D. Fecci and Sons — Restaurant in Wales

30th July 2022. Fecci and Sons, Tenby. There are no different portion sizes to be had here, when it comes to the chips. Really! I hoped that might be because their portions are already very generous. I was wrong. Very wrong. £2.50 will get you about the same amount of chips you might get in a “cone” elsewhere. That was supposed to be my evening meal as they had run out of mini-cod and I did not want to pay the £5.75 for a “standard” cod. After eating the tiny portion of chips, I had to go to another shop and buy a sausage roll to fill up on (see separate review).

If I had received three times the amount of chips, it would still only have been the same amount I would have received as a “small” portion, from my local chippy in the midlands. Seaside prices, I suppose. I could have had two portions of chips, but £5 for two thirds of a small portion of chips felt a bit excessive.

From a previous visit, the fish did not seem to be of a particularly high quality either, and like an unbalanced cricket team, was mostly batter.

This “award winning” chippy seems to have been undeservedly living off it’s “award” for many years now. Up to twenty-one years to be precise! The laminated reproduction of the certificate is proudly screwed to the wall outside, next to where the customers queue (who are also about to be screwed): “Fish and Chip Shop of the Year. Wales. Regional Runner-up 2001 “. Just let that sink in for a while... Regional. A small area of Wales? Runner-up. Not even the best in that area. The year 2001. Quite a significant while ago, I think you’ll agree.

To be fair, the chips I did receive were actually quite nice, once I had added some extra salt and vinegar from my own supply, in my pocket (no chip shop worker has ever put enough salt and vinegar on, ever). I would not quite describe them as “award winning” chips though. Not unless it was some sort of Micky Mouse award - like those ones your kids get for having 100% attendance in a school year. Well, perhaps that’s not the best example, seeing as 75% of my chips were absent from the packet...

These days, this chip shop would not even receive the runner-up award for the best chip shop in that particular street, let alone an entire unspecified “region” of Wales. And yet, the long queues of customers keep forming! Perhaps they currently hold the award for the most mysteriously overly popular chip shop in Wales! (Regional runner-up, of course).

I would like to point out that it has taken me about twenty times longer to write this review than it did to eat the chips. Not that anyone reads them anyway. And now I need another sausage roll.

2025 UPADTE. A ‘large’ cod now costs over £10 (without the chips)! Come on people, wake up! They’re...

Guy on till couldn't have been less interested in us - tried twice to order 1 large cod with 1 regular chips and 1 regular cod with 1 large chips and both times this got repeated back at us as 1 large cod and chips and 1 regular cod and chips. The menu board had both items listed separately so our order was entirely feasible. We gave up and went with what he said.

He then asked us if we wanted salt and vinegar on both meals, to which we said yes. Waited an age. Thought that was a good sign. Our fish and chips came all wrapped up so we didn't unwrap them to use the salt and vinegar on the outside table, we trusted they had already been salted etc.

Got all the way down to the seafront benches, unwrapped them, not a lick of vinegar or pinch of salt anywhere to be seen or tasted so back we went.

I explained this to another guy (orignal guy not there) who said that salt and vinegar was to be added by the customer at the table. I explained the problem again. He said, "We are a family business trying to cater for all our lovely holidaymakers ..." "Sorry", I interrupted him, "if the first response isn't an apology, then you've got this wrong, and we won't be back".

Fish and chips did not live up to the hype we'd read online. Fish tasted like it had been defrosted from frozen, batter soft and dark, chips average. Spoiled our trip to Tenby that day. Fortunately, we had a first rate experience at La Vista the day before, wish we had gone back there again or heeded the advice of a couple of waitresses at our first choice café, but which was no longer serving food, who said the best fish and chips was near Tesco's (at the bus station, Park Road or some such). Also wish we had taken the one seat left (in the sun) at Loafleys.

And I reckon the guy who served us at the till was as new to the place as we were - I appreciate the staff shortage issue sweeping the country, but if you don't have a clue about the place you are working for, and you are totally disinterested in the customer, what...

We always make a visit here. Every year we go to Tenby, but this year I felt really disappointed and sad to say that I don't think I'll be returning. We ordered two medium cods and chips and two cans of Dr Pepper which came to £34.50. I know prices have gone up but that felt ridiculous.

The atmosphere inside isn't particularly nice so it felt a lot to be paying to be sat in. Essentially an empty white room. Something that was really disheartening was that you have to pick up sachets of sauce. I'm glad they don't charge you for them, but at the same time even Wetherspoons will provide a token Heinz sauce to every table and to be paying the best part of £40 to get off-brand tiny sachets that are very inconvenient to use felt really silly.

The cod was nice enough. The chips weren't as good as my local chippy in Risca. And I know they were a heck of a lot more expensive here. I feel like Fecci's is only continuing to charge this amount because they know that people will pay it because they have a history to the business and it's traditional for people to come there.

So sadly I don't think I'll be returning next year and if I did, I think I'd be parting with over £40 to have some fish and chips. I'd rather go out for a fancy meal somewhere. Sadly cannot recommend this...