Masters Superfish, Waterloo

I bloody love fish and chips. I especially love fish and chips from Masters Superfish, on Waterloo Road. Their lunch special keeps me coming back; £6.50 gets you a plate of cooked-to-order cod, plaice or huss (also known as rock salmon) and a mountain of just cooked chips, plus a tea or a coffee. £7 will get you fish and chips plus a soft drink.

One of the joys of eating in at Masters is the ceremonial aspect of things. After placing your order, one of the charming waitresses brings out a basket of passable bread and butter, then a plate of three cold cooked prawns; sometimes these will be pregnant and will come with roe and all. Some people dislike the prawns but I quite enjoy them. Shelled and put on a buttered slice of the French bread, it makes for a nice amuse-bouche. The roe can be an added extra. Furthermore, the waitress will bring two buckets, one full of pickled gherkins, and the other full of pickled onions, all free and deliciously sour and crunchy.

That's about it for starters though, as my stomach isn't as large as one might suppose from looking, and instead I always go for the main course straight away. Instead of the usual plaice lunch special, I decided to go for the calamari main (£7.25) which comes with about a dozen calamari rings and that mountain of chips again. I go for a pot of tea for one (£1) which is a teabag and a pot of water, nothing fancy but a great accompaniment to the lunch. The calamari is quite good. Crisp batter hides rings of slightly chewy (and therefore overcooked) squid, but with a squirt of lemon and a tiny bit of tartare sauce, it's tangy and slightly like fishy popcorn. The chips are once again great. I'm a bit of a chips geek and I believe I've perfected them at home, but those at Masters are brilliant, perhaps the best to be found in London, which sets this place above The Golden Hind. Crisp on the outside, fluffy and soft on the inside, the perfect size - my sort of chip.

My girlfriend Sam goes for the cod and chips and ever the jealous type, I try some and it is great. Fresh fish that flakes away with ease and is steamed under the great, crisp batter. A marvel in frying! We also have a bowl of mushy peas to share, which are good but slightly watery on this visit.

It comes to £14.95 for the two of us, incredibly cheap for fish and chips of this quality that is made to order. If you've never been before, you'll have to wait until they're back from their Christmas break, but once they're open again I advise you to pay them a visit and enjoy their incredible fish and chips.