Hobbs & Sons Fish and Chips, an award-winning 1930s-themed fish and chip shop inside the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, West Midlands, has remained unchanged since the 1930s. The shop serves authentic, traditional fish and chips fried in beef dripping, and recently went viral after food enthusiast Robbie Thompson shared his experience with his 110,000 followers.
Relocated and Reconstructed
The building originally stood at 41–42 Hall Street in Dudley town centre, operating for generations. In 2006, to save it from demolition, it was carefully dismantled brick by brick and completely reconstructed inside the 29-acre open-air living history museum. Today, it serves as a centrepiece of the museum’s 1930s High Street, featuring a restored saloon with historical decor.
Authentic Menu and Preparation
The menu is simple and period-accurate, focusing on cod, roe, and hand-cut chips wrapped traditionally in paper. Modern extras like curry sauce or gravy are not available; instead, they offer pickled eggs, pickled onions, salt, and vinegar. Beef dripping is the standard frying medium, but gluten-free fish and chips cooked in separate fryers using vegetable oil can be requested for vegetarians, vegans, and coeliacs. Visitors can eat-in the 1935 reconstructed saloon or take away to enjoy across the museum grounds.
Robbie Thompson, who champions local food finds, visited and told fans: "Stepping in to the fish and chip shop is like stepping back in time. The fish and chips are cooked in beef dripping and served with loads of salt and malt vinegar." He also got a pickled egg and a traditional Dandelion and Burdock drink. "This is simple food done well. Served in paper... the flavour was insane and these were some of the best chips I've ever had," he said. Fans were impressed, with one exclaiming: "Fantastic - should be more places like this." Another agreed: "This place is spectacular."
Prices and Popularity
Visitors can expect to pay £11.95 for fish and chips, £7.60 for fish alone, and £4.50 for a portion of chips. Long lines are common at lunch hours, with waits of 20 minutes or more typical, but most visitors agree it is worth the wait.
Museum Experience
The Black Country Living Museum features over 50 authentically reconstructed shops, houses, and industrial workshops. Buildings from across the Black Country were taken down brick by brick and rebuilt. Costumed characters line the streets, working in shops, teaching in the historic school, or operating machinery, interacting with visitors using traditional regional humour and dialect. The museum's canal-side village and smoke-filled streets served as a primary filming location for the TV show Peaky Blinders and films like Stan & Ollie. Other attractions include an underground mine, a 1940s-1960s high street, vintage transport, a traditional fairground, an industrial corner, a traditional pub, and a sweet shop serving historic sweets weighed out on vintage scales and served in paper bags.
