Chris’s Fish Bar – the hottest place to work in Chiswick?

The real cost of good Fish and Chips!

Everybody has been moaning about the heat, but spare a thought for those who have to work in the hottest environments. Recent heatwaves have made the fish and chip shop at 19 Turnham Green Terrace possibly the hottest place to work in Chiswick.

The Chiswick Calendar spoke to the manager, Syed, about selling the one of the nation’s favourite dishes during the nation’s hottest days on record.

Chris’s fish bar is open every day of the year apart from Christmas day. So, even though the soaring temperatures made it harder to work in the shop, they have stayed open.

Syed told us that keeping the fryers and machines on to keep the food fresh all day heats up inside the cafe, which they have measured at 90 degrees.

Like many other shops in Chiswick, they don’t have air conditioning in the shop, but despite the heat he was not complaining.

As London deals with what is set to be its hottest summer on record, many business owners are having to adapt to different working conditions.

Syed told us everyone working in shops on Turnham Green Terrace are having to deal with the high temperatures and they are all in the same boat.

When we asked him what his work was like over the summer he said he generally works in the late afternoon for around four hours. Despite having to put up with the high temperatures, he enjoys both the work and meeting customers.

Over the heatwave, he mentioned that sales have been a little bit lower than usual as people have been less bothered to go out and pick up their fish and chips in the heat. But when the weather cools down the sales tend to go back up again.

Having sampled the chips myself, I can confirm that they are worth the trip out, even in the heights of a heatwave!