There’s always something very comforting and traditionally Yorkshire about going to this fish and chip restaurant in Pudsey, writes John Baron.
Wetherby Whaler has generally glowing reviews on Trip Advisor (4.5 out of 5 at the time of writing) and we’ve been going there for many years. This was our first family visit for some time – does it still meet expectations?
The answer on our visit was a resounding yes. The Lowtown restaurant serves good old-fashioned fish and chips and mushy peas and some bread and butter and a cup of Yorkshire tea.
It was homely, quaint, English and warming on a wintry Pudsey lunchtime.
We all had mushroom soup for starters – lovely and thick, warm and tasty.
There’s a good choice of main courses, which go beyond the usual fish and chips – I was tempted by the Plaice or Salmon, and there was an appealing squid special, but I plumped the traditional large haddock meal.
Out came a big, meaty fish cooked to perfection in light batter. It came with a large portion of chips which weren’t too greasy and loads of mixed bread and butter which even I couldn’t get through! Being pedantic, the brown bread was a little past it, but that’s a minor quibble.
Others in my party had medium haddock meals and a haddock salad meal, which came with loads of salad and was super tasty.
We had the option of desert – the sponge pudding and custard sounded particularly appealing – but we were too stuffed by that stage.
It was all washed down by a large piping hot pot of tea.
Service was friendly and efficient. It was good to see some of the regular crowd being treated like old friends by the waiters.
In all, definitely a top chippie (it has a takeaway section too).
Question is, are there any better in West Leeds?