We rated 37 of Sydney’s takeaway hot chips to find the city’s best

At the start of Good Food’s Chip Month, we went deep on the chips at every major national fast-food and takeaway brand. In the weeks since, our reporters explored every cut, crinkle and crunch our stomachs (and arteries) would allow us.

We’ve also been driving all over Sydney looking for the very best hot chips from independent outlets.

In Cabramatta, we tasted Red Lea’s chips hot from the fryer, the seasoning scented with paprika. In Petersham, we scoffed fistfuls of shoestrings at the OG Frango. We went hard on the standalone chip order at New Star Kebab in Auburn, stood in line at Clem’s Chicken Shop in Newtown, ate the whole serve at Seafood on Oaks in Dee Why then rinsed our greasy fingers clean in the surf.

Along the way we had some realisations too. Catching the ferry to Doyle’s on the Wharf Takeaway at Watson’s Bay is still elite, as is dipping their chips in house chilli plum sauce, but seasoning them yourself with packet salt is not. And while spice bags can be amazing after a couple of pints, in the cold light of day the chips still need to hold up (sorry Big Dave’s Chipper).

Judging criteria

Thick, thin, hand cut, machine cut, soft, crunchy, once-fried or twice, we tried them all, capping it at just under 40 venues after whittling it down from a much, much bigger shortlist. And although some clearly stood above the rest, we rarely met a chip we didn’t like.

We considered including restaurant chips in the mix (Joe’s Tavern was an early frontrunner), but we wanted to keep it street level and not have to grapple with minimum spends. And we haven’t even talked regional yet. Maybe next year.

The final rankings are according to overall taste, seasoning, texture (both inner and outer), temperature and appearance.

Our findings revealed that although great chips come in many colours and textures, there are some universals. A hot chip, fresh outta the fryer, is a good chip. Seasoning, whether it’s salt or something else, needs to go on quickly and liberally. And while the flavour of the potato and the interior texture go a long way, crunch trumped everything when it came to scoring.

Still, while we’ve calibrated this finely, seasons change, so do potatoes, oils and the mood of the fry cook, so do as we did and take this, if you will, with a liberal sprinkle of salt.

The results, in ascending order

13. Campsie Charcoal Chickens, Campsie

$6 for small chips with chicken salt

Craving a classic chip to scoff with charcoal chook (cooked here on actual charcoal) or douse in gravy? This is the place. Plump, uniform and golden, these are those hot chips you dipped in tomato sauce or split with school friends back in the day. Soft and white on the inside, sunny and showered with home-style chicken salt on the outside. Which makes sense, because as the shop’s website explains, they’ve been cooking their chips the same way for decades.

146 Beamish Street, Campsie, campsiecharcoalchickens.com.au

12. Paul’s Famous Hamburgers, Sylvania

$5.90 for small chips with plain or chicken salt

The hamburgers – white roll, dense patty, a slice of beetroot, lettuce, a squeeze of tomato sauce – may be famous, but Paul’s chips pull the whole experience together. They’re the kind you’d get at a swim carnival or a takeaway up the road as a kid, hot and yellow and spilling out of a paper bag, with just the right amount of crunch and oil. “Chicken salt?” they ask, shaker in hand. There’s only one right answer.

12 Princes Highway, Sylvania, paulsfamoushamburgers.com.au

11. Manly Fish & Chips, Manly

$8 for regular hot chips, $12 for tallow fries

Selling chips on Manly Wharf is not particularly hard business, but this nostalgic fish and chipper refuses to lean on its location. Thick-cut russet-brown wodges are made with tremendous care. Sebago potatoes are steamed, fried, blanched, blast-chilled, then fried again in beef tallow for the perfect ratio of cream to crunch. It extends right down to the seasoning, Olsson’s sea salt crystals and a splash of malt vinegar. It’s almost as if you’ve just come out of the sea.

E Esplanade, Manly, instagram.com/manlyfishandchips

10. George’s Takeaway, Padstow

$7 for small chips

When you think about the hot chips you grew up with, the ones eaten with burning fingers straight from the butcher’s paper, in the back of a car, or on the beach, or after school, these are those chips. George’s has served south-east Sydney Greek-Australian takeaway food since 1971, and a small-serve of its hand-cut chips ($7) are the size of some other store’s family packs.

130 Cahors Road, Padstow

9. Lode Pies and Pastries, Rozelle

$11 for hand-cut chips

Yes, two-hatted Federico Zanellato (LuMi) is the force behind these chips, but Lode in Rozelle is decidedly casual. There’s baked goods, a coffee counter and room to sit in or grab and go from the menu, which features hand-cut chips for $11. They’re impressive spuds, skin on, cut to the width of a finger, with soft crunch and a fluffy, creamy centre. Rosemary salt adds zip, and there’s aioli on the side for scooping. Want a premium chip that tastes like it’s made from a potato? Lode is for you.

120 Terry Street, Rozelle, lodepies.com

8. The Yeeros Shop, Annandale

$6 for small chips

Such is the reputation of The Yeeros Shop’s hand-cut chips that their renown trumps every other menu item. Eat in at Marrickville and they come out hot, spilling over the edge of the plate. They’re thick-cut, pale blonde, curved and crunchy the way only real potatoes are, the centre creamy, chicken salt clinging to the crags. Marrickville is an institution, but we’re giving this one to the new Annandale outpost for the fact you can order a works burger from Fat Fish next door at the same time.

109 Johnston Street, Annandale, theyeerosshop.com.au

7. Fish Butchery, Waterloo

$8 for regular chips

Fish might be the main event, but the chips here are no mere side. Josh Niland of three-hated Saint Peter learnt the art of triple-cooked chips from Heston Blumenthal while working at the Fat Duck in the UK, and it’s a method he’s made his own at his Waterloo fish butchery. It’s a three-day process from spud to fryer. The potatoes are first steamed to soften the centre, then chilled and fried, then chilled and fried. The result is proper fat Jenga blocks – as creamy as mash in the centre with plenty of shattering glass ends. If you can’t eat them straight away, grab the frozen ones, which come up spectacularly in the oven.

965 Bourke Street, Waterloo, fishbutchery.com.au

6. Seafood on Oaks, Dee Why

$5.70 for small chips

These northern beaches chippies are super, super crunchy. The crunchiest on the list, in fact. They’re hand cut and nicely golden brown, and we suspect Seafood on Oaks changes the cooking oil regularly to ensure the quality. This is a great chip to take to the beach because the crunch factor will ensure it holds its form.

2/9 Oaks Avenue, Dee Why, seafoodonoaks.com.au

5. Out of the Blue, Coogee

$6 for small chips

Even if you haven’t just come from the beach all salty and sun-kissed, this bundle of hot potato chunks are superb. They’re delivered the old-school way, wrapped in butcher’s paper (sans sticky tape), and when you unwrap the pack steam rises and you’re hit with a delightful chip waft. They’re seasoned with razor-sharp accuracy (on the saltier end for those who like it that way), and for those who hunt for those gnarly golden crunchy bits, this is the place to get them.

2/272 Clovelly Road, Coogee, outoftheblueclovelly.com.au

4. My Father’s Yeeros, Ramsgate

$6 for small chips

Remember when you ordered a small serving of chips at the local takeaway shop and received enough to feed a family of four? That time-honoured tradition carries on, wrapped in white butcher’s paper, at My Father’s Yeeros. The hot chips are butter yellow, just crisp enough on the outside, and satisfyingly soft on the inside. Big on flavour, but not too salty. They’re made using the same legendary recipe Greek expat Stamatios (Steve) “Taki” Plangetis used during his 30+ year tenure at The Yeeros Shop in Marrickville, passed down through the generations. One could argue they taste better here, if only because you can eat them at nearby Ramsgate Beach.

187 Ramsgate Road, Ramsgate Beach, instagram.com/myfathersyeeros

3. Merrylands West Takeaway, Merrylands

$6.50 for small chips

There’s nothing fancy about this old-school takeaway joint, but there doesn’t need to be when the chips are this good. These little blond beauties are freshly cut, meaning they taste of actual potato and keep the natural shape and colour of the real thing, from classic strands to nibbly little end pieces. Twice-cooked and never frozen, the chips’ exterior is delicately crisp, the interior fluffy and soft, with all the flavour of a home-style roasty.

5/530 Merrylands Road, Merrylands

2. Fish & Chippery, Haymarket

$6.50 for regular chips cooked in tallow

Maybe you started coming here for the cheap fruit and veg, but once you’ve tried the hot chips at Hay St Market’s Fish & Chippery, it’s all over. Fish and chips is pretty much all they do, with five sizzling fryer baskets on the go at once turning out beer battered ling, gurnard and mahi mahi, salt and pepper squid, potato scallops and chips in steady rotation. The chips are the full package: properly golden with a crisp, sturdy shell. But it’s the flavour that sets them apart: a rich, savoury depth from the beef tallow that works its way deep into the creamy potato flesh.

Hay Street Market, 13 Hay Street, Haymarket, haystmarket.com.au

And the number one winner is: Olympic Meats, Marrickville

$9 for regular chips triple-cooked in tallow

What if someone took the gyros shop of their childhood, broke it apart, then built it back up, striving to make every aspect the very best version of itself? Olympic Meats is the answer, and the chips here, perfected by Timothy Cassimatis, are a thing of beauty. The spuds, the variety changing seasonally, are grown by The Gourmet Potato in the Southern Highlands. They’re hand cut, double-fried in rendered tallow until deep golden, then tossed in salt and Nostimini, a secret blend of Mediterranean herbs and spices, fragrant with oregano. The crunch is glass-like, each chip changing just enough that you can’t help going back for more. A perfect chip? This might be as close as it gets.

12 Dudley Street, Marrickville, olympicmeats.shop

What’s your verdict?

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.