There's no shortage of chippies across Greater Manchester, but there aren't many fully fledged chippy restaurants around, especially ones with an in-house pianist.
Bolton's iconic Olympus may not look all that from the outside - the fact most of the letters have fallen off the sign isn't a great first impression - but inside, it's a completely different story. With comedian Paddy McGuinness often singing its praises, I headed there with the family on a busy Saturday teatime to see what all the fuss is about.
There is a traditional chippy attached to it, for people to get a takeaway, but the restaurant itself is worlds apart from your typical eat-in chip shop.
The first thing that struck us was how big this place is and that was without us realising there's an extra orangery tucked away at the back.
With huge arched windows, it's light and airy, with cream and brown interior giving it a relaxed home-from-home feel.
After plonking ourselves on the table closest to the door, a member of staff immediately came over with the menus and explained that it's an 'order at the bar' job.
The menu is pretty extensive and it soon became apparent that it sells much more than fish and chips. That came in handy for our youngest, whose eyes lit up when he saw the pizza menu. There's also burgers, jacket potatoes and other light bites for those wanting something different.
But most of us were there to sample the fish and chips, or sausage and chips in our eldest's case.
The second thing to strike me was how reasonable the prices are. We've all seen how much chippies have increased over the last year or so, so it was a pleasant surprise to see that here, you get your fish and chips, with peas, bread and a pot of tea, or a cup of coffee, for £13.95. For pensioners it's even better, at £11.50.
And if you don't want a brew, you can upgrade to whatever drink you like, which turned out to be a pint of Poretti beer in my husband's case.
They do milkshakes too, as well as desserts such as chocolate fudge cake, cheesecake and carrot cake, and they also sell the popular Frederick's ice cream, with all the flavours on show in a tantalising counter display.
At the till, it was explained that because some of the meals come with drinks, it's easier to put the food through first, as it often works out cheaper once the drinks are added at the end. It felt like there was a genuine effort to keep costs down for us, a rarity indeed. Surely there had to be some catch here.
Yet it turned out the only catch was our delicious fish and chips. I'm pretty sure that what arrived is most people's picture perfect version of a chippy tea. A decent sized cod coated in a light crispy batter with a portion of perfectly cooked chips, just the right side of brown.
We tucked in as the pianist played Van Morrison's Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.
I couldn't help but sing along - "You fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness" - my husband mistakenly thinking it was aimed at him and not the meal I was getting my chops around. I could tell he felt the same about his though, and, for once he didn't moan about his chips being soggy from being wrapped up in paper.
The sausage and chips were gone in a flash too and my son requested that a special mention be given to his pizza, which, at £11.35 for a 12-incher, had the pepperoni tucked under the cheese, and was by all accounts 'the bomb'.
I wouldn't normally include a third 'what struck me', but I can't not mention the cleanliness of the place and the attentiveness of staff.
We've visited quite a lot of restaurants over the years and not one of them has been 'on it' like the staff here.
The tables were spotless - I could see them cleaning ours through the window as soon as we left - and when a waitress cleared our table, leaving just a couple of things she couldn't carry, a young male waiter spotted it and was straight over, taking the remaining plates.
I'm not surprised this is where Paddy told Capital Breakfast he'd bring Ryan Reynolds if his beloved Bolton Wanderers were to take on Wrexham A.F.C.
I think even a Hollywood A-lister would be impressed. If I was on an episode of Paddy's Take Me Out, I'd well and truly be leaving my lights on for this place.
