Grosvenor Fish Bar are looking to be crowned Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Ship of the Year

A chippy in Norwich has been named the top fish and chip shop in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and is now competing to be crowned Independent Takeaway Fish and Chip Shop of the Year.

Grosvenor Fish Bar on Lower Goat Lane will take on Burton Road Chippy in Lincoln to determine the overall winner for Eastern England as part of the 2015 National Fish and Chip Awards, organised by Seafish.

'Besides being very happy, we are all very surprised – it's a fun business and it is new to me being from the United States,' said Duane Dibartolomeo, who co-owns the shop with Christian Motta.

Grosvenor will compete against the Lincolnshire chip shop in October and will be judged by an industry expert who will turn up unannounced to assess the chippy on a range of criteria including product quality, sustainable sourcing policies, marketing initiatives and customer service. The winner will go on to compete against nine other regional winners, which will be judged through mystery shoppers and the winner will be announced at the national final, at the Lancaster London Hotel on Tuesday, January 20 2014.

The top 10 regional shops will also be invited on a study trip to Norway, organised by the Norwegian Seafood Council, to see first-hand why Norway is regarded as one of the world's most sustainable fishing nations. Although Mr Dibartolomeo and Mr Motta have only run the shop for two-and-a-half years, Mr Motta has been involved in the fish and chip industry for years.

Mr Motta said: 'My dad owned the shop for 35 years and he wanted to retire a few years back. I was living in New York at the time and both Duane and I were working as designers. I was brought up on fish and chips, and when my dad mentioned retiring, I thought it would be a great opportunity to come back and be nearer family.'

The National Fish and Chip Awards were created by Seafish, the authority on seafood, which supports the UK seafood industry for a sustainable and profitable future and Paul Williams, chief executive of Seafish, said: 'Seafish have organised the awards for the past 27 years with the aim of showcasing the very best, while setting increasingly high standards for the industry.

'I would like to offer up my congratulations to the shortlisted shops and wish them the best of luck as they battle for the regional winner title.'

Mr Motta added: 'It's very exciting that we are competing to be the best fish and chip shop in Eastern England. We get a lot of good feedback from customers and we put big emphasis on customer service. Hopefully, we'll get to the finals.'

What do you think of Grosvenor's fish and chips? Email rebecca.murphy@archant.co.uk