Mathew’s fish and chips are a hit with customers in Tokyo

COOKING award-winning fish and chips for members of the Japanese parliament is about as far a chippy owner from the Valleys can get.

But that’s exactly what Mathew Williams – who runs the Crispy Cod in Tonyrefail – has been doing after being invited to Japan to cook at the country’s oldest department store.

And his food went down so well in Tokyo that people were pleading with him to open up fish and chip shops in Japan.

Calum Richardson, dubbed “the Gordon Ramsay of the fish and chip shop world”, invited Mathew on the trip nearly 6,000 miles away.

Mathew and Calum, who runs The Bay Fish and Chips in Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, were asked to whip up the British favourite at the internationally-renowned Mitsukoshi department store.

Dating back to 1673, the store runs an annual British Fayre celebrating produce from across the UK.

Mathew said: “It was probably at least 30 times the size of Harrods – it’s 17 storeys. Each department, the square footage is probably the size of a Tesco. Once a year they do a British Fayre and people from the UK are selected to go over and cook. I was selected to go and cook for this department store to promote fish and chips in Japan.

“We had to export a lot of our products out to Japan. We were producing fish and chips in the equivalent of Harrods but with a much higher standard.”

The British staple takeaway went down a hit with newfound fans in Japan.

“We cooked for Japanese Parliament, and the British Embassy out there and famous people all came to have fish and chips,” Mathew said.

“People were blown away – they were nagging us to open fish and chip shops in Japan cause they loved it so much. It was unbelievable.”

One thing that impressed Mathew was the quality of the food over there.

“I’m still speechless to see how far Japan are in front of us. The customer service, the quality, the presentation. A normal restaurant on a corner was phenomenal quality.

“To do what I did was a lifetime achievement. To go and cook fish and chips out there was mind-blowing.

“It just goes show if you work hard, you get results as well.”