Oyster Shell opens bringing Rosser’s takeaway back to Bath

Three years after closing the takeaway arm of his Bath restaurant The Scallop Shell, owner Garry Rosser is back in the city serving fish and chips to go.

The Oyster Shell on Moorland Road opened last week and in its first three days served over 2,500 portions of fish and chips.

“It’s been insane, but brilliant,” says Garry. “On the first day, we had a queue of about 30 when we opened the door and that was without even advertising the fact that we were opening.”

The takeaway launched with a scaled-down version of the final menu, offering staples such as North Atlantic cod and Peterhead haddock along with fishcakes, sausages and a vegetarian bubble and squeak Scotch egg. This will expand as the weeks go on with five or six varieties of fish that change daily, such as Brixham skate and Cornish hake, more vegetarian items as well as English classics such as faggots, beef stew and shepherd’s pie plus cold dishes like a prawn cocktail and crab salad come the summer.

“It’s ambitious,” says Garry. “But we’re confident we can do it in time. Like any new business, right now we are just finding our feet so we’ve pared-down the menu slightly until things settle down.”

The menus will be posted daily on the takeaway’s Facebook and Instagram stories while a sample menu will be available on its website.

Speaking about being back in the takeaway business, Garry says it's fantastic, adding: “It was a massive decision almost three years ago to close the takeaway at The Scallop Shell, but it was the right decision because the restaurant has tripled since that time and we’ve been able to concentrate on that business. Where we were with the facilities and the space we had, it just wasn’t working to do both.

“We had a lot of negative comments when we closed the takeaway, but what that told me was that people wanted a takeaway. So it was something we knew we would always do. And it’s a great location we’ve got here. It’s probably the second busiest high street in Bath.”

The Oyster Shell is headed up by Garry’s wife Lisa and their son Dan. It is open from 12-9pm Monday to Saturday and uses packaging that is either recyclable or uses recycled materials.

Cod, chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce cost £9.80, while haddock, chips and tartare sauce cost £10.