It's local restaurants like The Fish Shop and Busshari that would tease me over away from the beach to live amongst the many food options in Potts Point. Bondi Beach needs a kick up the ass when it comes to mid price point, a little bit fancy (no thongs and bikinis) dining options. There are too many Thai, pizza and hipster tapas places. Merivale can you please expand your portfolio by opening a place at the beach?
Anyway I had been wanting to try out this place for a while and the opportunity came up recently. I had felt like some good light seafood dishes before the warmer weather ends and the soup and stew season kicks in.
It was busy on a Friday night but we were able to get a table for 5 easily and weren't rushed to vacate. The waitress was swift and attentive but maybe she was a bit busy that she got one of our drinks mixed up and then when the correct drink came, it came in a plastic cup?! Strange.
Two of us had some oysters to start off with. A bargain at $2.70 each but when they came out they were tiny. But they were still fresh and creamy and I could've had more! Others got the potato scallops which looked scrumptious! Fatter and smaller than the ones you get at the local fish and chip shop.
For mains I ordered the special of salmon cutlet with mash and mushrooms with a splash of some good olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. The mash was so buttery and together with the oily salmon I filled up quickly. This dish was really simple but delicious. "It's all about the freshest, in season produce!" The catch phrase of chef's nowadays. And it's true. All you need is great raw ingredients to start with and the skill to cook it perfectly and you have a truly good tasting dish. The white and blue enamel plates on which the dishes were served up on adds to the very fishy themed restaurant.
I can't remember the price of my salmon as it was on the specials board. One thing they could do is have it written on the board as the waitress didn't tell us when she was telling us about them. Don't you feel a bit funny and awkward to ask how much the specials are when they are being read out to you? I do. It's like you don't want to interrupt them as they try to remember all of them!
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| I rate this dish 8.5/10 |
One of my friends had the special of trumpeter with nicoise salad. I had never had trumpeter before so I had a taste and it was quite firm and tasted like a mix of swordfish and hake. Very nice indeed and it was quite a generous piece.
And of course someone had to have the good old fish and chips, in fact we got two at our table. It was another generous serving. I forgot to ask what the fish was but it came with chunky chips and dairy free tartare sauce. I only remember that this dish was $19 as it was on the menu.
We also got the iceberg and cucumber salad, which sounds drab, but it came with the best ceamy dressing ever. It was so good that I forgot to take a pic of it, but hey, you can imagine those two veges on a plate. Originally the salad was for my dairy free friend but then when it came out and saw it we wanted to make sure what the dressing was by asking the waitress. Then she realised it did have dairy in it so she gave us another plate of the salad without the creamy dressing but with lemon and olive oil, salt and pepper instead which was nice of her. Again this salad was suprisingly good as well. We all noticed that the salt and pepper used was different and much tastier and think it was due to the addition of the underated white peppercorn.
We didn't have the space for dessert, but they did sound tempting. So I think I will have to go back and sample some so I can write about it.
The Fish Shop is a great little place for a casual meal if you feel like fresh seafood cooked to perfection. A definite must try.
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