Sue owns the best chip shop

Alison King | Sunday, August 29, 2010 12:44

KING SIZED: Sue Abbott and Trevor Murfitt have 46 years of frying chips between them. BEN FRASER 240810bf6

Sue Abbott could claim to bleed chip oil - after 29 years in the fish and chip business she knows the ins and outs of takeaways and what keeps her customers coming back for seconds, thirds and more.

The shop she owns with partner Trevor Murfitt - King Size Burger Bar on Fenton St - was chosen as the best in Rotorua in a taste test by The Daily Post staff.

"We've been asked to enter competitions a few times by our customers," Ms Abbott said.

"A lot of people have told us we have the best chips in town but we don't have the time for competitions. It's full on in the shop and behind the scenes."

Ms Abbott started work at the shop almost 30 years ago, she has owned it for the past 17 years and says she will be there until she retires.

She says she has a customer who has bought chips from her every Friday since she started. "The regulars just call out their order when they walk in, the chips go straight on," Ms Abbott said. "We had a school ring up on a trip down from Auckland. It was their second year running of coming here and they placed a $120 order.

"We have orders from the National Bank and the police are always coming in. The custody department ring us up most nights for five bags of chips.

"We're also on to second generations of families coming in, which makes me feel a bit old."

In the past the shop would stay open to the small hours but Ms Abbott and Mr Murfitt said their business was now busier in the day time, with tourists and workers.

They employ three part-time staff to keep the shop running seven days a week and in the summer they take on extra so they can take Saturdays off.

They said there was no particular secret to their success, instead there was a recipe to make sure their customers kept coming back.

"The oil temperature is always 180C, we put the fryers and hot plate on 30 minutes before we need them," Ms Abbott said.

"We weigh out our portion sizes to 350g so there's no wastage and customers always know how much they're going to get. The chips are always the same.

"We've used 13mm chips for years, if they're any thinner then they soak in more oil. We cook them for about four minutes - I time a lot of things but not the chips. I take them out and shake them. I can just tell."

Mr Murfitt said a good chip was one which drained quickly, had a good colour and was crisp.

They use a chip that has been coated in a vegetable oil and fry using a 50-50 blend of vegetable oil and beef fat.

"The regulars must love them or they wouldn't keep coming back.

"It's nice to have good feedback.

"We grill our fish so we don't live out of the vats and we don't have chips too often - you can overdo it."

The Daily Post visited 20 fish and chip shops unannounced and bought one scoop of chips. Each scoop was weighed and the chips were counted to work out the best value for money.

Staff chose their favourite in a blind taste test.