The Mermaid Fish Restaurant in Leeds

Our expectations were high, having visited the restaurant twice since the takeover. Our experience today did not live up to those expectations Firstly the temperature was so cool that most of us kept our coats on. Secondly the drinks order was incorrect, but was quickly corrected. Thirdly there was no cup for the tea. We had to ask twice, only to be told “you’ll have to wait, they’re in the dishwasher!” Meanwhile the tea was cooling on the table. There were no side plates for the bread and butter. Also, the chips were cool, but the rest of the meal was hot. The fish was beautifully cooked. The staff were frazzled. 2 serving staff for the whole restaurant was just insufficient. The girls tried hard but it was clear to us that more staff were needed. Where were the management? Nowhere to be seen.

Not very hot, this is a regular thing and not fair for people housebound. Plus not good value for money because of this

Restaurant review. Today we visited as a business lunch, with 11 visitors from Dussledorf and Sweden who were all keen to try that popular English dish of Fish and Chips! We have been previously and never had issues / a bad meal and this time DID NOT disappoint! Since we have been last the décor has had an uplift which is welcomed! Its clean and more modern, with the introduction of a bar, however we did not take up the alcoholic choices with it been a business lunch. I think that on top of fish and chips would definitely put the visitors to sleep in the afternoons conference! The waiting staff were smartly dressed, polite, efficient and helpful with choices. Music choice was good old Frank Sinatra and the likes, nice and calming/ peaceful to listen to, you often don't hear it all that much these days so was lovely to hum along to. I would say pricing reflects todays astronomical prices for food, however I think when paying so much extra to eat in you should be offered a side of Mushy peas or Curry sauce for free - not £2.50 per pot and all be it a small one at that. Feed back from the Dutch and Swedes was very good and all would definitely try / go again! Even the Mexican tried Mushy peas and enjoyed! We will definitely come here as a company again bringing our visitors from across the seas! Unfortunately I don't have any photos as everyone was keen to tuck in but can confirm it was all beautifully cooked and presented. Thank you Mermaid and its team. Jenny Burnell

Fabulous service from the young making the restaurant, great fish and chips, definitely recommend and worth driving a few miles to eat here.

Great service with a joke and a smile..lovely meal and I recommend the prawn cocktail for starters...then there's more....

Missing items tiny potion for the price charged

the curry sauce was flavourless, over cooked fish with soggy batter, soggy chip which seamed to have soaked in fat. very big let down.

One of the fish 🐟 and chips 🍟 shop in the area

Best fish n chips ive had for ages the large chips came in a box and large fish was wrapped up that i then put in box with chips and loved my teacake fish n chip butty.

spacious, airy restaurant, spotlessly clean. Sol (presumably the shift manager or manager) and his friendly but not overbearing staff were great. the fish and chips were lovely, very crispy batter surrounding a large chunky fillet, very well cooked, and very tasty. recommended.

Booked a table last minute to celebrate my daughters 6th birthday. When we arrived the table had been decorated with a pink birthday banner which was a lovely surprise. The food and service were excellent as usual. On the way out, the staff gave my daughter a chocolate bar 😊 thank you for making my daughters birthday extra special.

Food was tasty and our host Emma was brilliant. Her service was A class and super friendly. Definitely wound recommend this place.

Very greasy and the curry was very powdery, actually threw most of it away

Large fish is tiny dont be fooled & its also super oily, I prefer not to drink a litre of oil with my fish.

Best fish I’ve had in along while ., nice n juicy mmm Top service and very friendly staff,,especially Emma top lady

I had haddock and chips and it tasted like proper fish with crispy batter no soggy stuff and service was excellent

Everything was good except my drink was missing.

Chips from bottom of pan or yesterdays and fish missing

Absolutamente mierda entró en 330 hoy tienes pescado y patatas fritas y restos. x 2 £ 18. 00 las patatas fritas eran duras como rocas todo chatarra y afilado (peligro de atragantamiento) lo único que era agradable acerca de estos era los dados el resto se fue en el cubo las patatas fritas deben estar fuera y dentro de la freidora todo el día! No malgastes tu dinero en huesos asquerosos que tus peces no disfrutaron en absoluto

Edit: Sadly the quality of the food has dropped significantly, such a shame Lovely fish and chips, it always feels like a treat when you can sit on the wall on a warm day to enjoy them.

The food was cold,i am fed up with the delivery driver not using there thermal bagsthis is why my food was cold,the chip was cold and hard the fish was more batter than fish

We visited on a Friday lunchtime, and arrived before opening. We Were acknowledged immediately and were let in and shown to our table for a short wait until service started. We ordered two pensioner meals(available from 60 years of age) and the food was delivered promptly and piping hot. We both started with garlic mushroom, which were of a decent portion size and were delicious. We also both chose the regular fish and chips which comes with bread and butter and unlimited tea. The fish was particularly delicious, with lovely flakes of haddock and a perfect light crispy batter. I finished with a fruit crumble and custard, which was also very nice and a huge portion too. The staff were warm and welcoming particularly our server Emma, and the lovely young man who let us in early,and took time to chat as we left. All in all a lovely experience, highly recommended. We will be back .......soon!

Absolutely fantastic bang on every time

Good food prompt delivery as expected

Fantastic - very, very tasty food

Excelente personal de pescado muy amable y servicial. Solo fuimos a llevar pero no nos decepcionó. Sin duda volvería de nuevo

I took the batter off the fish and ate the fish. I binned the thick greasy batter and horrible chips. It was my first and last time there . Thankfully the portions were small.

Well, this used to be OK but when we went we had to wait because apparently they don't have enough time to clean up so don't have any fish ready within an hour of closing as they are cleaning ready for closing time. Fish obviously red hot but the chips were pale and soggy as well as cold!

We thought the coke was expensive, it was only a can and for £3.50 a bit expensive however the fish and chips were very tasty.

Best fish and chip restaurant by miles! The food is great, served piping hot and perfectly cooked. The vintage special is really good value - not much more than our local takeaway, and a great choice of starters and puddings included. Best of all, the staff - all totally professional and genuinely friendly. Abbie and Emma in particular are brilliant; we've visited a few times now, and they know what we want before we do! Absolutely first class!

.i orderd a large fish & regular chips,i got a normal size fish mostly batter & i got a lage chips,not worth the money this time,delivery kept changing the time

Fish and chips have really improved again over the last couple of years and great service from Emma today

Really enjoyed my fish and chips I would recommend them to others you won’t be disappointed.

Best fish shop in morley, great fish and chips.

We ordered the special, Plaice, salad and chips. Service great, food lovely.

Really good, was a tad cold when we got there. First lot of coffee was cold but was quickly rectified. Forgot to take s pic as I couldn't wait to get stuck in 😃

Over expensive for average food and restaurant cold servers lean over diners and tables not set after last customer

The finest tasting fish and chips. Go try, you wont be disappointed

Lovely meal and all round service from both Sol and the lady server.

An over familiar member of staff wasn't a great start and things didn't pick up. The service was slow and when the food arrived several of our party complained about it was cold. Not a great experience and one we won't repeat. Plenty of far better fish restaurants to visit than this one

We went for some lunch today at the restaurant. From the second we walked in we were greeted with the most lovely server, Sol. We were seated promptly at a lovely table. He was amazing with our little girl, and even got her smiling after a nap! He got her an extra small portion (she would not have eaten a full portion even of the kids food, she’s only 9 months) and mine and my partners food was so lovely, nice big portions, the homemade tartar sauce was beautiful, just wow. It was fish&chips with a more luxurious feel. We felt comfortable and looked after. Sol&all the girls behind the bar, bringing us food etc were so welcoming and lovely. We will definitely be back super soon! Thank you :)

Whilst delivery was great We spent £19.04 and order was missing one of the meals.. we only received a regular fish and chips but nothing else £19.04 for a regular fish and chips is disgraceful to say the least have put in a refund with just eat.

Had Take away fish and chips: the chips were white and some were hard. The fish was very small like half a fish. Had to wait a long time for food and staff were nice but overworked.

We are weekly visitors and are always on a very tight turnaround due to dance class commitments. The food is always perfect and every week Emma is an absolute delight. A warm welcome, gets us ordered quickly (she’s memorised our order), and ensuring our food comes out quickly so we are not rushing. All done with a smile and charm. It’s always a pleasure.

Curry was tepid and tasted horrible. The fish was overcooked and dry

I normally don’t leave reviews but on this occasion I need to. The fish was burnt, the batter was black and the Fisk was starting to turn black and the smell of burnt batter was just wrong. I can’t believe you sent it as both fish were burnt.

As a Leeds Lad who now lives down South, I always tell people how good the fish n chips are in Leeds. Not any more! Absolute garbage here now. I should of taken the hint when I passed one of the staff sat on the back doorstep tucking into a Macdonalds on his lunch break! Reasonable portion for the price but threw most of it away

Used to be a regular weekly stop before the acquisition by Mr. Fisher. Shortly after the change in management I took my business elsewhere as I felt the price increases were not merited given the quality of the product. (Price up, portion size and quality down are never a recipe for success!) I was nearby so I thought Id give the Mermaid another try. I had fish and chips and my wife had the scampi. The fish tasted very different to what I expect. Perhaps they've switched to cod here? Haddock is the usual fish around these parts but what put me off the most was the heavy, undercooked batter around the fish. It's not rocket science to do this right... there are plenty of top notch chippies around here that will benefit from the Mermaids lack of quality control. Reading other reviews it seems the consistency is a problem. Pricing is at the higher end too, so I'd recommend looking elsewhere for your chippy tea.

Went to collect my order of a gf fish and a special. Not ready when got there,the fryer couldn't read the order slip and I needed to help him know the special was not gf and the normal size fish was gf. Handover of the order to the lady wrapping it was unfortunately misunderstood. I asked for the gf fish to be placed in the plastic bag so I knew which was which! A couple of hours later I was really ill.I has been given the wrong fish. If you are coeliac then don't buy your gf fish here.

Excellent fish and chips, superb service, staff extremely courteous and helpful. Prawn cocktail starter plentiful and really tasty. Barry & Sylvia.

I ordered £27 worth of food for delivery at approx £7.05 pm, by 7.45 not arrived, & status said delivered, however it was never delivered. Fish shop had received order, and suggested I report the non-delivery to just eat stating 'drive stole order'

We visited on Tuesday evening my cousin is Gluten free she ordered gluten free fish batter she said it’s the best she’s ever had she travels all over the country so well done Mermaid I had mushy peas I’ve got to say they were as good as my mum use to make we will definitely be back . The service was excellent thank you sel

Llegamos sobre las 4. 30 el 2 de septiembre Pedimos 2 pescados ligeramente rebozados y patatas fritas pequeñas, no lo hacemos las patatas fritas pequeñas tenían que tener patatas fritas regulares, las patatas fritas eran horribles y el pescado parecía terrible, ciertamente no ligeramente rebozado, la masa era muy crujiente y oscuro como se puede ver en las fotos que he subido, desafiantemente no volverá, podría ser mucho mejor, gran ubicación un montón de comercio de paso, pero necesitan llegar allí primero fish & chips, freír pescado como este se puede entender por qué no está muy ocupado

Outrageously good fish and chips. Huge portions of the best haddock cooked to perfection. Chips were on point. The batter on the fish was of an excellence rarely seen - faultless crispness and first class colour. Sol greeted us on entry and kindly explained the menu to us pointing out the specials - a real warm welcome. Emma looked after us from there in in and was friendly, knowledgeable, speedy and couldn't have done any more to make our visit more enjoyable. Many thanks to all the staff, both front of house and kitchen.

Brilliant food and environment , fish and chips the best we've had! We all really enjoyed the experience, the grandkids thought the tub and cone ice cream selection was very good Special mention and big thanks to the staff who were great.

We already knew the quality and portion size is not great here, but today has topped it. Just spent £17 on fish & chips and a fish butty, and the fish in the butty was tiny, like they had fried a goldfish. The fish and chips, although a good portion of chips, the chips had loads of black bits and the fish looked like it had been fried in really old oil, the batter was practically black. Definitely will not try these again they have had 1 too many chances

Unfortunately the fish was tough as was the batter. It felt like it had been sat a long time.

When the food arrived both pieces of fish were burnt. The batter was inedible, burnt and too hard to cut. The fish inside was hard and dry and inedible also. Please refund the cost of the 2 pieces of fish (£18)

As good as ever. Been going to the Mermaid for many years and was not disappointed. Haddock and chips just right with some brown and white bread.

Lovely over 60s fish and chip special. Pleasant staff and good service.

£15 Special, right state, never again

Very poor service by inexperienced staff Food acceptable but expensive Waited too long for the food to arrive Forgot about the bread and sauces Will not be dining there again

Smallest ‘slice’ of fish in an over generous layer of tasteless batter. Almost a third of the fish I was served was an empty batter shell! The chips were also overcooked and tasteless. Very disappointing, especially considering the price they charge! I will not be returning!!

First visit to the mermaid. Had see mixed reviews. I must say we had a very pleasant experience. Staff were friendly. Food was good and wasn't over priced. Would definitely go back

Haven't been there for years. Restaurant clean and waitress very friendly and helpful. Downsize the portions. Went for the seniors and was tiny. Take a look at the wetherby whaler , that's a senior

Not had fish and chips from here in a while. In my opinion, they remain the best in the area. A fabulous taste. Despite recent changes (new owner, I think) they seem no different than my first 35+ years ago.

My son was recommended this place by a freind of his and to be fair wasn't disappointed. Was greeted by a lovely lady who was very polite and freindly infact every body in there was smiling. The chips were fresh out of the fryer and we were asked if we wanted scraps. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff they showed my son where the rest rooms were. I'd say it is worth the money there although some of the scraps were a bit more well-done than others that's no big deal there is plenty of seating in the onsite restaurant and there is also a bar. I recommend family's go check it out the kids will love the drawings on the wall.

* I have had to edit this review * Unfortunately I've had to edit and add to my review as my last experience was awful. I went last Friday at around 8 o'clock, the service was so slow and unorganised , people queuing in different directions and the staff non existent or past caring. When finally served it all felt rushed and this all made sense when I got home. The chips absolutely disgusting, half cooked and full of horrible tasting grease. The fish was awful. The pie was awful. The gravy was like dishwasher water, the peas you could chew on them and the curry was the worst chip shop curry I've ever had, it was tasteless and just had clumps of bits at the bottom when I tried to stir it but it made no difference, again watery. It was so bad and out of order I've had to change this review as I won't be going back again. It's disrespectful you charge these prices and serve such poor quality. We couldn't even get the chips of the grease paper it was that bad. It was just a mess and at £40 for everything, abysmal. - Went for the first time in a long time the other week. Woman polite at the counter and had a good natter. Food was good when we got it home , both the fish and chips were really nice and if you visiting make sure you try the curry sauce. Worth a visit for the takeaway, never been inside for the restaurant.

£2.50 for the smallest pot of curry sauce I have ever seen, disappointing to say the least the prices are ridiculous they wonder why it’s always dead. I really think they need to look at the price list it’s just too high, the food was lovely but not worth the price, one slice of bread (not fresh) £1 you can get a whole loaf shame really as it could be a great place

Busy place. Prices are .a bit expensive

Excellent quality great service very happy customer. Thank you

Just home from a visit to the mermaid, my Mums favourite place to eat lunch, it was very busy in the restaurant, but was very well looked after by Emma, she always has a great smile and appears to be genuinely happy in her work, portion sizes are superb and the quality of food is consistently superb, very full when we left and my Mum and I enjoyed our visit

BURNT BURNT AND BLAND, disappointing, want a refund tch

The best fish and chip restaurant in West Yorkshire, today we visited the Mermaid to celebrate the birthdays of two of our lovely friends . We live in Blackpool but it's well worth the travelling time to eat the gorgeous food at the Mermaid . We all had a 3 course meal ( senior) , Which was superb , at a total cost of £ 46 + absolute value for money . Staff were excellent., tables and chairs were good , choice of menu was adequate. Only downside was the low mirror in the disabled toilets, we aren't all in wheelchairs ! Perhaps simply a longer mirror would suffice. Overall 5 stars . Well done Mike

Must say we normally enjoy the mermaid but today was the worst fish n chips we’ve had from there hopefully it’s a one off Will say the guy serving was very pleasant.

Great service from Emma and Annabelle thank you

Saul, emma, arabella wonderful staff

Everything good really enjoyed my fish lunch today and the service was great.

Beautiful batter, haddock happiness on a plate

Brilliant service from Emma & team, and honestly best fish & chips I’ve had

Called in today on the way to Liverpool and can only say food was exceptional , but better than that was the first class service and second to none server came with food and held plate with a towel no fingers on plate , trained professionally and constantly asking If everything was to our satisfaction , but more than this the young waiter was helping an elderly gent outside with his mobility scooter and this was a natural king jesture. So for service forget Michelin star joints this place beats them hand down .

Two fish and a portion of chips to take away and to share for £16.50. Not £1.00 for fish and chips when we moved down south in 1988 but still just as good.

Visited the mermaid for lunch with family. This is the first time I’ve been back in about 20 years of not living in the area and always having fond memories of the place it was top of my list. The mermaid did not disappoint the fish and chips are gorgeous absolutely love the batter on the fish. The staff are so friendly and it’s really clean. Would deffo recommend to anyone living in the area or passing by. Hope it’s not another 20 years until I get another mermaid !

This review is of the takeaway side of the business, not the sit-down restaurant, that always looks well frequented. Normally, my cheeky treat take away fish and chips. Sit in the car or outside on a bench. Usually very good, I would normally score them higher on this occasion. Whilst the chips were delicious, the fish wasn't upto it's normal standard. Hopefully, it was a one off and I can score them higher next time.

Fabulous food. Lovely staff. Great value.

Thankyou so much and Congratulations for the new General Manager Lee and his team. Those extra little touches have improved what was already a great restaurant. Excellent service and food. Your service is fit for a 5 Star Hotel See you again soon! Fabulous !

Emma was brilliant. Kind and very sociable. My son John told her in the restaurant he'd wanted to give his food and service 5 stars

At least they've got rid of the luxury bread board much better visit this time

Absolutely beautiful fish land chips and staff very friendly

Really not good value for money. £9 for a fish! Seen bigger in a goldfish bowl - deffo the smallest serving of all local chippies.

Best fish n chips in Yorkshire, been going since it opened in 70s

Another fantastic fish and chips. Lovely light batter that never disapoints.

Haddock and chips were very good, fish was fresh, skinless and cooked to order, chips were good, big portions, I could have easily shared mine and had enough! Didn't have to wait very long but we did time it right, walked into an empty shop, there was a queue when we left.

Ordered delivery and had to bin most of the food, everything was either raw or burned, and dripping with grease, extremely overpriced for very little and very mediocre food

Lovely oap f + chips. 3h lunch had a good chat. Too many T bags in T pot. You are using approx x2 pea shoots as garnish. We had 4 each, 2 would do.

It's not the same class of food I went yesterday after not going for over 2 years making the 40 minutes drive it was expensive for a takeaway fish and chips sat in car could not eat it .absolutely not the same food as it used to be very disappointed

I consider myself a fish & chip connoisseur and this did not disappoint! I would go as far to say the best fish & chips I’ve ever had!! The service was welcoming and friendly and Sol greeted us and made us feel like family! I definitely be back. 5*****

Just been here for the first time. Food was incredible and the service impeccable. Highly recommend!

The food is excellent and the staff are very friendly.

We just love our post-supermarket-shop fish and chip tea on a Saturday evening. It’s always a pleasure and we leave feeling full and relaxed - even after sharing a portion of chips. We sometimes bring our 5yr old grandson and are able to tweak his kids meal to his liking - and he loves the attention. Thanks to Sol and ALL the staff who are always so welcoming and lovely to talk to. They help to make the experience of a simple meal a bit special. See you next week!