Since we moved to Bury St Edmunds, I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve ordered fish and chips from Hendo’s via Deliveroo. We *do* have another chippy in walking distance, but the quality just doesn’t compare.
This weekend, we decided to eat in for the first time. Hendo’s on Abbeygate Street in the town centre is one of those places that seems to be constantly busy. The dining area isn’t large, and there’s a separate hatch serving up a range of tasty ice creams (try the twisted chocolate and vanilla!) On the sunny Saturday lunchtime of our visit, there were plenty of people queuing for a sweet treat.
We managed to get a table inside straight away. Unlike us, it seemed that most people were ordering takeaway fish and chips to enjoy in the sunshine.
As you’d expect, Hendo’s dine-in menu is a little more extensive than the takeaway and delivery menu – and cheaper, too. The six-year-old was most excited about the milkshake menu he spotted on the table!
From the choice of vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, raspberry, Biscoff, salted caramel, toffee and banana, he went for the Biscoff (£4 for a 12oz cup, £5 for a 16oz cup). Of course, he accepted the offer of whipped cream on top for a further 50p!
If you’re looking for a truly decadent shake, Hendo’s won’t disappoint. It was super thick and creamy, packed with plenty of Lotus biscuit chunks and blended with Biscoff to give it a ton of flavour without being sickly.
The regular haddock and chips (£13.50) was impressively sized for a regular portion. The batter, as always, was crunchy, flaky and delicious. The fish was meaty and full of flavour. We love their triple-cooked chips, too, with every portion we’ve ever had being lovely and crisp on the outside, super-smooth and fluffy in the middle.
We never order the homemade tartare sauce when we order from Hendo’s via Deliveroo. That’s going to change. It comes free with the fish and chips when you dine in, and it was incredible! Heavy on the dill, it’s probably the most flavoursome tartare sauce I’ve ever eaten.
My regular delivery order is their battered halloumi and chips – the small child’s partial to this order, too. We ordered it to share, at the bargain price of £8.50 for four sizeable slices. While it was supposed to come with sweet chilli sauce, this didn’t materialise. However, we were asked if we wanted a separate plate for the boy’s portion AND they brought out child-sized cutlery for him too… It’s nice to see places catering so well to kids.
As ever, the batter was thick and crisp, and the cheese itself beautiful. It was also a good opportunity to introduce the child to the joy of scraps, free of charge when you dine in (no sign of them on the delivery menu, sadly!) In some places these are ridiculously oily…at Hendo’s they’re crisp, fairly dry and incredibly moreish.
We’re certainly going to continue ordering from Hendo’s when we feel like great fish and chips at home. But now we’ve had the dine-in experience for ourselves, I think it’s something we’ll definitely be treating ourselves to more often…
[…] becoming quite the battered halloumi aficionado, and uses the Hendo’s version (his favourite) as a benchmark. The Dog & Partridge version, he said, was equally good – […]