The Fish Shop, Potts Point

‘Tis the season to be jolly,

Fa la la la la,

La la la la …

I can’t sing, but I like to, and that’s why you get these random songs every now and then in my posts. At least I’m not making a video and having you all sit through it – if you even dare to click play to begin with.

Coconut water $9.50

Following our ritual, Miss CC organised yet another great Christmas get together and this year at another of Merivale’s baby, The Fish Shop with our group of friends, those including the girls from Next Stop: Food. We were slightly confused with the signage saying ‘Fish & Chips’, however stepping in you will not miss the Merivale feel you get across their branches.

Snapper $21

Most had their eyes on the snapper ceviche from the daily specials board, and unfortunately it lacked that zing and pow, it was rather bland in taste. That’s when I see the bottle of Tabasco sauce and add a dash, and it instantly brings this dish back to life with the peppery kick.

School prawns $19

The school prawns caught my eye from the daily specials; the prawns were crispy and seasoned perfectly. They were just what I needed to help enjoy my chilled glass of apple cider on a hot summer’s day.

Salted barramundi croquettes $11.50 

Croquettes never go pass us at all, usually served as three, we were lucky enough to have four in our serving as we had a party of seven. I feel that slight crunch as my knife goes through, the fish is cooked to perfection and I love adding the spicy salsa to give the croquettes an extra spicy tomato touch.

A break is met between our meals, so we take advantage of this time and have our gift exchanging. Miss CC attempted to have us do evil secret santa, without really going through the ‘rules’ we realize midway that all had a different set of rules on how this worked. But no fear, I believe most people got what they wanted. And I got a cheeseboard, something that was rather popular at the Food Blogger’s picnic this year.

Dan's famous cheeseburger $18

Miss CC and I jump between meals and weren’t sure what we wanted… well, we knew what we wanted. The cheeseburger, but we’re in a fish shop – why would you order that? YET it was highly recommended, because it apparently beat Mary’s burgers.

Ok, the burger is good yet I probably wouldn’t make the call that it was better than Mary’s Newtown. Personally, I much prefer Mary’s. Don’t get me wrong, the burger is nice, the patty was cooked well, we noticed a consistency of the way it was cooked. The cheese was slightly melted, and there’s BACON!

Crumbed fish, bacon & chilli burger $19

Yes, Miss CC and I decided to share our burgers thus they are cut in half in the photos. And yes, the cheeseburger is unfortunately better than the fish burger.

There is something about the bun not working so well with the fish than it does with the patty. I did love the crumbed fish with the chilli just not in the bun, it felt like a KFC sesame bun – and I don’t know why I don’t feel the same about it on the cheeseburger when it is exactly the same bun. Perhaps it just did not work together so well…

Fish schnitzel, jalapeño salt and coleslaw $21.50

Mr TR ordered the fish schnitzel and it did look good, guess Miss CC and I should have ordered this over the burger. It was a bigger piece of crumbed fish to be shared!

Fish 'n' chips $22.50

Miss ES ordered the fish and chips but asked to have the chips changed to a salad. I believe Miss CC took a piece of fish, and was simply having a wave of bliss wash over her (geddit?) with the soft fish covered in light batter.

Quinoa and feta tabouleh $7

We’re not sure why, but our sides came out much towards the end of our meal. The quinoa and feta tabouleh was nice, but I do much prefer one’s like Arabella where there are filled with more zing with lemon, as I found this was a little on the palate.

Coleslaw $7

It was cute to see the coleslaw being served in a lettuce leaf, our waiter does not usually like coleslaw and had recommended this. As I personally do like coleslaw, I again found this a little light in flavour, it seemed to miss that subtle sweet yet sour like kick.

Cute plates

The things we observe while waiting for our desserts to arrive is always interesting. Miss CC had mentioned the latitude and longtitude markings inside a hanging light from the get go, but it seemed the rest of the gang did not really hear her and were amazed once they noticed it.

Light hanging above our table

“I wonder where it indicates…”

“It’d be so cool if it was right here!”

“Let’s google it, read me the coordinates.”

I repeated myself two or three times for Mr TR, but low and behold…

“Wait, what street is this? Challis? It is here!”

Coconut tapioca & pineapple sorbet

Miss FC, Mr TR and I dig into the one tapioca dessert before the sandwich (which is recommended) and were surprised with how much we loved it. Only because it was not as recommended by the staff, the lightness of all the components were very comforting along with the subtle sweetness from the coconut sorbet which was very refreshing.

Ice cream sandwich & salted caramel $10

We had ordered four servings of the ice cream sandwich, and I am instantly eye wide at my first spoonful. The sweetness was a little overwhelming after having the tapioca, although it should have been expected from salted caramel being drizzled all over. It’s a nice dessert if you are an absolute lover of all things sweet, it reminds me of a morocco bar with a very generous drizzle of salted caramel. The ice cream had bites between, I assume this is choc chips?

Pipsqueak apple cider $7

This isn’t the first time I have been surprised that I liked a dessert that I believed I wouldn’t like. I have found that sometimes when you see all things good in one dessert, does not mean that it works all that well together and are better off alone or suited with something else. So, tell me, have you ever had this discovery yourself and what were these discoveries?

Hit: Dan's famous cheeseburger

Miss: Coleslaw

The Fish Shop

22 Challis Street,

Potts Point

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