57 replies to this topic

[Snadra]

my preference is for flathead. my local F&C shop does a pretty good job - nice batter and the chips are treat if i don't have to drive them home with me.

snadra, where are your F&C places of preference?

I have two, but that's more because we haven't tried a lot of places than because we're particularly fussy. That said, everyone tells me that you get the best examples close to the ocean, and I haven't found that to hold true, to be honest.

There's a great place just off the roundabout in the town centre of Windsor (the name of which I can never remember). You can pick up your F&C and duck across the street to eat it in the park, looking over the river.

Our other favourite is The Raw Prawn in Riverstone. They sell fresh fish as well as F&C and I've never had a dud from there, fresh or cooked, unlike the many duds I've had from various incarnations of the Costi's chain. They are also quite careful about labelling where their fish is from. It's a bit of a gem, considering the area! Even better: they manage to make chips that are worth eating.

Do you (or anyone else?) have a Sydney favourite?

[haresfur]

I just had some whiting this week - it was quite nice but I'm not sure it was significantly better than other choices - hard to say when ordering for one. But the fillet seemed to be approximately the right shape and they charged $2.50 more. Still haven't seen any flathead.

BTW, what's the deal with "minimum chips"? I usually order $1.00 chips which is less than "minimum". The amount I get for the dollar is pretty variable but usually enough.

[Blether]

Just this week I tried suzuki / sea bass in F&C for the first time - damn good. Not quite the equal of tai / sea bream (but a good bit cheaper), and far better than even the freshest cod I've found here.

I even did batter with egg white folded in. I liked the result, but I need to try a few more times to see what proportions will be best.

[ChrisZ]

Do you (or anyone else?) have a Sydney favourite?

I've had fish & chips a few times now at various Ripples cafes... perhaps I'm too suspicious of waterfront eateries but it really was fantastic every time, as well as expensive :-) Not the same as your regular suburban F&C shop but I'll happily go back there again.

I worked in South Melbourne for 8 years and Clarendon's fish and chippers (Clarendon Street South Melbourne) was easily the best regular fish & chips I've had... they consistently won awards for the best fish & chips in Melbourne and they deserve too. Over the 8 years I worked in South Melbourne they survived at least one management change without obvious effects, but I haven't worked in Melbourne for over 5 years to know if it's still as good as it was.

[haresfur]

Last night I went to a different F&C shop from my usual and ordered Couta (Thyrsites atun). After I ordered the owner said he really liked it, and they gave me 2 large pieces. I didn't know a fish could have so many bones! Big ones through all the flesh. I basically had to deconstruct it to eat, which sort of negates the point of the batter, I guess. But the flesh was very firm and the taste not bad. I think if I were to get it again, I'd pay the extra to get it grilled since you have to mince it apart to get the bones out of the middle.

Any one else tried it and have opinions?

[ChrisTaylor]

Flake (shark) is the business, tho' whiting, flathead and other nice white-fleshed fish are all pleasant. So long as the fish is moist and the batter light but crisp, I'll accept any species and enjoy it for what it is.

[Snadra]

I've never come across couta before. Actually, I can't remember the last time we had fish & chips! Must fix that ASAP (in fact, would have fixed it tonight, but the local seems to close at 7pm on weekdays). The boniness of the couta sounds pretty off-putting though. Did they warn you? Was it worthwhile or would you go back to something else?

[haresfur]

The couta bones are a bit much to deal with, although they are large enough you can't miss them! Came as a total surprise. I'd probably go for something else most of the time.

FWIW, this came from the ethnic Chinese shop a few doors down from the ethnic Greek, I think. It's too bad that the menu is pretty much the same everywhere. Some day I need to find out what a Pluto Pup is.

[haresfur]

Duplicate post deleted. Sorry.

Edited by haresfur, 25 May 2011 - 03:18 PM.

[Snadra]

FWIW, this came from the ethnic Chinese shop a few doors down from the ethnic Greek, I think. It's too bad that the menu is pretty much the same everywhere. Some day I need to find out what a Pluto Pup is.

I believe that a Pluto pup is a corn dog.


The menu similarity is always funny. I love how there are the chiko roll-dim sim-burger with the lot 'standards' across all the shops and then minor differences between them, like rice puddings or fried rice. We were in Germany a few years ago in May and it was "spargelzeit". All the restaurants from Frankfurt to Kiel, no matter the ethnicity (and there is much more variety than when I was first there over 20 years ago) had the same special asparagus menu with soup, with hollandaise, with crumbs, with schincken, etc. A friend was just there a couple of weeks ago and it was the same.

[nickrey]

FWIW, this came from the ethnic Chinese shop a few doors down from the ethnic Greek, I think. It's too bad that the menu is pretty much the same everywhere. Some day I need to find out what a Pluto Pup is.

I believe that a Pluto pup is a corn dog.

If a corn dog is a hot dog sausage on a stick battered and deep fried, that's what it is.

[kitchensqueen]

My preferences are pretty boring compared to some of the others listed - I've never even heard of half these fish! Makes me want to broaden my fish and chips horizons and do a tasting of half a dozen kinds in one meal.

For beer battered deep fried fish, I like plain old cod.

For herbed bread crumb fish, shallow fried, I like perch.

I think I'm pickier on the chips - I like them thin, but not wispy or crispy - they've got to have some steamy potato on the inside. But not so thick and "meaty" that they're flacid with no bite to them. And I always, always have to eat them with malt vinegar on both the fish and chips - no mayo or god forbid, ketchup. If malt vinegar is not available (and lack of it will make me seriously reconsider ever eating at the establishment ever again) I will settle for fresh lemon wedges. It goes without saying that the fries should be well salted as well.

Dang. Now I really want some fish and chips.

[haresfur]

If a corn dog is a hot dog sausage on a stick battered and deep fried, that's what it is.

A corn dog is coated in a fairly thick coat of corn bread rather than flour batter. I think I'll explore some of the other unknown items. I think I'll stay clear of the battered, fried snickers, though.

[Snadra]

If a corn dog is a hot dog sausage on a stick battered and deep fried, that's what it is.

A corn dog is coated in a fairly thick coat of corn bread rather than flour batter. I think I'll explore some of the other unknown items. I think I'll stay clear of the battered, fried snickers, though.

I'd forgotten about the corn part of corn dogs... Have you had a potato scollop/scallop yet? The concept of carb on carb is odd, but a freshly made one is not bad. And there is always the hot chip sandwich -you'd have to make it yourself though, as I doubt it's on a menu. A teachers' morning tea I went to a few years ago featured chip sandwiches.

[haresfur]

The potato is ok. I had already ordered when I noticed they had sweet potato scollop and that sounds pretty good to me. I think it would be great if the shops did tempura, too.

[Dakki]

Got halibut and some kind of shark (cazon) for experimental fish fry this weekend. They also had some kind of black flatfish but it was looking pretty tired.

Annoying thing about buying fish here from eGullet suggestions (besides limited selection and the stores keeping the stuff out way past its use by date) is that I have to look up the fish, find the scientific name and then look up the Spanish name based on that.

[ChrisTaylor]

Maybe it's just a cultural change, but to me fish and chips lost soul the moment they stopped giving semi-regulars an extra potato cake (potato scallop in non-Victorian) or dim sim or whatever.

[nickrey]

I think it lost its soul when they stopped wrapping it in newspaper but suspect that's just betraying my age

[annachan]

Just got some ling cod from the market this morning. Anyone know if it's good for frying fish and chip style? Or is it better pan fried?

[nickrey]

It's a fairly dense fleshed fish and as such would work well with frying. I use it for a Fish Balti curry and it maintains its texture very well.

[haresfur]

Today's choice was bream. Good texture, no bones. Also had pumpkin cakes that were quite nice.

[haresfur]

My previous encounter with tearing apart my couta to get rid of the bones got me thinking about deconstructed fish & chips. So today I went to the Borough Fish Shop for ingredients.

Paid 40 cents extra to get the couta grilled. It's accompanied by an order of potato cakes, and order of pumpkin cake, and a dollar's chips:



Some other ingredients including salsa made with an over-ripe mango, tomato, and red onion:



My feeble attempt at plating:



And for the kid in me:



The mango/pumpkin cake was better than the catsup/potato cake, no surprise. The grilled fish was really nice.

[ChrisZ]

Although it's not strictly fish & chips in the traditional deep-fried sense, it's still about southern hemisphere fish...

I regularly get a salmon fillet and cook it sous vide for lunch, salmon is something that really makes sous vide shine. The other day I thought I'd try Tasmanian ocean trout instead. It looks just like salmon but is about 1/3 cheaper, and I had some vague recollection that Tetsuya is a fan and almost single-handedly responsible for it's popularity. So I bought a fillet, cooked it simply, and it was delicious.
I'm happy to admit that I could not tell any difference from salmon at all. I'm pretty sure that if I had to taste them side by side I still couldn't tell a difference. But it's a lot cheaper, so from now on it will be ocean trout and not salmon...

[Darienne]

If another Canuck can chime in, my favourite is cod, and then halibut.

Sorry, iainpb, but I can't agree with you at all that pollock is either tasty or a substitute for cod. Perhaps in Australia it tastes? I would call Pollack basically tasteless, as in with no taste to it. Probably why they use it in pretend sea food mixes.

As for 'fish and chips', here in East Central Ontario, we have lots of really good little fish and chips places. I've yet to eat decent fish and chips on our travels from Ontario to the Southwest USA. We've tried all the restaurants(?) in Moab, UT, and all have had atrocious fish and chips, even the pubs. But then we go there for the red rocks and the blue sky.

[haresfur]

Although it's not strictly fish & chips in the traditional deep-fried sense, it's still about southern hemisphere fish...

I regularly get a salmon fillet and cook it sous vide for lunch, salmon is something that really makes sous vide shine. The other day I thought I'd try Tasmanian ocean trout instead. It looks just like salmon but is about 1/3 cheaper, and I had some vague recollection that Tetsuya is a fan and almost single-handedly responsible for it's popularity. So I bought a fillet, cooked it simply, and it was delicious.
I'm happy to admit that I could not tell any difference from salmon at all. I'm pretty sure that if I had to taste them side by side I still couldn't tell a difference. But it's a lot cheaper, so from now on it will be ocean trout and not salmon...

I'll have to try that. I assume the ocean trout is farm raised too. Farmed Atlantic salmon is nothing like fresh Pacific Chinook or Sockeye. Then again it's nothing like Atlantic salmon freshly netted by my coworkers early Sunday morning (um, poached - then grilled).

[ScoopKW]

I think it lost its soul when they stopped wrapping it in newspaper but suspect that's just betraying my age

If another Canuck can chime in, my favourite is cod, and then halibut.

Sorry, iainpb, but I can't agree with you at all that pollock is either tasty or a substitute for cod. Perhaps in Australia it tastes? I would call Pollack basically tasteless, as in with no taste to it. Probably why they use it in pretend sea food mixes.

I know there is a chippy in Barnstaple that still wraps theirs in newspaper, at least as of four years ago. Couldn't tell you exactly WHERE, though, it was after a brewery tour. Just find the chippy near a brewery.

Cod for me, too. I can't think of a fish that tastes better fried. Ideal texture and taste, IMO.

[haresfur]

Although it's not strictly fish & chips in the traditional deep-fried sense, it's still about southern hemisphere fish...

I regularly get a salmon fillet and cook it sous vide for lunch, salmon is something that really makes sous vide shine. The other day I thought I'd try Tasmanian ocean trout instead. It looks just like salmon but is about 1/3 cheaper, and I had some vague recollection that Tetsuya is a fan and almost single-handedly responsible for it's popularity. So I bought a fillet, cooked it simply, and it was delicious.
I'm happy to admit that I could not tell any difference from salmon at all. I'm pretty sure that if I had to taste them side by side I still couldn't tell a difference. But it's a lot cheaper, so from now on it will be ocean trout and not salmon...

I picked up a piece of ocean trout at Costco and it was really good. Thanks for the recommendation. I marinaded it in soy sauce mixed with chopped up candied ginger and some water, and put it all in the oven at 200 C. The ginger bits were really tasty, too.

[haresfur]

I wikied ocean trout and found out that it is steelhead - an anadromous rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Wild steelhead is even better.