Satisfy your Seafood cravings with the perfect catch!
The NSW coastline is brimming with flavoursome produce and is home to some of the best fish and chips in Australia. So when it comes to hot weather outdoor dining, nothing beats satisfying your bodily senses better than the taste and smell of crispy golden chips and a fresh piece of fish. From the quality of the batter through to the cut of the chip, the sauces and seasonings, there is a lot that goes into getting it just right. Many of the fish and chip shops have been in the family for years and their expertise shows.
So whether you like your fish battered, crumbed or grilled and your chips dunked into aioli or wrapped in newspaper; eating great fish and chips can be the defining moment of any day. Here are just some of the pit stops from regional towns serving the best, which you should pencil into your NSW seafood expedition.
1. Beach Street Seafoods – 1 Wallis St, Forster, NSW 2428
http://beachstseafoods.com.au/
Beach Street Seafoods were the winners of the very prestigious National Fish and Chips award 2018. Judged by a secret panel of consumers on taste, cleanliness, knowledge of sustainability, customer service and product sold, the 20-year-old business came up tops!
With a team focus on constant and never-ending improvement, the business has a big family warmness that flows on to their customer base. Having a huge following from locals and distant areas, they pride themselves on having a knack for remembering family tourists that return to the area each year. The consistently fresh product coupled with fast, friendly and efficient service makes your dining experience a pleasure. Nothing is pre-cooked and you can watch your fish being cooked from window to plate. They have a variety of seafood dinners and platters with choices of battered, crumbed or grilled meals from the cleanest and freshest seafood. Cooked and fresh seafood is all served with homemade sauces, salads and desserts are also available.
The summer sees all the classic favourites like Crispy Fish and Chips, House Made Salt and Pepper Squid and a Hot and Cold Platter with everything prepared and cooked fresh from their window display. Using pure cholesterol-free vegetable oil which is changed every day and a light batter for cooking makes their food a healthy alternative to other takeaway fish and chips.
BEACH ST SEAFOODS WINS JUDGE’S CHOICE FOR BEST FISH AND CHIPS IN THE STATE
2. Pelican Rocks Seafood Restaurant and Café – 115 Greenwell Point Rd, Greenwell Point, Shoalhaven, NSW 2540
https://www.shoalhaven.com/blog/meet-sam-pelican-rocks-seafood-greenwell-point-south-coast-nsw
Pelican Rocks Seafood Restaurant and Café is just a short drive from Nowra and has some of the best seafood the South Coast can offer! In 2018 it was awarded the state and territory winners of the People’s Choice award, as well as the previous year being crowned the state’s best-judged fish and chips at the Sydney Fish Market Seafood Excellence awards. The judges (secret shoppers), turn up as ordinary customers and grade the restaurant based on five criteria – taste, service, choice, information and labelling. For this business, the outcome was that the restaurant was given high praise in everything! This absolutely sensational achievement has made the family who have run the restaurant for 37 years very proud and honoured that they have been recognised for their hard work.
In this family affair, the business is run by a husband and wife team, Sam and Rebecca Cardow. Their hard work is shared by Sam doing the fishing and Rebecca turning the catch into quality food. You can choose to have any fish crumbed, battered or grilled. Blackfish and Blue Grenadier served battered or grilled, are amongst the favourites as well as Whiting, crumbed and lightly cooked in oil with some lemon butter and garlic. Leather Jacket and flathead are also served by their smiling and friendly staff as well as excellent coffee!
3. Terrigal Beach Fish and Chip Co – 108 Terrigal Esp Terrigal, NSW 2260
https://www.fishandchipco.com.au/
Terrigal Beach Fish and Chip Co cook of all their fish fresh to order by using the quick fry method and use heart-healthy cholesterol free oil to cook some of the best fish and chips Terrigal has to offer. Topping their rivals in 2017, the restaurant won the public vote in Australia’s Fish and Chips Awards and was a just reward for Sabrina Kelley to celebrate 25 years in the industry.
Offering fresh seasonal catches and specialities; they make everything from scratch, even the tartare sauce and salad dressing. All the filleting is done in house although they do buy Blue Grenadier when it is their fish of the day, having Flathead and Barramundi as daily specials. They find that most of the customers choose battered fish which has a thin light batter, whereas other customers prefer to have their fish skinless. Grilled fish is the customer’s second choice with crumbed fish being their third option. Other popular attractions include the salt and pepper squid and the extensive gluten-free offerings for which people are so thankful. All fish can be served with their homemade tartar sauce or homemade aioli.
4. Avoca Beach Seafoods- 1/85 Avoca Dr, Avoca BeachNSW 2251
http://www.avocabeachseafoods.com.au/
In Central Coast’s Best Fish and Chips 2018 competition, Avoca Beach Seafoods came first! They also made the NSW top 5 in the Australian Fish and Chip Awards 2018 making their owner Rachael very proud.
They cook their food in 100% cholesterol free oil from fresh and have a thin crispy batter, making it a healthier option. Customers can watch the staff batter and cook the food from scratch. A ticketing system is offered when the shop gets crowded, so you can judge how long you will wait for the order. They offer gluten free options on request and make almost everything themselves including potato scallops, salad dressing and tartare sauce.
The great thing is that they have a beachfront location and from their canopied outdoor seating they are literally five steps to the beach. They also offer free hire picnic rugs for those who want to picnic on the beach or in the park. On Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons they have live music with BYO welcome. You can create your own or have their Fisherman’s basket with prawn cutlets, calamari, and fish. The fish burger and salad are also popular and are easy to takeaway to eat on the sand. They also offer Lavazza Coffee and Noorgen Vaaz premium scoop ice cream. It is good to know that all seniors get a special deal on their fish chips.
5. Woy Woy Fishermen’s Wharf- Woy Woy Fisherman’s wharf, The Blvd, WoyWoy, NSW 2256
https://www.woywoyfishermenswharf.com.au/
Woy Woy Fisherman’s Wharf is a multi-award winning seafood haven and one of the best places to get fish and chips on the Central Coast. For more than 40 years this waterfront restaurant has been run by three generations of the Cregan-Clayton family. You can feel as if you are on the water by securing a table, close to the floor to ceiling windows. The recently renovated restaurant has magnificent views onto Pelican Island and the Brisbane Water as well as being surrounded by mangroves, pelicans and birds, which all help create an extremely picturesque setting. On offer too is a well-stocked bar offering a wide variety of wines and ales, as well as a modern, cosmopolitan menu. If you decide to have a takeaway you can join others to dine on the waterfront but do make sure to watch out for the gulls that live in the area as they like to tuck into your meal too!
As customers enter they are encouraged to walk through the onsite fish market to see all different kinds of fish, crustaceans and seafood caught only hours prior. On offer are whole salmon, rainbow trout, kingfish, snapper, mullet, teraglin, blue swimmer crab, sardines, prawns and ocean squid to name but a few. All fish are sustainably sourced and can be cooked and brought out to you in butcher’s paper ready to be eaten in the sun. As they have been in business for so long, people have a real sense of what they want. Whether it is fish and chips, calamari or fish cocktails, the shop sells around 300 parcels a day! They are also the largest supplier of seafood to the area, so you can be certain if the locals eat their fish, it has to be good!
6.The Fish Shop, Burrill Lake- 107 Princess Highway, Burrill Lake, NSW 2539
The Fish Shop was awarded the best Fish and Chip Shop in 2012 and has been able to collect many other awards as well as garner some awesome reviews and likes on Facebook and Twitter. Locals claim it is not only the best fish and chip shop in NSW but also the whole of Australia!
The Burrill Lake Fish Shop is conveniently located just off Princess Highway which means it is the perfect pit stop on a road tripping excursion. Offering Kingfish, Bream, Flathead, Squid, Mahi Mahi, sweet baby Prawns and Oysters and whatever else is in season; means the fish and chip shop has an ever-changing menu to satisfy all seafood cravings.
This region of Shoalhaven has a coastline overflowing with some of the freshest seafood in NSW and an abundance of fishermen. Fish and Chip shop owners can, if they choose, go down to the trawlers in the morning and buy freshly caught fish which they can have cleaned and filleted for their shop. Owner Zoran Praja is a former fisherman who knows his fish and has good connections in the industry. So as well as knowing who to buy from in the trawlers he also sources oysters from Clyde River and fresh prawns direct from Coila Lake.
At The Fish Shop customers can buy fresh fish which is only a few hours from the ocean, to take away and cook at home. Alternatively, they can, of course, have a takeaway fish and chips moment themselves! Whether it’s the nearby Lyons Park, which boasts picnic tables or the crystal clear waters of Dolphin Point, the surrounding area provides great spots to enjoy your fish picnic.
7. Ocean Foods, Drummoyne- 154 Lyons Rd, Drummoyne NSW 2047
https://www.oceanfoods.com.au/
Ocean Foods has won many awards over the last 30 years of business and have been committed to offering its customers quality and great taste since its inception. Their slogan is ‘The best fish and chips in the Universe!’.
All the seafood is sourced from either Australia or New Zealand and with their long-standing connections, they are able to get the first choice on the finest daily seasonal catches. At Ocean Foods, everything is cooked from fresh and is battered using a family recipe that has been passed down through the generations. They only cook in 100% cholesterol free, Australian canola oil and the result is a light crisp coating that does not dominate the flavour of the fish. The extensive menu covers old classics like Barramundi, Cod, Ocean Perch and Calamari with battered Savs and Seafood sticks being popular. Their marinades, dressings and salads are made on site plus they serve beer, wine and gelato.
Visitors and locals can grab a takeaway box, sit out on the balcony of the colourful shop front and watch the world go by.
8. Scotties Fish Café- 36 Scott Street, Newcastle, NSW 2300
https://www.facebook.com/scottiesne/
Scotties is known as Newcastle’s favourite fish and chip shop. Dating back to the 1950s, the premises had been home to a local general store before it became a fish and chip shop. It is now regarded as one of Newcastle’s most iconic spots and is viewed as a local landmark. This cute friendly restaurant is owned and run by mother and son team Jen and Jack. They bring a warm friendly atmosphere to Scotties, to perfectly compliment the ocean views and fresh sea breezes.
Scotties proudly offers a modern, locally sourced, sustainable seafood menu. Shaded by palm trees, is the Mediterranean styled alfresco dining area in which you can choose to eat Mediterranean inspired side dishes with your meal. Popular items are fresh Port Stephens Flathead or New Zealand Hake fillets served with hand cut chips and house made confit garlic aioli.
Known for their quirky events; you can head to Scotties on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy the music being played. In the evenings you can experience eating your meal under the sunset or stars, with a hint of ocean aromas in the air. In addition to their Happy Hour, the Scotties menu has bite-size plates, suitable for sharing as well as a cocktail menu.
9. New Oceanic Take Away- 87 Morgan St, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650
https://www.waggawaggaaustralia.com.au/12652/new-oceanic-take-away/
Arguably one of the best run fish and chip shops, Wagga Wagga symbolises the family-owned business. The menu boasts a traditional fish and chip shop spread, with quality being at the forefront of everything they produce. The Papaioanou family, the owners of New Oceanic, run their business in the ‘old school’ way. There is no fancy electronic ordering system and everything is made fresh to order. On the front counter there is the same old pen and paper ordering system and you can see the newspapers, used to wrap the fish and chips, stacked up on the counter!
The Papaioanou family have operated from the same location for nearly 40 years. The staff are friendly and work efficiently to freshly batter, crumb or grill your fish as you order it. Barramundi, seafood basket, calamari rings, prawn cutlets, or freshly made scallops are amongst many options served with their delicious gluten free chips. All these things combined are precisely what makes New Oceanic customers nostalgic about their fish and chip visits whether it be weekly, monthly or when they just come home for a visit. The shop is takeaway only.
10. Hungry’s Fish n’ Chips– 1/11 Merimbula Drive, Merimbula, NSW 2548
https://www.facebook.com/merimbulatakeaway/
Cooked fresh and with great service, Hungry’s Fish and Chips came a close second in Sydney Fish Market Seafoods Excellence in 2017. There are not many places in Merimbula where you can find quality fish and chips but at Hungry’s, you’ll be delighted to find fresh cooked fish and low prices! The business has been in the family for years and they are committed to providing freshness, quality and value for money. The whole team is focused on meeting their customers’ needs and as a result, a high percentage of them are regulars or referrals.
Melt in your mouth piping hot fish in crispy batter, fish burgers, fish wraps, marinated squid are amongst many fish dishes on offer. They are also perfecting a new batter recipe to try and prevent the fish from going soggy when wrapped. You do not always have to have fish and chips as Hungry’s has diversified. Now you can find curry and sweetcorn soup amongst many other choices and specials of the day.
