The Codfather

The Albany Fish Bar as it’s name denotes serves for me the best fish shop in town. This place runs a close second. Although they sell a whole raft of things in here, kebabs, curries etc the only thing on my mind when I come is to get some of their fish. It’s huge, it’s freshly cooked to order and it’s gorgeous. The main drawback is that it can take a while to get served and then for them to cook the fish. Some people phone the order in and how wise they are. So wise I want to kill them.
It’s not just a fish and chip shop it’s a café and has quite a few tables and chairs to sit at when you’ve placed your order. Which is a bonus. The staff are friendly and are understanding of the frustration of the wait for a thing of excellence. Avoid at peak times as it can get very busy.

Another great name for a restaurant but the question that has to be asked is did the Codfather make me an offer I couldn’t refuse? He certainly did and I got some of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had.
There’s not a lot I can really say about this simple fish and chip shop but I personally think it’s a great place to go and get some proper British fish and chips and a great price.

There has been much debate over the years as to Cardiff’s best Fish & Chip shop. I heard a few when I first moved back and, dutifully, tried them all. And The Codfather is certainly my top pick.
Punnage in the name aside (although I do love a good pun and the shop is all the more memorable when singing its praises than others) this fish and chip shop is fab in my mind because it does fantastic fish and chips. No gimmicks, no cult status, just really good fish and chips.
There is usually a bit of a wait, but then that is because the fish is cooked freshly for you. The chips are good, and go well with their proper mushy peas — not too lurid green, but with just enough pea!
The staff are always friendly, the place looks clean and there are always other people waiting, but not too many. They do seem to have quite an obsession with dolphins though!
My only criticism? They charge you for tartare sauce and the last few times I’ve been in they’ve not had pickled onions. But then, that hasn’t stopped me going back!

Three things I love: food, movies, and awful, terrible, mind-​wrenchingly bad puns. And here, in this one chip shop, we have all three. If you can get a good pun name for a business, you’ve got most of the important stuff sorted out, and this one is almost as good-​a name as «Crafty Sew and Sew» on City Road; the pick of the punny bunch.
The name makes it easier to praise this place, but the food is by no means passable. It does the whole standard chip shop fare, naturally, and actually lives up to its name; the fish is genuinely fantastic. It’s moist in all the right places, the batter’s crispy when it needs to be and soft when it doesn’t. The chips are good; nothing spectacular, but you don’t really need them to be. They’re good, and they do the job.
This place also benefits from an excellent location, besides the top drawer name and good food. Being one of the only chip shops on Cowbridge Road East, in a sea of greasy spoons, posh little cafes and gastropubs makes this chippy a haven for anyone craving sausage and batter.

A wander further away from town down Cowbridge Road will bring you to the superior chippie delights of Zero Plus, but for those not desperate to go to such lengths for a fish supper, The Codfather does the trick nicely. Discount deals and the must-​eat of a ‘chip batty’ — let’s kindly credit them with a deliberately comic misspelling on that one — are the reward for such laziness. Relatively early closing means that The Codfather misses out on a lot of hungry, drunk passers-​by on their way back home, but they’re probably shifting enough of their top notch chips in daylight hours to overly worry about that.

What’s there not to love about The Codfather! The have the best chips. They have the best fish. And, they have the best name for a fish and chip shop in the whole wide world.
If that’s not enough to make you want to praise them to the hilt yourself… then, perhaps you’ll capitulate when you find out that they do special deals for senior citizens? God love ‘em!

How could you not like a chippy that calls itself the Codfather? Thankfully, it lives up to its name and is one of Cardiff’s best fish and chip shops. I know a few people who will drive here from the other side of town rather than settle for their less distinguished local chippy.
You can spot the Codfather a mile off thanks to its bright blue exterior, and inside it’s clean and tidy. They buy their plaice, cod and haddock from local suppliers whenever they can, and it always seems to be covered in consistently good batter, both crisp and fresh. The chips are equally good, and all these are fried to order except at the very busiest of times.

I’m not sure that there’s a single fish and chip shop in the world that doesn’t appear a little grotty from the outside. And if there is, then it’s probably got something to hide.
The Codfather is certainly no exception. When a friend and I discovered that our chippy of choice was closed, we instead came to The Codfather, and ordered our mandatory 2 x Sml Fsh & Chps.
We were very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food: the fish was perfectly cooked without skin or bones, and the batter was crispy deliciousness. The chips were also very good, and we both pretty much finished our portions, which surely is testament in itself.
So, in short, this chippy is great, and the food is tasty and not overly greasy. Yum, I’m hungry now…