A Liverpool chippy has been named the best in Merseyside after earning a spot in the National Fish & Chip Awards top 40. Portland's Fish and Chips, on Sefton Street, in Brunswick, is the only contender from Merseyside in the 2026 shortlist.
This isn't the first award for owner Mubinul Hoque - who took on the chippy in Feburary 2023 - and his team who won a Blue Ribbon prize at last year's Good Food Awards. The 36-year-old from Wavertree told the ECHO it was "crazy" to have received the most recent honour.
He said: "We saw the email and thought 'wow'. But we hadn't actually got onto it until one of our main suppliers came in and said 'congratulations'. When we went through the shortlist, and to see we're the only one [in this area] - amazing. It is a great achievement.
"Having only been here for a short period of time and to have achieved this is really amazing. We are just looking forward to progressing and see if we can get in the top 20 and hopefully more."
He added: "It's great. It just shows that we're doing something right. We're doing something that people appreciate. We're going the right away about it.
"The main thing is keeping traditional fish and chips [shops] alive for the next generation to keep it going."
The chippy serves up everything you'd expect from a traditional shop including fish dinners, pies, sausage and chips and more. It also sells the Portland's fish platter which comes with crispy cod, squid, prawn tempura, scampi chips and a choice of sauce.
As well as serving up good grub to locals, the independent business gives back to its community by sponsoring Nicosia Juniors Football Club and young Scouse boxer Maaz Bin Saud.
The shop also opened on Christmas Day last year where it served free food to key workers and people who were alone.
When asked what makes them so different Mubinal, 36, said: "We specialise in making everything fresh. We use local farmers and fishermen. We make everything in-house."
He added: "We are only an independent business. No one's perfect. We try to be the best and help people along the way.
"We try to give the best fish and chips out there and keep that legacy going. Growing up, fish and chips was a staple in every British house."