Regulars are "over the moon" that their favourite fish and chip shop has made the final of a competition.

Toffs of Muswell Hill, in Muswell Hill Broadway, has reached the top five in the finals of The National Fish & Chip Awards 2025 in the ‘Restaurant of the Year’ UK category. 

Manager Chris Georgiou said being shortlisted was recognition of the work his team did and the quality of their food.

He said: "We are incredibly fortunate to have customers we call friends. So many of our customers are people we see every single week and they are regular as clockwork; same meals, same table, same drinks, and that wouldn’t happen if they didn’t trust us to deliver consistently great fish and chips with warm friendly service, every time they come to us."

Staff at Toff's of Muswell Hill, say they are 'incredibly fortunate to have customers we call friends'Staff at Toff's of Muswell Hill say they are "incredibly fortunate" to have customers they call friends (Image: Chesterton Group)

He said that they had received many messages from customers who were "over the moon" with their nomination, adding: "Some of them have already said 'we knew you were the best anyway', but its always nice to be seen by the industry for everything you do."

Asked if he felt confident of a win, he said: "I’m confident in what we do, day in day out, from the quality of fish we buy to the constant investment in our restaurant and most importantly I am incredibly proud of the phenomenal skilled, talented people that are part our team.

"Without their dedication, passion and hard work, there is no way we would even be in contention. The way they look after our customers, well, I just couldn’t ask for any more from them."

Toff's has been a fixture in Muswell Hill for more than 50 years, with many paying tribute to previous owner George Georgiou, who died from coronavirus in April 2020.

Hundreds of mourners including Toff’s staff, police officers, traders and residents paid their respects and applauded as George’s hearse passed the Broadway restaurant.

The restaurant was founded in 1968 by Greek-Cypriot Andreas Toffalis – ‘Toff’ – and came top in the National Fish & Chip Awards in 1988.

It was taken over in March by the Bishop’s Stortford-based Chesterford Group, which operates 44 sites across the south of England under the brands Churchill’s and Bankers.

Paul Goodgame, managing director of The Chesterford Group, which owns Toff's, said he was "bursting with pride" for the team.