Jack The Chipper

You're standing on Whitechapel High Street with the smell of hot oil and vinegar hitting you before you even reach the counter. Jack The Chipper does the uncomplicated thing brilliantly—battered fish, chips, mushy peas—without any of the po-faced pretension that's crept into London's fish and chip scene. The batter's properly golden and shatters under your teeth, the fish inside still steaming and just sweet enough. It's the kind of place where locals queue alongside tourists because it's genuinely excellent, not Instagram-famous. You'll eat standing up or grab a table, either way it's proper comfort food that somehow justifies the near-5-star rating from thousands of people.