The Newington Traditional Fish Bar

The 2017 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

Nothing can make you feel more cheated than a bad chippy. All it takes is fresh cooking, clean oil, a crisp chip and a grown-up attitude to sourcing: all boxes the Newington Fish Bar ticks. Cod and haddock still slip into the fryer, but Fish of the Week introduces less pressured species like coley and mackerel. Excellent value daily deals appeal to the student population, and coeliac Wednesday and Sundays widen the net in terms of audience. After watching your catch cooked in fresh veg oil, there’s seating downstairs to make more of a meal of the traditional fish supper.

• High point: The best chips this side of town
• Low point: Edinburgh’s old nemesis, the deep-fried pizza, still looms from the menu