French's fish and chip shop in North Norfolk

Traditional family friendly restaurant serving fish and chips....or so it states in the overview. If you're expecting the restaurant part to include metal cutlery and china plates, forget it. Thin wooden forks and knives, average tasting fish and chips served in a takeaway tray, tea served as hot water in a cup with a teabag to put in yourself, and wheelie bins in the seating area for the rubbish after eating. Not what we would class as a restaurant. After all the build up about these fish and chips, sadly a big disappointment. Not worth travelling 22 miles for.

Just as brilliant as everyone says it is! We've been going for years & love the food each & every time.

Much improved over the last year. Lost its poor attitude at last and is back on the way up. If the queue is out the shop then nip to Plattens next door, almost as good and much cheaper.

very nice food and service at award winning fish n chips shop. Small portion was enough for me.

Very good well cooked fish and chips. Expensive but quality products.

The food is very good, but it's only small with a small amount of seating, so have to find somewhere outside.

Probably my favourite Fish & Chip shop - certainly top 3 - always the freshest fish, crispest batter and perfect piping hot, fluffy in the middle, chips. Think they must use really good vegetable oil to get such a clean fresh taste. Invariably busy because it's so popular but the queue tends to move fast even at peak times. Great location too on the quay at Wells - eat in if you want to avoid the gulls or perch on the sea wall if the weather is good. Perfect place for a hearty warming meal in the middle of a cold Norfolk winter.

Everything you want from a good fish & chip shop. I like the condiments stand and packaging, which allows you to salt & vinegar yourself before leaving. Good information about the products on the boards too.

Meh. Bang average. Next door is much better, surprised the rating is so high.

Have been to wells for a few days. Platters & Frenchies are both great chippies but platters were closed these 2 nights so frenchies get my vote on this occasion. Absolutely spot on fish and chips to match. Had one regular fish & Chips both nights between myself and wife. More than enough for both. Great staff service and ambience

We've been coming to this, our favourite fish and chip shop for over 30 years. No queues today, and order was served quickly.... Too quickly as it turned out. Order was ready in just a minute.....but Soggy batter and substandard fish and chips.... Tasted like it had been sitting around a while. With the queues the wait is more than made up for by the good standard of freshly cooked fish. I understand the shop was short staffed this week, but it's no excuse for serving poor fare like that and compromising French's reputation.

Small queue and a wait for the food which I didn't mind as it was all freshly cooked. It's the best chip shop in Wells and one we always eat at when visiting Wells.

A good fish and chip shop. Friendly staff and quick service. Chips were excellent, as were the peas and curry sauce. Fish was a good size and tasty fish. The batter was a bit undercooked in places and a little greasy.

Probably the best fish and chips there are in our part of the world

A morning on the beach at Wells with dogs and a fish & chip lunch, something we have done many times, but this time will be the last time we will have the fish & chips as it was very poor, this fish was pretty manky looking fish which was mostly batter and the chips, well they were just chips. As I said the fish & chips will be out from now on as it’s not worth the money…

Lovely fish and chips by the sea

Another way overrated chippy how it gets nominated for awards I never understand definitely voted on location- the food is terrible had few years ago fort it was bad then same now don’t taste nothing like chippy chips one of the worst taste chips ever just just Rumblers probably use the same cheap oil plus way overpriced won’t use again no we’re near the best in Norfolk or east anglia and definitely not in the uk -

Very busy chippie but this only proves how good it is. Altho it was busy service didn't take long and quality of food didn't slip.

Fantastic service, fresh ingredients and generous portion sizes. Friendly welcoming staff, the perfect recipe

Harborfront chippy with some indoor seating. Does all the classics, decent value especially given the location, and what we had was good quality and nicely cooked. Would go again!

Always excellent food and efficient and friendly service 👌

I'm often disappointed when I have fish and chips at the seaside, however not on this occasion. The cod and chips was extremely good. Service and atmosphere were absolutely fine, what you'd expect of a seaside fish and chip shop.

Good fish and chips, does it taste better because it’s near the sea, probably, is it the best fish and chips I have had, no. But the staff were very friendly and the food was fairly priced (this increases in the busy season).

I grew up in Wells and am now 33. I've been telling everyone for years that fish and chips isn't as good as back home. Turns out that's only true if you grew up in Wells. I'm constantly on the search for something that even comes close but it's wild how everything is perfect here. The fish batter is crispy and flavourful without ever being soggy or over done. The fish is flaky every time and a decent sized portion. Even the chips are fantastic. Just the best fish and chips on the planet. Not even a discussion.

Best fish and chips in Wells! Come back every year and it’s always tasty! Staff are welcoming and friendly! A staple to Wells!😊

Lovely fish and chips. Takeaway only.

Excellent fish but unfortunately chips were warm & very crispy (hard), think they had been cooked & left for a while. Fish & chips a bit pricey, fish £8.30 although very nice, fresh & hot, chips £3.60 (these definitely were not worth it).

Place was rammed: queued for quite a while- very popular. Just had sausage and chips which was ok. Staff were rushed off their feet but still managed to be polite and helpful. Gluten free option for the sausage, vinegar etc made a nice change.

Excellent that they do GF and vegan options. Unfortunately 2 stars off from the previous 5* review - the chips this week have been significantly below par. Yesterday’s were positively rubbery 🙁

Worth a trip if you enjoy receiving substandard food and lacklustre customer service! I can’t recommend this place to anyone. Will be back to Wells but will steer clear of this establishment.

Lovely fish and chips and had beautiful curry sauce best I think ever had from a chippy.

A very busy place with a queue of people waiting to be served, which is always a good sign. We were not disappointed as the fish and chips were freshly cooked and delicious. Hardworking staff ensured that nobody was kept waiting too long.

Best fish and chips on the norfolk coast. We have been coming here for 35 years and have never had a bad meal.

Very nice food and very helpful seeing had mobility scooter

Staff friendly helpful it was clean the fish and chips are very nice

Visited French's Fish Shop for the first time today. The food was excellent, the service was excellent and the staff were wonderful. I would recommend this place to everyone. If only you had a shop in Birmingham, heave, sigh!! Thank you for my delicious tea

We can't fault French's on anything. They are right opposite the harbour, and so to eat outside is a treat.

The place was packed, but we didn't wait long. Amazing chips and curry sauce, lovely view as well whilst sitting on the wall outside eating them.

Very friendly staff and the fish and chips were yummy. The fish tasted very fresh and the chips were nice and crispy.

Large queue which moves quite quickly, service was efficient once we got there although did have to wait with other people for haddock. You can apply your own salt and vinegar, sauces and wooden forks are available. Seating is outside where you can find it, most people sit on the harbour wall. I usually have skin on haddock for flavour, the flavour was quite strong this time. Chips were fine, curry sauce was nice I didn't try the mushy peas but was told they are nice. I've had better fish n chips for less ££. No major complaints though.

Best fish and chips ever! The long queue is a testament to the food deliciousness.

Controversial but Plattens was better and no queue. This was expensive and had the skin on the fish. Dry bread cakes. Mushy peas were really nice though.

Not their fault, but car park across the road was £5 for 10 mins as it was before 6pm!!! So eat late or that's the sting!

Very busy with long queue. Haddock was a bit too greasy for me. Others enjoyed it though

Lovely food, great service and very friendly staff

Really nice food although sausage batter wasnt very crispy! Very nice still though :)

Fish was so thin it was like it was slices in half. Batter was thick and chewy. Very disappointed considering they have won awards. Queue was out the door and moved very slow. Got 2 cod and chips and a battered sausage. The sausage was okay but only warm. The chips were warm and soggy

Went for Fish & Chips on our first night at wells meal was gorgeous best fish & chips we've had for years

Not sure what all the fuss is about, nor the ridiculous queue. They're not even the best fish and chips on the street. Thin, greasy fish with the skin left on. Yuck!

Don’t do gluten free after 8pm. They apparently stop an hour before closing so we missed it the first time we tried. Didn’t have gluten free fish on my visit but the sausage in batter & chips I did have was fine.

Great cod and chips. Long queue but well worth the wait. Freshly cooked and a good portion with plenty left over for the dog to share

Bought 4 cod, 2 haddock, 1 scampi plus 3 large chips last night. Fish over cooked and excess batter. Awful. Will certainly avoid French’s in future. A very disappointing rip-off. They’re living off a bloated reputation.

Always fantastic freshly cooked fish and chips

I have now been to French’s three times and yesterday said I wanted to eat elsewhere as bad experiences before (greasy and tasteless fish), but my family said look at the queues people know. This time taste was nice and grease was ok. Busy eating and found a 3-4 inch black hair through the batter. None of my family have black hair and could not of been added by server or anyone else as through the batter.

The gluten free cod and chips was AMAZING. As a coeliac this kind of food tends to make me nervous but I was reassured by previous reviews about the separate frier. I was especially anxious because it was an extremely busy Saturday in August when I visited. I had no need to fear - I could see there was a totally separate area at the back of the kitchen and the food was boxed up separately, including a nice sticker to confirm it was definitely gluten free. Even gluten free vinegar was offered. So thrilled to find a place like this and only wish more places would take allergies more seriously. Thank you French's!

Luckily we were staying not far from French's Fish Shop which meant we could keep an eye on the queue and wait for it to go down as this gets very popular and rightly so as the Fish & Chips are lovely from French's especially with the curry sauce.

Fish was dissapointing ,thin and not as chunky as expected.

Poor. Dry fish, chips ok. Long queues. Expected more from this place. Seems like it may be trading on its name. Shame really.

Excellent service and great, fresh, fish and chips (with other dishes available) when I ordered 'click and collect'.

The food was alright when it arrived, definitely better than most fish and chips places. However they gave us the wrong order (too little for what we payed a huge sum of £50 for) and because of that we missed out on around £15 of value. Overall it's alright but if you want a classical English English experience go to the place with a small que out from all the tourist places (better if it has ubereats or another one of those outside) because it will probably be from all the locals who know what's best!

Absolutely awful. After queuing for ages (young inexperienced staff) our fish were sparse to say the least dried up and covered in rock hard dried up batter. The chips were very greasy. We won’t be back. Don’t bother queuing people you will be disappointed.

Without doubt the best chips I've had for an awful long time. My daughter absolutely loved the Chicken bites too. If there's a big queue just wait, it's worth it.

Really long queue. Not worth the wait. Expensive compared to mamy other places. We ordered x3 regular fish one was clearly small. Charge for heinz sauces. Would expect homemade tartre for that price. Wouldn't go again.

Fish and chips as expected. Excellent service from Alfie.

Although you had to queue (which felt part of the experience), the fish was great quality and worth the wait.

Very tasty fish 'n chips,they even do GF for my daughter, a little bit pricey, but nice, I highly recommend it.

Really happy with the food! Brilliant gluten free options. I had gluten free cod and chips. I was warned about potential contamination of the peas as it is kept in the main area. And there was special vinegar that was gluten free and kept behind the counter. Highly recommend!

Not like cod at all - no large flakes of fish. Even though we asked for cod no idea what it was. Thin fillets and dry with far too much batter. Chips nothing special. All below average. Won’t be back. Not worth the queue or the hype

Ridiculously busy unlike Platten's next door. Not exactly cheap either however food was very nice. Only thing could've made it better is if it was cooked in dripping.

Very efficient service here even during busy times. Good food options if you need somewhere that has veggie, vegan and gluten free options. We enjoyed a selection of fish, chips, vegan sausage and a selection of sides such as sweetcorn fritters and curry sauce.

Nice good but they have changed the fish & chips shop, no chairs yo sit on 🤔

Very disappointed in the quality of the fish and chips at French's. Having made a special detour on holiday to sample these 'award winning fish and chips' the batter on the haddock was inedible - thick, stodgy and undercooked inside - pretty horrible actually - it was thrown away. What a waste of money!!!!!

Top chippy!! Big portions. Perfect cooked food.

Everything was perfect best fish and chips in East Anglia and great staff and service but table was sticky so sorry 1 star deducted!

Queued up 5-10 minutes good service from lady the fish and chips weren’t very hot so not very fresh, not greasy but just ok, thick batter and not very big bit of fish, plenty of chips, her indoors had scampi said batter was thick and had to pay extra for tartar sauce

Tasty Vegan food (including chips) cooked separately. Fish lovers loved the fish. Pretty perfect.

Excellent fish and chips and scampi. Perfect location to pop over the road and eat them overlooking the harbour.

Ordered today once I received my order I had been charged and received a portion of chips that I didn’t order, I explained to the lady with dark hair, she never acknowledged me she looked at a college and said something I was stood there while they had a conversation not once any communication from them so I turned to my daughter who was at the salt nd vinegar stand and asked her if she wanted the chips that I had been charged for, she said she would have them to save me throwing them away. So I walked over to her the two women were both talking amongst them self’s. The chip shop was busy then we heard the older rude woman that calling me a moaner! Other guests also heard your staff member call Me… disgraceful disrespectful staff never would my family enter this chip shop again.

Exceptional gluten free fish and chips

One of two great chippies in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. Both are based on the Quay at Wells. Great fish and chips always served hot and cooked to order. Waiting times can sometimes be quite lengthy and arduous due to the popularity of the shop and customer volume, especially during the holiday season. With the number of people waiting for food, the shop can feel quite claustrophobic, so I am always glad to get out of the shop once the takeaway has been served.

Fantastic Gluten Free fish and chips, eat in or takeaway. Dog friendly too. Arrive at least 1 hour before closing as GF not available during final hour of business

Nice chips. Only had a fishcake but others in shop were noshing into fish.

If you seek perfection in fish and chips, look no further. They are always fantastic in every sense of the word. I would recomend a visit to anyone passing. The fish was very fresh, will call again soon

They charge for Ketchup. Ridiculous. Minus a star for that. Greedy. Response to owner: Nope you're the first take out shop I've been to that doesn't at least give a complimentary packet or two of ketchup for no additional charge. Might as well charge extra for the salt and vinegar while you're at it....

Just had 2 sausage and chips bread rolls and 2 cans..£22 firstly that's expensive secondly the chips were like mush, the sausage batter was like a wet soggy washing up spinge and the bread rolls were stale. This used to be great but recently they have gone the way of everything else, maximum profit over quality and it shows. Worse meal I've had from here in years. Will never use them again.

I got home and was impressed with the size of my piece of fish, however this soon changed when I found really thick batter with a piece of fish inside which for the most part was no more than a quarter of an inch thick. Worst fish ever, biggest rip off ever, someone knew the fish was poor but still allowed it to be sold. Total rip off. World famous, UK finalist, don't make me laugh. RUBBISH Pat James

The queue was very long, it took 35 minutes to get our food but was worth the wait. The queue is also only because it's so popular so nothing they can help!

Beautiful gluten free fish and chips 😊

We reached there by 4°clock PM. The queue was too long; so we hesitated about the availability of the famous product fish and chips. But the magical speed of the dedicated staff made our waiting worthwhile. The food FISH AND CHIPS were so amazing in it's tastes, size and appearance. French fish and chips is one of the best places in London where we can get fish and chips at it's best.

Well i live in wells, i go to north creake for a great service and fish and chips, last time i ordered food here, all i got was a battered to death fish, greasy, and chips that would just about fill a seagull. Well over rated place... and never once got a smile while over charging me for that batter.. over a year ago that was and never been back.... Thats actually sad to say that as you are my local... and it wasnt the first time either.. thats happened a few times.. last one was my last to buy..

The fish and chips were not up to standard. The fish was over fried, resulting in a tough and unappealing texture. Additionally, the quality of the fish itself was lacking and very greasy. As for the chips, they were mediocre at best. It’s possible that I caught them on a bad night, but I’ve had much better fish and chips elsewhere

This was the third time I visited Frenchs fish and chip shop. The food was absolutely delicious, my partner and I had the haddock, Cod and sausage and chips, which all were great. We did order curry sauce, however, this was forgotten in our bag which is unfortunate.

Wonderful fish and chips ,so tasty .Best I've had .well done staff smashing.

Totally the best fish and chips I've had in years. Freshly cooked to order, perfect 🥰

Excellent service, lovely food and reasonably priced.

Just lost one star because the oil was a bit overused but to be fair we were there late afternoon on Sunday.

Much to expensive and no where to sit as taken away tables and chairs you have to sit on the harbour with sea gulls pigeons and birds on a concreate walls next to rubbish bins. .£20.00 for a portion of cod and chips.14.6.24.

Despite the industrial scale of production for the queues of visitors, it was good fish and chips. Worth the wait.

Food was OK. No tables in there now which is a shame. Can understand why but be nice if there was. Not too expensive and can pay with cash

One of the best fish and chips I've ever had. Queuing out of the door on a Friday evening which shows how popular it is, but the staff are so efficient at getting everyone served quickly and it's definitely worth the wait. Will definitely be back