Fish & Chips

[iainpb]

Pollock is also a tasty sustaionable equivalent to Cod.

[Luke]

Finding a F&C shop that actually sells what it claims is step number 1.

There are no laws in Australia regarding the true labeling of fish.

So you are just as likely to see West Nile Perch labeled as Snapper, as you are finding Hoki fillets labeled as Whiting.

And "Flake" could be any type of shark including Elephant Fish. Now Gummy Shark and Mako is excellent flake, and Blue shark I would not feed to my dogs, but I have eaten many types of "flake" and I can often tell the difference (depends on how much beer was consumed before the tasting).

Interestingly I suspect most people can also tell, but simply assume the fish was not fresh, as opposed to the fish not being what they expect it to be.

Luke

[roosterchef21]

I just can't go past flathead for fish and chips. Whiting if it's grilled but for anything else... I wonder though, it was one of the fishes I used to catch fairly regularly so I wonder if that has influenced my decision? Has anyone else come across this in their choices? The fish they grew up on or had a childhood memory of?

[Ben Hong]

Living in Atlantic Canada we can get a variety of fish for f&c, but why bother with any others if you can get a)haddock, b) cod and c) tilapia. Nothing is more sustainable than tilapia as it is all farmed, and it has become a personal favourite. My absolute fave is the freshwater walleye that is found in cold Canadian waters.

[whisks]

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?

Edited June 30, 2010 by whisks (log)

[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 May 25, 2011 by haresfur (log)

[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.