Sandy's — Local services in Folkestone and Hythe District

Have visited Sandys each week throughout the summer holidays in search of my favourite chip shop dinner, rock,chips onion rings, curry sauce and a roll and butter . Here are my experiences for each visit

July 27th: No rock available so went with Haddock . Shop doesn't sell onion rings or roll and butter but offered mea buttered burger roll which I accepted.

August 3rd: Now on the understanding that I would have to forego onion rings to continue visiting but in my opinion well worth it . Rock in stock this week and buttered burger roll.

August 10th: No rock again this week so tried scampi which along with buttered burger roll. Sign outside said "Open 7 days per week whatever the weather.

August 17th : In spite of sign outside on previous weeks visit shop is closed. Sign on the door says "closed one day only" but gives no reason for closure. Recommends fish from nearby ship Inn pub but I opted to go to the harbour fish shop where I enjoyed rock, chips and buttered roll. Will write them a separate review.

5.August 24th: Ordered rock and the lady serving took my order only for the guy doing the chips that they had ran out of rock on last order. Opted for a southern fried chicken burger.

August 31st: No rock yet again so went for cod. Guy who took my orders said that he would butter me a burger roll but the other guy said that they had ran out. I just laughed as that's now two weeks running my order has been taken only to then be told its not in stock. The next person ordered and paid for a chicken burger so I am curious to know how they managed this.

Conclusion: 6 visits and only on 1 out of 6 was what I wanted available. The alternatives I opted for each week were amazing though and shop is well kept. It looks as though its being ran by the same people who had the sandwich shop that I loved in Folkestone High Street when I lived in Folkestone.

Not all chip shops stock onion rings so I'm not overly worried about that though I have never been in one that doesn't sell rolls and butter and having that with chips always makes the experience the best it can be.

One thing is for certain the current owners are certainly better than the people who had it when I lived in Folkestone so hopefully by next year they'll sort out their stock situation.

With the above in mind I award them a 4 rating though if the above can be improved by next year I will happily change it to 5.

UDATE: 01/09/2022

Hi Andy

Thank you for giving my review a full response. As there is not the option to reply this update is the only way I can reply.

Regarding onion rings I have stated in my review that I am well aware that not all chip shops offer these and that with the other nice food that you sell that I am happy to forego these as the experience makes it worth it.

Regarding bread rolls I still think that these would go nicely with the tasty chips you sell. If I was to bring my own in next year and pay you the cost of a burger to freshly butter it for me would you do this?

Regarding the brioche rolls on my most recent visit this was not explained to me at the time but now it has been I understand.

Regarding the Rock situation now I have read your reason for not buying frozen rock it does explain why you rarely have it and indeed I do agree that you cannot beat the freshness.

Regarding the shop being closed on the 17th I never said that I felt inconvenienced I was just confused by the previous weeks sign. I cannot say whether or not there were posters in the shop when I visited the previous week on the 10th. It could have been that where the shop was so busy I didn't notice them or it could have been that they were put up after that date so I wouldn't have seen them. I am not currently on Facebook so I wouldn't have seen your page. In any case I hope you enjoyed a more than well earned day off and I'll be in for Rock and chips on Xmas day (doh 🤣🤣🤣).

In all seriousness though I am delighted that you now have the chip shop cause I know that you will put your heart and...

OK to be fair it was Father's Day and though there was not a queue out the door - there was a lot of people about eating fish and chips. So...staff may have been a bit jaded from the lunchtime rush. I ordered Cod. Fish was not fresh cooked when ordered but from inside a heated section. This can mean you are either getting something just freshly placed in there or something that has been sitting there. I did get a nice portion of fish but the batter was like a thick overcoat but still crunchy. The fish itself was nice but had lost a bit of its' moisture. The chips were very good. Will definitely try them again but maybe on a quieter day. In response to the owner - my review does not deserve rude responses anyway - it was an honest reflection of my experience that's the point of reviews as they are there both for Customer and feedback for the Establishment. Nor was it malicious even saying I would return in future. I visited Folkestone's Sandy's based on Google reviews, I chose Sandy's expecting a 4.8 out 5 but my experience on that day - it was more a 4. I have grown up eating Fish and Chips. I have eaten fish and chips from places as far a field as Durham, Robin Hood's Bay, Cornwall, North Wales, Merseyside and Dorset as well as places across Kent. As such I have a pretty good yard stick on what makes good fish and chips. I understand that within that area of the harbour, Sandys is the sole fish and chip shop so can get busy and cooked to order does not work so having cooked fish ready in a hot box works if there is a steady flow of customers. It can also mean cooked fish can start lose their moisture. In regards your staff, I have worked in various Customer Serving Industries so understand the difficulties and would not go out of my way to be detrimental people in that role unless they had been particularly rude. Google asks you to review Atmosphere and Service which I did but to be impartial I did say this may have been due to the...

I feel like they treat their customers like they was working on a line with them rather than valuing the fact that it was us coming to eat their food... it was a little frustrating how they spoke to me and my partner very derogatory abruptly unneeded attitudes. We are the customers we are not working on the line.. anyway all that aside I have personal problems so I won't get to into it but yes my understanding isn't always significant but yeah the whole body language and demeanor... just really felt flustered rushed everybody was confused in there people before us was asking if the order they was senselessly screaming was mine when it wasn't then when my order came through it was chaotic by then due to my learning difficulties they didn't give me my curry sauce or my mushy peas and there was no lemon on the fish. I paid 21 quid for a anxious meal that admittedly tasted good but just wasn't acceptable. Definitely brush up on your customer services... I don't mind how you respond either I've already seen all the replies you've given to any previous critism it's definitely on the lines of narcissistic...