About
Voted the UK’s top Independent Fish & Chip Restaurant 2018 by The National Fish and Chip Awards (Fish ‘n’ Chip Oscars!) and one of the Best 10 by the industry-leading Fry Magazine, the Pelican is a family-run family-friendly restaurant and takeaway noted for serving top quality fish and chips in a stylish contemporary setting. Well established with a good reputation and a strong local trade, we’re experiencing a significant benefit from a recent major refurb, which has seen our business increase exponentially bringing a fast-expanding customer base.
Earlier this year, the Pelican became the first and only restaurant in North Devon to qualify for MSC certification. Keen to advance the cause of sustainability, we’ve invested in supporting the Marine Stewardship Council’s attempts to ensure the future of the fishing industry and the vitality of our oceans for our and coming generations. We buy MSC certified fish and seafood and with the ‘chain of custody’ system, we can reliably trace each fillet back to the pla(i)ce (sorry!) and time it was landed - and possibly find the name of the captain’s parrot!
Our National Federation of Fish Friars Quality award places us in the top 2% of the 10500 Fish and chip shops in the UK with recognition of excellence.
Our innovative ‘table-talkers’ explain to our customers our commitment to sustainability, what that means in real terms, and aim to actively promote the importance of making an informed choice. Of course we took this opportunity to promote the health benefits of omega 3s and the many proteins, vitamins and minerals in a portion of fish and chips. Why it turns out to be practically medicinal!
But there’s more to this Pelican story than just fish and chips…
Passionate about the food we serve and offering a wide variety of dishes to suit all tastes and pockets, our menus reflect our commitment to local producers and suppliers, celebrating all that is great about our South West produce. Our Gold Taste of the West Award is evidence of how important this is to us. We let our customers know the names of our suppliers and that our hams, gammons and meat for our burgers come from our local town butcher, our potatoes (and that’s a lot of chips!) from a farm just 5 miles away, our fresh catch of the day from Brixham fish market (and that it may even have swum past our door…) Our ice creams and sorbets are from a parsonage herd in South Molton, our Pelican Ale from a brewery down the road and our Peliccino espresso beans from a Barnstaple coffee merchant! And so it goes on…
Our enthusiastic chefs prepare our ever-popular homemade fish pies, fish cakes and MSC fish curries while we bread our MSC plaice in either golden crumbs or in a tangy herb and lemon crust. And for those with dietary requirements, we offer a selection of vegetarian, vegan dishes and gluten-free meals. And we’re happy to go ‘off menu’, offering grilling instead of frying, salad instead of chips, alcohol-free beers and wines, decaffeinated drinks and mini meals for those with smaller appetites. (Desserts clearly calorie-free if eaten standing up...?)
Overall the aim of our menus is to complement the best of local produce with what’s best for the planet. Good food with a good conscience! And we’re delighted to have recently been awarded a ‘Gold’ by Taste of the West for our efforts!
For our youngest customers, we have dedicated children’s activity menus with ‘healthy eating’ quizzes, competitions, prizes and a tropical fish tank with lots of little fingerprints on it!
Active on social media and with a shiny new website, we reach our customers with updates such as our ‘keep yer pelly warm’ reusable thermally insulated bags on the takeaway and our ‘ditch the plastic straws’ campaign in the restaurant. We run a monthly competition for fish and chip suppers and currently have a ‘name the baby pelly’ one for children. We also have a weekly Quiz and Chips competition on a local radio station…
Our customers have high expectations! And so do we!
We believe we’re in a unique position in North Devon being able to offer award winning sustainably sourced fish and seafood complimented by a menu of responsibly, locally sourced produce, which not only feeds a lot of happy diners, but also feeds the local economy both directly and by promoting the area to a wider audience. Motivated by attention to detail we are pleased with the good feedback we receive from Trip Advisor (certificate of excellence), from Google and Facebook reviews. At the same time we’re keenly aware that there’s always room for improvement! We’re happy to receive and respond readily to constructive criticism never dismissing an opportunity to adapt or innovate. Another of our unique selling points; free refills of tea and coffee and ‘bottomless chips’, not only makes for a great and ‘feel-good’ customer experience but also empowers our staff with a can-do attitude, and encourages them to respond to customers’ requests with a ‘yes’ wherever possible.
Oh and we serve amazing fish and chips!
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