Fish and Friends is a fish and chips takeaway at 414 Titirangi Road, in the Titirangi village in west Auckland, with a 4.3 rating on Google. Good fish and chips come down to freshness and timing: fish cooked to order, batter thin and crisp rather than greasy, chips fried hot rather than held under a warmer. The classic New Zealand order is fish with a scoop of chips, wrapped in paper and eaten while still steaming. It always pays to ask what fish is freshest that day — snapper, terakihi and hoki shift with the catch — and to expect a queue on Friday evenings, when half the neighbourhood has the same idea. Titirangi village sits at the gateway to the Waitakere Ranges, and Fish and Friends is right on the main road through it, a natural stop on the way home from the west coast.