FRIDAY night – there’s no better time to treat the family to fish and chips. So it was that the four of us, on a rare night all together, went to try out Lakeside Fish and Chips, a new restaurant and takeaway.

At first glance Lakeside is a misnomer as there isn’t a lake in sight. Instead the restaurant faces onto Holes Bay at the back of Poole Harbour, while the takeaway at the front, rather less scenically but most conveniently, faces Asda’s car park.

But all becomes clear once inside the smart, modern restaurant. Lakeside is run by Poole brothers Wayne and Jason, whose family ran Hamworthy’s Lakeside fish and chip shop, and the name is homage to that.

First impressions were extremely promising. We were warmly greeted, shown to a table by the huge floor-to-ceiling window – the location will really come into its own in the summer – and warm rolls were brought over while we looked at the menu.

On offer is fish-and-chip shop fare, reasonably priced, with enough added surprises to keep most diners happy. All the fish on offer can be grilled instead of battered, there are pies and burgers on offer, and on the specials board there were two vegetarian options, plus a fish platter and catch of the day of grilled sea bass. None of us are meat eaters and two are strict veggies so it was good to see on the menu that rapeseed oil is used for frying.

There are some good deals – cod, chips, mushy peas, a roll, a glass of wine and cup of tea for £8.25 must be pretty hard to beat.

One of the best surprises was the wine list – a perfectly good bottle of red house wine costs a bargain £8.

I chose Thai fish cakes, my traditionalist husband had a large haddock, and daughter one went for a veggie option – feta, spinach and ricotta tart.

Daughter two opted for her lifetime favourite chippy meal – chips and a pea fritter. Never has such a humble dinner been more beautifully presented. It arrived, as did all our dishes, on a smart, big white square plate, accompanied by salad and coleslaw.

The taste lived up to the presentation. My fish cakes were deep-fried but still light and very tasty, and served with a little dish of chilli sauce.

The haddock and pea fritter were in a very crispy, light batter, and the tart was a tasty Greek-style filo pie. Most importantly of all, the chips were top-class – fat, hot, crispy, perfectly cooked and extremely plentiful.

We thought we should at least make an effort to try the home-made puddings – so we shared apple pie and custard and bread and butter pudding with vanilla ice-cream. We were glad we did.

All in all, it was a perfect example of our national dish, enjoyed in smart surroundings with great service.

“We have to be the best, there’s a lot of competition,” said our waiter.

On this showing Lakeside is doing a great job, and deserves to thrive in a very competitive market.

Our meal for four, including a bottle of wine and two soft drinks, came to just over £46 – a bargain for a lovely evening.