Fish Place, Surry Hills

I'm always down Foveaux or Crown. I've got my go-to places whenever I don't feel like running the risk of ruining friends expectations through experimentation. Whether it's breakfast at bills or fouratefive (previously bird cow fish), lunchtime snack at el loco, a slightly more extravagant lunch at Marque's Friday special or Bentley or gelato at Messina or RivaReno; needless to say these two streets never fail to impress. Newly opened Fish Place catches my mine and I deviated from my usual lunch suspects to visit there one day.

Filled with quirky vintage bibs and bobs and light music, the atmosphere is delightfully cheerful and laidback. The shop's out front with it's recognisable mural made of sardine cans where you guy and order. 

There's salads on display as well as the but what immediately takes you is the waff of woody smoke that just delights your senses. Hip uni goers, workers and retirees alike retreat out to the back into the shady refuge filled with pot plants, tables and faded timber cupboards. 

Todays Fresh Fish Battered with beetroot salad 12.5

Fish and chips (with no chips) was the order of the day. The side of beetroots was underwhelming; it could do with a bit of tartness and a teensy tad of feta or soft cheese would go a long way but it's the large arc of bream that more than makes up for it and steals the show. It's wonderfully moist, cooked well so that it flakes beautifully and isn't at all mushy. They've nailed the batter; crunchy and so thin that it doesn't feel like you're just eating deep fried flour like it does a lot of the times. The tartare's split a little but I couldn't care less. It's salty tartness founds out the fish perfectly. 

Smoked Salmon Bagel 8.5

The smoked salmon's comes with a deep gorgeous orangey hue. It's not oily or overly salty at oil and the flakey chunks are just so nice combined with dill cream cheese and slices of onion. Judging by the reviews, the hot smoking process is very inconsistent ranging from very heavy to very light but on that day it was pleasantly moderate. It was enough to keep my fingers smelling all day but not enough woody perfume to overwhelm the delicate nature of the bagel. 

With all the aforementioned places, now there's this little gem to add to the list. There's something fishy happening at this place (in a good way) and it might just be a keeper. 


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Posted in: batter, fish, foveaux, salmon, smoked, surry hills