• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

North East Connected

Hopping Across The North East From Hub To Hub

Fish and chip takeaway goes from Iceland To Corfu via Seaton Sluice

ByEmily

Oct 4, 2016

A Northumberland couple who love their local fish and chip restaurant went the extra mile to make sure that their exiled family members didn’t miss out on their fish and chip supper.

Jo Curle and husband Jamie from Blyth are regular diners at The Harbour View Restaurant in Seaton Sluice. The restaurant is famed for its huge portions of Icelandic Cod, its gigantic fish bites and well stocked bar. The takeaway side of the business often has large queues and at Easter the queues stretched hundreds of metres with customers waiting up to two hours to be served.

Jo’s mother, Joyce left Blyth more than 20 years ago for a new life on the Greek Island of Corfu. She last visited the region in 2010 and made a beeline for The Harbour View after hearing how good the food was from her daughter. Ever since, whenever Jo visited her mother they would reminisce about the food that she couldn’t get in Corfu.

Jo then decided to experiment with her takeaway food by storing it in the fridge and then reheating it the next day. To her delight, the food tasted just as fresh as it was when it was originally served giving Jo the idea to send a takeaway to her mother 2000 miles away.

The couple then researched the regulations about importing food into Greece and discovered that there were no rules about importing fish and chips.

“A day before we went to Corfu, we bought two takeaway fish and chip portions, took them home, refrigerated them and the next day we wrapped them in plastic bags and packed them into our suitcases,” said Jo. “ Once we arrived at my mothers, we reheated them and the four of us enjoyed a real taste of home.”

Jo’s mother Joyce was delighted to receive the surprise takeaway from her homeland.
“I cried tears of joy as I was eating the fish and chips, it was the nicest, most thoughtful present I’ve ever had.”

Restaurant Manager, Sarah Cranson who has worked at The Harbour View for eight years said,

“It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who queue up at peak times to eat our food and that’s because it’s a great experience to be here. I also get really impressed when someone comes into the restaurant and tells me that they have travelled all the way from Scotland just to eat our food. This takeaway to Corfu though is really special. The thought of someone taking our food half way across the world is very humbling and just goes to show how popular our fish is.”

By Emily