Crummy call puts bite on fish shop
Cost versus portion size
Customers lured by a northern NSW fish and chip shop have flapped their fins in fury over its portion sizes, saying they’ve sunk their hard-earned dosh into anything but a battered bargain – but the owners say the prices are just keeping them afloat.
Lismore resident Jedd McIntyre took to Facebook on Friday to get his hooks into the Evans Head Fish Centre, saying a $30 Australia Day feed got him nothing but a small handful of chips and a few bits of crumbed seafood.
“This is what $30 gets you. Standard serve apparently,” he wrote.
The post attracted more than 100 comments, with one local calling the fishy farce “a disgrace”.
Another asked why the small feed was served up “right next to one of Australia’s best fishing spots”. “Rip-off,” one person wrote. “Absolute joke,” another chimed.
One user went as far as to say “Evans Head has now been ruined”.
Mr McIntyre said he counted a meagre 20 chips in the box.
But some locals sided with the eatery, pointing out that long gone are the days when a gold coin could get you a mountain of chips.
One person said the quantity “seems about normal these days”, saying “we paid $45 in Ballina for the same amount or even less”.
Another local said the shop was “really hit and miss”.
“Sometimes the servings are huge and sometimes they are tiny. It’s good to give them feedback. Fish and chips just aren’t cheap anymore unfortunately.”
“You woulda (sic) died then if you seen what $60 got me at Lennox fish shop. F**k me,” one user wrote.
The shop’s owner, Tanya Jones, said she was aware of the scathing review, but noted “out of 353 transactions on a very busy public holiday, this was the only negative feedback we received”. Ms Jones has owned the Evans Head Fish Centre for just over a year, and grew up behind the fryer at several fish and chip shops owned by her parents up and down Australia’s east coast.
“It’s hard, because of course I’d love to go back to serving ample portions like in the old days but it’s just not the reality,” she said.
“On Australia Day we had a surcharge and I had to put on all our senior staff to ensure the orders went out smoothly.”
Ms Jones said the customer’s claim was not entirely true – he also ordered “drinks and other stuff”.
She attributed rising menu prices to wholesale and supplier costs, which she expects to go up even higher.
“I’m already looking at raising our prices but we don’t have the signage yet,” she said.
“I want to be able to feed families. Sadly it’s the way it is now.”
“Out of 353 transactions on a very busy public holiday, this was the only negative feedback we received
Tanya Jones Evans Head Fish Centre