Hook the best fish and chips in town
The tastiest in Melbourne, all wrapped up.
1 Tommy Ruff Fish Bar The newest outpost of a family of second-generation fryers is in Windsor and boasts beautiful mosaic-tiled floors, dangling lights and a glowing pirate skull . The menu skips between the traditional – the Rod and Reel box contains chubby fish bites, calamari, prawn and herb-salted chips – and more sophisticated menu items like mussels in a tomato and chilli sauce, or prawn tacos. à 121 Chapel St, Windsor 3181. 03 9521 7195 . www.tommyruff.com.au. Tue-sun 11.30am-9pm.
2 Hooked Fish and Chipper The traditional British Fish & Chips gets top marks: a flaky slab of blue grenadier encased in golden tempura batter arches over a bundle of chunky chips. It wouldn’t be complete without a scoop of minted mushy peas, perfectly textured and the colour of Robin Hood’s tights. A grilled flake meal deal, with brown rice and a Vietnamese slaw that’s punchy with red chillies, is equally satisfying. à 384 Brunswick St, Fitzroy 3065. 03 9417 7740. www.hookedfishandchipper.com.au. Sun-thu 11.30am-9.30pm; Fri, Sat 11.30am-10pm.
3 Blu Australian Seafood Group Fish and Chippery The bright, split-level space bustles with tradies grabbing fish burgers, couples cooing over grilled prawns and families sharing gargantuan oval platters laden with fried things. The fried fish tastes fresh and is armoured in a thick, golden batter with reinforcements from crisp and bountiful chips. Add a few calamari rings – these supersized beauties are big enough to lasso a shark. All appetites are catered for, from a humble souvlaki to a luxe supper of crayfish and Moreton Bay bugs. à 146 Gaffney St, Coburg North 3058. 03 9350 3200. www.blubyasg.com.au. Daily 10am-9.30pm.
4 Tank Tank makes an attractive bolognaise-free proposition amongst Lygon Street’s wall-to-wall Italian stallions. It’s a fresh, bright, pared-back space with an azure-tiled communal table and a display cabinet of fresh seafood. Classic fish and chips are a winner. Mild, sweet flathead is veiled in a pale straw-coloured tempura batter that’s so light and grease-free you’ll forget it’s deep fried; chips are dusted with an addictive herb salt and a flurry of tiny, deep-green fried parsley leaves. A notably tangy tartare seals the deal. à 149-151 Lygon St, Carlton 3053. 03 9040 2124. www. tankfishandchips.com.au. Daily 11am-late.
5 Ebi Fine Foods Ebi serves up excellent Japanese/british fusion fish and chips and it totally works. Try not shouting ‘banzai!’ as a pudgy, oblong hunk of blue grenadier in bronze beer batter, sprinkled with dried nori and accompanied by a bountiful serve of crunchy chips and sweet kewpie mayonnaise, arrives at your table. Order a perky green side salad with Japanese pickles, lotus root and sesame dressing to help negate the grease guilt. à 18A Essex St, Footscray 3011. 03 9689 3300. Tue-thu noon-3pm & 5-9pm; Fri noon-3pm & 5-10pm; Sat 4-9pm.
6 The Fish Market While you can purchase fresh fish at the Fish Market in Richmond, it’s more of a polished and comfortable eat-in fish and chipper than a fresh-off-the-docks kind of place. The menu is packed with the classics – fried fish, burgers, grilled seafood, salads and skewers – and they are excellent. Particularly memorable is the light and lacy batter that sheathes the fried fish, on this occasion blue grenadier. Its shatter point makes it a textural wonder. Crisp, stout chips are worth their salt, as are the sweet potato version. à 272 Bridge Rd, Richmond 3121. 03 9428 8574. www.thefishmarket.net.au. Thu-sat 11am-10pm; Sun-wed 11am-9pm.
7 Fish on High The retro, green-tiled shopfront is currently occupied by Fish on High, whose industrious fryers serve a devoted takeaway crowd – there’s only a few bar stools available inside. A flake fillet comes concealed in a thick batter that is wonderfully gnarly round the edges, and chips are plentiful and unashamedly carby – this fare tastes just like the fish and chips of your childhood. à 844 High St, Thornbury 3071. 03 9484 2668. Mon, Tue 4-8.30pm; Wed, Thu, Sat 11.30am-8.30pm; Fri 11.30am-9pm.
8 Oakleigh Fish and Chippery It’s a chippery without the frippery. The fish of the day, typically flake, is sweet, firm and clad in a wrinkly batter. Chips are crisp and thick, and you are accorded the fundamental, but all too rare, human right of choosing your own seasoning (chicken salt, pepper, oregano or vinegar). There are eight choices of dip too if you are a double condiment kind of person. The dim sims are a cut above the ghoulish approximations that usually haunt chip shops. à 45 Chester St, Oakleigh 3166. 03 9568 3868. Tue-sun 11am-8pm.
9 Sea Salt, Carlton Sea Salt’s menu casts a wide net. The fish and chips is a clean-cut version of the classic, featuring a long, flaky-fresh blue grenadier fillet in crunchy batter alongside pale, pillowy chips. Portions aren’t vast, so plunder the fisherman’s basket for additional crumbed treasures – a bouncy prawn, scallop and a few calamari rings. Flathead fillets in a chilli ginger marinade are a wholesome thrill from the grill; and for those who like their seafood in the raw there’s a sushi bar. à 364 Lygon St, Carlton 3053. 03 9347 4777. www.sea-salt.com.au. Daily 10.30am-late.
10 Theo’s Fish Bar Theo’s is a no-frills fish and chip shop with just a few tables inside and out. It’s geared towards takeaway, with young families and schoolkids ordering up big. The USP is a gluten-free batter that’s just as crisp and moreish as its gluten-rich counterpart. Theo’s potato cakes, calamari, dim sims and rotating salads are also gluten free. Chips have that manufactured taste that wants a healthy smattering of chicken salt – hand-cut potato cakes are a better bet. à 165 Upper Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe 3079. 03 9497 3541. Tue-sat 11am-8pm.