for her service. Could have done with a bit of background music

Lovely fish and chips, great friendly service from Nettie. Would definitely come back. 😊

Staff are really friendly and the food was fantastic would definitely recommend

Used to rave about this place but called yesterday on the way back from lakes, £27 for our order and it was nothing short of garbage! Absolutely disgusted at how bad it was! Never ever again for me 😡

Berry was lovely and accommodating

All absolutely gorgeous & helped out by the fabulous Netty....many thanks all staff for feeding us😍

Huge shoutout to all the staff at both branches I have been to I have Grown up going to Barnard castle 149 and never had a problem food always cooked to perfection I keep coming back with my family and friends and I would say 100% the best fish and chips in the area! I have eaten in and taken away the food and the curry sauce is the best you couldn't get it as good anywhere else food served fresh cooked to order and very good portion sizes for the money Catterick and Barney both stores are fantastic always served with a smile shoutout to Netty thank you for your service I will always come back and it's me and my families fave place to eat or takeaway x

Had a fabulous experience dining here and our waitress Netti was lovely.

A great chippy. Seniors meal tasty and very good value.

Welcoming staff, friendly and efficient service, food very good. Nettie and Maddie very attentive to our needs

Lovely food and well looked after by Nettie & Maddie thank you 👍

we had a most pleasant, fish, cps and peas lunch, one pensioner and a full fish dinner, the excellent Nettie, made our visit a memorable event.

Used to be very nice but the fish has became a joke how small it is compared to the other local chippy and it's more expensive

OK just a little bit slow service

Was really busy when we arrived, and they have a computer on the till at arrival to order food. Given it was really busy i ordered from it. We had wanted to eat in. After a short wait our food was delivered and we took them through to eat them in the small adjoining caff, only then to be quickly chased and shrieked at by one of their staff who then threw us out. So unbeknownst to me I'd ordered takeaway rather than eating in. Why it mattered in an empty caff i don't know, but ended up eating them in the car. Made me feel like i was a 12 year old getting told off at school. The fish and chips were nice, but the service definitely soured our experience. Don't feel like we'll be back.

Closing early at 7:30pm instead of the advertised time of 8pm phoned this the the third week on the go this has happened...

Closing early at 7:30pm when advertising at 8pm close we have been going for many years and this is the first time writing a review

Lovely friendly service by Netty Ben was the fryer.

Came in a few weeks ago. Lovely fish and chips, and great service from Netty and Kayley and Ben cooking, thank you all so much! X

Fish only slightly bigger than a fish finger, chips dry, mushy peas are nice, £11.79 for what I was served, is a disgrace

Really great fish and chips batter nice and crunchy service is excellent staff are really helpful sit in or take away whatever you choose worth a visit if in the area

Kailey is such a good employee, she was so kind and sweet, thank you so much!!

Great food and excellent service from Nettie

Come here for a takeaway like i always do usually nice . Tonight the chips were awful looked and tasted like they had been there all day very dry and hard

Fantastic friendly service tasty tasty food!

Was served by the manager libby but interacted with all staff on shift that night who I believe were Netty, Ben, Kayleigh & Maddie overheard the staff working in the cafe who were being praised about how clean the front of house was. Kayleigh took payment and boxed up my order which was freshly prepared by the fryer Ben. Overall service was top notch as was the food

Netty always greets us with a smile, and I test her to see whether she can remember my order. Tonight she got it spot on, 10/10. Fish was just as sweet tasting as the apple crumble desert. Will be back next Thursday.

Waited on by Netty today, swift service with a smile. Lovely fish n chips, mushy peas as always.. Netty recommended their homemade tartar sauce which was very nice. Nice, clean restaurant area. Will be back. Thank you.

Great service from Netty and good quality fish & chips. Just what was needed after a bracing walk in the High Pennines.

Netty was lovely from start to finish, Great service. Food was lovely. Would 100% come again

Lovely food great service from netty

Food is good but the service is terrible!!!! Woman who served me yesterday late afternoon (21st January) was so miserable. I was stood waiting for ages to order, so long I nearly walked out, when she finally came to the counter she didn't apologise for my wait, just said "yes" !!! OMG ....... Unfortunately I now won't be returning .... I have myself been in business for 25 years, we tell our staff customers are the most important part of the business, maybe something 149 could take on board ? ..............

Fantastic food and service. Netty was perfectly warm and welcoming, service was quick, and pricing was reasonable

A very nice visit for a chippy lunch. The haddock was perfect. Firm, crispy batter and very tasty. Homemade mushy peas were the best I've tasted, ever. This was followed by a lovely sticky toffee pud. Most importantly, we were served by the amazing Netty, who was friendly, welcoming and couldn't do more to make us feel looked after. Thank you Netty.

Excellent friendly serviced by Netty. Will be back again.

Really good service, Netty looked after us, gave some good recommends, polite, nice. Food was lovely, good portions (fishbites), really nice place to sit in.

My husband and i called in today for a fish and chip lunch which we really enjoyed, it's lovely little fish and chip restaurant with lovely friendly staff we would like to thank Netty and Maddy for their lovely friendly Service we will be back to visit again soon Thankyou.

First visit yesterday and it didn’t disappoint. Had the large fish n chip with scraps. It was great Netty is the best very friendly and helpful. Will be back for more

Annette, great service, cheerful and helpful. Food piping hot and lovely fish and chips highly recommended.

Maddy was very friendly and bright along with and up lifting sprit

Great food and service from the staff especially Netty 😋

Maddy was increasingly friendly and good to talk to. Made me feel very welcomed and created a good atmosphere

Maddy was very friendly and made me feel welcomed and was very easy to talk to

Maddy was friendly and helpful, I'm definitely coming back here

My partner and I went to the cafe and where served by netty!! Lovely place lovely cafe and some really nice staff

Jack is a lovely boy keeps kitchen clean netty is hard working and quick Maddy is nettys right hand man lovely atmosphere lots of laughs

We were served by 'maddy' she was very cheery and friendly. She created a warm and friendly atmosphere. Would recommend.

Hi just like t say I sat in cafe and recieved absolutely fabulous service from Netty

Great experience thanks to maddy!!!

I was served by maddy and though she was very energetic and kind I enjoyed the food it was lovely everyone was very friendly. Will be coming back again.

Absolutely perfect! Everything cooked to order and each time we have been, the staff have been very polite and friendly. In particlular Libby today and David twice before.

Had a lovely meal here. Great service by Netty, very attentive and made us feel really welcome. Highly recommended, will definitely eat in here again.

Great haddock and chips, it has set the standard for me now and few live up to it. The service is always good, staff friendly and helpful. We have only had takeaway but the cafe looks very nice too.

We have been going to 149 in Barnard Castle for a few years, as the fish and chips there far surpassed any others we had tried, including Whitby. However, the last few times that we have eaten there, they have been nowhere near as good, but we thought that we would go back today and give them another chance. Sadly, once again, they were not up to scratch, which was very disappointing. The batter on the fish was pale, flat and not crispy. The chips were awful. Lots of them were crispy like crisps and the rest of them were extremely dry and tastless. I don't know whether it's to do with the quality of the potatoes they are using but they never used to be like that. Looks like we will have to find somewhere else now. Such a shame.

Visited Friday teatime ordered large cod and large chips to take home.Couldn’t believe how bad the food was!!! I had to go without and throw them in the bin. The cod was thick in burnt batter and there was literally no cod to find, You would get more fish in a fish finger!! Considering I paid for large chips the portion was stingy, and they were dry , quite hard and cold. This is our local Fish and chip shop but I’m sorry to say we won’t be returning as I can’t afford to throw £11.40 in the bin! I don’t normally like to complain but on this occasion sorry to say I’ve been robbed!

This was Amazing food first time going they should open up in middlesbrough too you should try the chicken nuggets they're to die for

Had seniors special cod and chips very good food.

Friendly staff. Quite literally the best fish n chips I've had in the last few years, and i often go to the seaside for it. Fish is cooked to order but every fish shop should be doing this so expect a slight wait. Definitely the bestest fish n chips in the bishop auckland and Barnard castle area.

Made the mistake of going at 3pm, obviously the chips we were served had been sat for some time and were most unpleasant. Nvm. At least the soft drink was cold.

The best Fish and Chips I have ever had! Thank you!!

Great service by Eve and libby couldn't ask for better service. The food cooked to perfection by Miles & David. Will definitely be coming back.

Stopped here for a quick bite to eat. Fish, chips and mushy peas. Very good fish and light tasty batter. Chips and mushy peas were very good too!

Visted 17/11/24, was nothing wrong with the Haddock, but the chips were like rocks so had to leave most of them, seems like they had been left in the fryer far too long

The last 2 times I've been the regular cod has been very small which is disappointing. Will be going elsewhere from now on.

Great food, worth a visit. They have a seating area but got takeaway

Fish strips with very little fish, mostly batter, chips cold, only two doing the work of three or four as they are seeing to take away , sit down and phone deliveries, this is the second time here and the last. Barnard Castle

Great service by callum, lovely fresh chips cooked my luke! Best by far be back again soon.

Bought a portion of fish strips that were nearly £6. There was 8 pieces of what I can only describe as scraps. I think the fryer must have forgotten to put the fish in. Un fortunately we had taken them home before opening so was impractical to return them. Chips were OK but cold

Had wonderful meal at 149 in Barnard Castle today. The batter was lovely and crispy, the fish was delicious, chips perfect and the nicest mushy peas I've ever had. Lovely staff as well. Will definitely go back, and recommend it to my friends.

Great place to get fish n chips

Thought I would give the chippy a try as I was in the area, had fish and chips and they were delicious and can highly recommend on my visit you won’t be disappointed.

Always busy because the food is cooked fresh and great service. Best fish n chippy in County Durham

4 years since I was last here, still excellent as ever Thank you

The best fish and chips I have had for a very long time,amazing!

Service awful, tables full of empty plates. Kitchen area terrible old mop heads in corner chef clothes had seen better days and the toilets had not been cleaned for a while !

Delicious food, amazing staff. Thanks guys!

Ordered large fish and chips. Chips were ok but nothing special. Fish was medium in size at best. Disappointed given the reviews and reputation locally. Won't be back.

Best fish and chips we’ve ever had!!

We called here for our tea on Sunday on our way to visit my son, the place was extremely busy around five pm we ate in and got served fairly quick. I had large cod n chips with mushy peas my wife had the seniors special we both really enjoyed it as we always do.

Rip off. Been robbed the size of the regular cod and chips is disgusting. Phoned up collected and when got home was in shock at how small and pathetic it looked

Really nice chips and curry very friendly service . Will use it again

Boring fish and chips. Curry sauce tasteless too. It was all so tasteless. Wouldn’t bother to visit again. Got better things to spend my money on. Seemed clean enough though.

Excellent service from the front counter especially eve. She was super organised when very busy and ques out the door

Lovely fish and chips. Will be back again soon.

Just been for fish and chips, absolutely terrible, I can’t even put it down to it just being a bad one off as this was my 2nd visit in the last month, and my 1st lot of fish and chips was as bad as tonight’s I just thought I’d give it another go. I generally would never complain and if I know how yo upload a photo to show you I would as seeing it would say it all !

My third visit and each time, it just gets better. Superb fish and wonderful chips all served with a huge smile.

I brought my 2 grandsons for a meal. I am Coeliac and my eldest grandson is gluten intolerant. Not only was the GF meal here absolutely delicious but it was such a delight to find a place locally where our dietary needs were absolutely no problem whatsoever. The GF frier is completely separate, the staff are really aware and unlike so many places not only did I feel completely safe but for once (rarely) I also felt completely comfortable. The gluten free batter was deliciously crisp, the fish moist and the chips (with GF vinegar - I know - this place is off the chart!) were lush. This was the first of what I’m sure will be many visits. Oh - and did I say - it’s not just some times or some days - this place caters (superbly) for those who need or want GF - all the time - at NO EXTRA COST. Seriously if I could give it 10 stars I would. Thank you 149 for the best fish and chips I’ve had in literally years.

Eve is brilliant I watched her today help a lady with her box so helpful and caring Lovely service Thanks Eve