Merchant Chippie
A High Street fryer that advertises its fish landed daily at Anstruther, the Fife port most of Scotland's serious chip shops buy from, and keeps the deep fried Mars bar on the board.
Why go
Jeff rates it one of the best fish and chips in Glasgow, and that first-hand verdict is doing most of the work on this page. The shop's own line is that it runs "fresh and sustainable seafood delivered daily," which puts a wider seafood board next to the standard fish supper, and the fryer classics stay where a Glasgow chippy should keep them: deep fried haggis, deep fried pizza, and the Mars bar that most shops elsewhere claim to sell and do not. Merchant Chippie reached the finals of the 2nd Scottish Chippy Awards in 2024 in the Outstanding Business of the Year category, alongside The Gannet and Crabshakk, though that programme carries less weight here than an industry or press award would.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a haddock supper. Then the deep fried Mars bar if you want the thing Jeff flags: "Yes, they have deep fried mars bars."
- Avoid: turning up only for the novelty. The Mars bar is two minutes of hot caramel in batter and the fish is why you queued.
What locals & experts say
- Scottish Chippy Awards 2024 (Oceanic Awards): finalist in
Outstanding Business of the Year,
winners announced 2 December 2024. A finalist place is a listing, and nobody has judged the frying.3 - Accolade, unpinned: the shop calls itself an "Award winning traditional fish & chips shop with fresh and sustainable seafood delivered daily." No awarding body, category or year is attached, so it stays the house claim.
- Food hygiene, checked: registered with Glasgow City as Merchant Chippy, 155 High Street, rated Pass on 22 July 2025.2
- Local rec: Jeff (first-hand), "One of the best chippies in Glasgow."
Good to know
- Timing: counter hours run through lunch and into the evening. No critic or guide publishes them, so check the Maps pin before a late run.
- Booking: walk-in only. Limited seating, most of the trade goes out the door.
- Getting there: 155 High Street, a few minutes from Glasgow Cross and the Merchant City, and close to High Street station.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "One of the best fish and chips in Glasgow. Yes, they have deep fried mars bars."
- More: "One of the best chippies in Glasgow"
Verdict
could-visit — If you are on the High Street and want a fish supper, and on Jeff's say-so that is a good idea: he rates it one of the best in Glasgow and he has eaten it. The shop advertises fish landed daily at Anstruther, which is the Fife port that supplies most of the serious frying in Scotland, and it keeps the deep fried Mars bar on the board rather than treating it as a rumor. Nothing above could-visit is defensible, because no critic in the approved register has written it up, the award it advertises names no body or year, and the only traceable placement is a finalist slot in a low-weight programme.