Liam Brown lays three fresh haddock fillets out on a tray and caresses them gently.
“You’ve got to feel for any bones,” Liam says as his fingers probe the silvery flesh. “If a customer finds just one piece of bone in the fish then there’s a chance they won’t come back.”
We are standing behind the gleaming fryers at the Mike’s Famous Fish and Chips just off the A96 at Blackburn.
The shop isn’t open yet (that will happen this week) and the fish he’s frying won’t even be eaten (it’s a courtesy for the P&J photographer).
But Liam still wants it to be perfect.
He is, after all, on a mission to change the way Aberdeenshire chip shops do business.
How Mike’s Famous Fish and Chips got started
The story of the new Blackburn chip shop starts in the late 1970s when Liam’s dad Mike Brown refits a second-hand van to sell fish and chips in Bridge of Don.
Then, in 1978, Mike secures a lease on a shop in Torry. This is the first of a string of Mike’s Famous Fish and Chips shops that culminate in the current outlet on Mugiemoss Road.
The story, however, picks up momentum in 2017 when Liam walks into the Hooked seafood restaurant in Copenhagen and has something of an epiphany.
“It was everything about the place,” Liam recalls. “The layout, the quality of the food – the buzz.”
To the young man who grew up inside the local fish and chip industry, Hooked was a glimpse of the future.
It had a seating area, where people could get their box of fish and eat it at a table. Diners were excited to be there; Liam felt an air of “euphoria” as children badgered parents to promise to return.
As Liam looked on, he said to himself: “This is how I want to do it.”
Changing the face of Aberdeenshire chippers
When the Blackburn branch of Mike’s Famous Fish and Chips opens this week, it will be the realisation of Liam’s five-year journey to bring the spirit of what he saw in Copenhagen to the north-east.
Set behind floor to ceiling windows, the shop is bright and airy, with gleaming tiles and a neon sign proclaiming everyday to be “fry-day”.
A £100,000 multi-fryer dominates the back of the shop, pulsing with colour-coded timers and bubbling oil.
In the front, there are tables and seats for 30, where customers can sit down with their family and friends instead of scurrying home to eat.
WATCH: Liam Brown prepares a golden fish supper at Mike’s Famous Fish and Chips in Blackburn
Liam tells me the layout is “raising the bar” for chippers in Aberdeenshire.
“We see what everyone else is doing and know that we have to better it.”
But Liam is also doing something else. With the Blackburn shop, he is expanding the idea of what a chip shop is.
For example, in an ambitious move for a chipper, the Blackburn shop will serve breakfast.
Starting in a few weeks time, the outlet will open at 8am with a breakfast menu that includes bacon and eggs rolls, and even a full breakfast combo of bacon, sausage, eggs, beans and black pudding.
A coffee machine will dispense coffees – with prices that compete fairly with the Starbucks next door.
Liam admits part of the rationale for the early opening is the 29,000 cars that pass by on the A96 every day.
The Blackburn location was picked because of its proximity to the major Aberdeen artery, as well surrounding towns such as Inverurie and Kintore.
But Liam also has one eye on turning the concept of the chipper into a more complete dining experience.
One that ultimately can take on fast-food giants such as McDonald’s and KFC.
“We realised that while we’d been keeping an eye on the chippers around Aberdeen, we maybe should be looking at all the other establishments that people go to,” Liam says.
Coeliac and gluten-free dining at Mike’s Famous in Blackburn
The new restaurant aims to expand its customer base in another way, too. As part of Liam’s drive to modernise the Aberdeenshire chippie he will lead the way in dietary requirements.
This is why the Blackburn branch has a designated gluten-free fryer that the shop guarantees will only be used for gluten-free foods.
Liam, who has personal experience in the area, says it removes the “uncertainty” that coeliacs and gluten-intolerant diners face.
Plus, within the next month, Mike’s Famous Fish and Chips hopes to launch its own vegan fish. Preparations have been ongoing for a while, but Liam believes he is close to perfecting a recipe that should please vegans, and anyone looking for a meat-free fry-up.
For the time being, however, Liam and his dad Mike will be focusing on getting the chip shop on its feet and serving its first customers.
Just in time, it seems. As Mike and Liam have their pictures taken outside the shop, a man on his way to Starbucks shouts out to ask if the chipper is open yet.
“Soon,” shouts back Liam.
“Good,” the man responds. “I’m sick of going to Starbucks.”
Liam’s plan to loosen the fast-food industry’s grip already looks to be working.
Mike’s Famous Fish and Chips Blackburn is open from 4pm to 9pm on Westpark Drive.
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