The owners of a popular Halifax chippy came from behind to batter the opposition in a battle to find the best fish and chips in Britain.
Adam Hird and his 19-year-old daughter Amber of Siddal, Halifax, run Hirds Family Fisheries and appeared on the BBC2 show on Monday night. The programme, hosted by Darren Harriott and Sara Cox, saw five of the best chippies from right across the UK gather in Manchester and go head-to-head in the ultimate fry-off.
Adam, 49, has been in the catering industry all his life and has run Hirds Family Fisheries for just over 10 years together with his wife Alison and 17-year-old son Aiden. Having worked as a chef and managed restaurants and hotels, however, he has avoided running a 'normal' chippy and has instead added twists to dishes.
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However, while the food has proved popular with the Hirds' army of loyal customers, would it impress the takeaway-loving families who were eating, rating and scoring the food from the comfort of their own homes? The teams had three rounds - each with their own twist - to win them over.
The first round saw each takeaway asked to serve up their version of a classic fish supper. While the other teams kept it simple with a classic fish and chips, Adam and Amber took a chance on something different.
They set about making their Posh Fish Butty, one of their most popular menu items, which consists of battered fish goujons in a toasted brioche bun, served with hand-cut chips and topped with parsley lemon butter and rocket.
The secret to their batter? Keep it airy - or as the show's voice-over says, "As airy as the Yorkshire Dales".
The "well-oiled dad and daughter dynamic" served up their offerings and they were sent off to be judged by the first two families.
One family who was judging said that the quality of the team's fish was "out of this world". However, another commented that it was "too small" and that they would be "disappointed" if they'd ordered it for their tea, suggesting instead that it would work better as a lunch option.
The scores for the first round were soon in, with the judging families giving five points to the team that impressed them the most and just one point to who they judged to be the most disappointing.
It was a bad start for the Halifax chippy, as Adam and Amber were awarded one point by the first family and two points by the second, leaving them on just three points and tied for bottom place by the end of the first round.
In the second round, two new families wanted to try "more exotic" dishes from each takeaway's menu.
Hoping to showcase Adam's skills as a trained chef, Team Hirds chose to serve smoked haddock and chorizo fish cakes, laced with mature cheddar and red onion and coated in Panko breadcrumbs.
Their more exotic creation was met with a better reception from both judging families, with their fishcakes described as "beautiful" and "really, really nice". This was reflected in the scoring, as the duo picked up three and four points from each family. This left them second from bottom with 10 points overall, but still 7 points off top place.
The final round not only saw each team prepare a vegetarian dish for the final family, there was also the chance of double points as they were tasked with serving up 50 portions - two of everything on their menu - for the guest judges at Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club.
Adam and Amber's vegetarian option - a chestnut mushroom and potato pie - looked the most appealing to the veggie couple, and it delivered on taste, too. "It's the closest thing to a meat pie my nana would make, without it being meat," said the judges, "I don't think any meat eater would turn their nose up at eating this".
Over at the boxing club, the boxers got stuck into the pair's Posh Fish Butty from round one, and it went down a treat, with the flavour being rated as a "10 out of 10".
The results were in and the vegetarian couple gave their full five points to Adam and Amber, moving them further up the leader board. However, the big result from the boxing club - worth a huge 10 points - went to the last place chippy, meaning it was anyone's contest.
After a dramatic pause, it was announced that there was a draw, with the Halifax team confirmed to be one of the joint-winners after coming second in the boxing club round.
Having been crowned winners, Adam said: "I'm quite emotional really. What an amazing thing to come and do with your daughter. It's a memory for life".
However, Amber wasn't going to let the moment pass without capitalising on their win, telling her dad that now they had won, it was "time for a little pay-rise".
Britain's Top Takeaways continues tomorrow night at 8pm on BBC2.
