‘Ireland’s most honest food reviewer’ travelled all the way to Scotland to visit the famous Anstruther Fish Bar in Fife and he was left ‘almost speechless’ by the food
Liam McInerney Content Editor
07:00, 14 Dec 2025
Paul_IsItWorthIt rated it out of ten (Image: Paul_IsItWorthIt )
A Dubliner travelled all the way to Scotland to try what a top critic recently called the “best chippy in Scotland” – and he said the food tasted completely different to what you get in Irish takeaways.
Social media personality Paul_IsItWorthIt, who calls himself “Ireland’s most honest food reviewer”, visited Anstruther Fish Bar in Fife, and the experience left him “almost speechless”.
His expectations were high, not least because a sign above the door proudly stated it was a “UK Fish & Chip Shop of the year winner”. And if that wasn’t enough, a sign on the window had the words: “Awarded Takeaway of the year fish and chips Scotland 2019-2020.”
And starting his YouTube video, Paul said: “This is your bucket list if you are a fish and chips connoisseur, this is a bucket list destination.”
His total bill came to £22 after he ordered haddock batter and chips, homemade curry sauce, mushy peas, whitebait and an Irn Bru.
The Anstruther Fish Bar (Image: Anstruther Fish Bar and Restaurant by Richard Sutcliffe, CC BY-SA 2.0 )
And opening up his food package, he said: “Oh my God, does that not look unbelievable? And the chips, the chips look like they have some serious character to them, don’t they?”
Biting into a golden chip, he continued: “Now I have tried some chips in my time, I have tried hundreds of chips, I think that’s the best chip I’ve ever tasted.”
He then explained how they tasted different to chips back home, and added: “If I am wrong I am wrong, but I think they are cooked in beef dripping, I would be flabbergasted if they are not.”
As for his haddock, he said it looked and tasted fantastic and dipping it in tartar sauce, he added: “I’m almost speechless here. It doesn’t get much better.”
Giving the curry sauce a go, he said it was “so different” to Irish curry sauce, and despite being “really nice”, it wasn’t his favourite.
The chips look great to us (Image: Paul_IsItWorthIt )
But tucking into the mushy peas, he spotted another contrast, and said: “I dunno, they do something different with the mushy peas in the UK, they are much better over here.”
He then chatted to passerby locals who confirmed Anstruther Fish Bar was the “best around” and summing up his meal, Paul said: “Just spectacular, the locals are the ones who will tell you. This is unbelievable fish and chips man, I just want to keep eating it.”
Paul also said it was a “lovely little town” and that it was worth the two hours drive it took to get there from Glasgow.
Subscribers to Paul’s channel will know that he is not one to dish out extremely high scores, and he took a minute to deliberate before rating his experience out of ten.
Finally ready, he said: “The fish is unbelievably fresh, the batter is exactly how I like it, almost translucent, you can see the little flaky bits here.
He said the batter was perfectly crispy (Image: Paul_IsItWorthIt )
“I think it is exceptional, I am going to go, what have I had that’s better than this? Oh my god… 9.7 out of ten for Anstruther.”
After posting the video, which you can watch in full here, one person replied: “That Anstruther Fish Bar is a real treat and going in November is a good move, as in the summer, you can sometimes be queuing down the street.”
A second said: “Best chippy I’ve ever had definitely 10 out 10 for me.”