Hobson's Fish & Chips

A highly recommended option for anyone in Soho craving proper fish and chips. Kurdish-owned, Hobson's benefits from 25-plus years of family business in the trade and is committed to high-quality ingredients and careful preparation, using "fresh fish only from sustainable resources, delivered to us daily from Billingsgate Fish Market" (and now also Grimsby Fish Market). The chips are hand-peeled and cut — ask for them well-done — and the kitchen features "the latest technology in frying". However, the emphasis on quality is reflected in the prices, which are up to about 25% higher than you'd pay for standard fare elsewhere. The portions, while certainly sufficient, are not huge, but the quality more than compensates. A portion of takeaway chips in 2023 costs £3.50. There's also a trio of savoury pies. Opened in early 2020 (pre-pandemic), five or six years after the also recommended Bayswater branch (9 Porchester Rd W2 5DP). Located in a near-cramped, efficiently utilised space in St Anne's Court, about two minutes north of Old Compton St, about 30 seconds west of Soho Square. Cheaper than the very good Poppies (55 Old Compton St) and priced similarly to the also good Golden Union (38 Poland St) [see entries].