Harry with loyal Fisherman customer Janice Dick

AFTER serving up both fish and chips and Chinese food for 40 years, Fisherman is considered an underrated gem by its loyal band of customers.

So they could not let it serve its last portions without a farewell party on Friday night.

More than 70 customers turned up to say goodbye to the man behind the frier.

The shop in Mulkern Road on the Elthorne Estate is affectionaly better known as “Harry’s” after its owner ­– although nobody knows his full name.

Janice Dick, who has been ordering from Fisherman for almost 30 years, said it was “such a shame” to see the long-serving establishment shut its doors.

Harry with customer Cadell Spence Aloye

She told the Tribune: “His Chinese used to be banging. His fish and chips was banging. My son is 29 and I was buying it from when he was a baby.

“It’s a family-run business. Harry knew you by name and knew what you wanted. My son Cory always ordered special fried rice with no peas, and whenever he called up Harry, he knew the order right away.”

Ms Dick added: “It was like a family and that’s why when he left there were so many people there. He ran out of food and had to keep replenishing.”

The party was fuelled by DJ Fredi on the decks.

Ms Dick said: “When he told me it’s closing, he said it was because of Covid, inflation, he just can’t afford it.

“It’s such a shame, you become attached to these things.

“There were young boys there who came, because they respected that he’d been there for so long. There was nothing else we could give apart from support for his shop.”

Matt Peltier, who has been visiting Fisherman since he was eight years old, said the shop was a “constant, golden-friend beacon of warmth, routine, and comfort”, adding: “Friday nights weren’t complete without a trip to Harry’s.

“Sometimes with a parent, sometimes alone with a couple of quid and thrill of being trusted.

“That simple meal, wrapped in paper and doused in vinegar, was one of the few constants in a world that wasn’t always kind.

“It was the first place we were allowed to travel independently, and the freedom and responsibility tasted almost as good as the food.”