The Fish Bar

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
This is one of the city’s better combinations of fishmonger, takeaway and dine-in eateries. It’s more than a fish ‘n’chippery, but somewhat less than a seafood restaurant. Behind the water-curtained street-front facade, the selection of scale and shellfish available for retail or to eat in is the best outside the fish punts of the Victoria Dock area. There’s a large display of fillets and whole fish on ice, clearly marked fresh or freshly thawed, inviting to you to point out your choice for them to package or cook.

It’s all very casual. You order at the counter from one of two blackboard menus – a straight fish‘n’chips menu offering a range of different fish and batter options, or one with a wide assortment of seafood-y things spanning sushi, scallop and mussel chowder to Thai-style prawn cakes and grilled salmon, complemented by a variety of dressings and salads. The food is table-served and nicely presented, there’s a pub bottle shop round the corner if you’ve forgotten a bottle and, at meal times, the place is packed.

Graeme Phillips