Portions are generous but it’s good to get in early before fish sell out at this small, smart and no-fuss old-school British-style chippy.
Few things spark debate like the best hot chip. Thin, fat, hand-cut, crinkle-cut or oven-baked. Table salt or chicken salt. Seed oil, nut oil, fruit oil, lard, goose fat, duck fat or beef tallow.
There may be no right answer but, in the interests of research, consider travelling to Coledale, a seaside suburb 20 minutes north of Wollongong, to visit Rosie’s Fish and Chips. Here, between the ocean and looming Illawarra escarpment, chips are fried in canola oil or, as has long been done in northern England, beef tallow. This follows a two-day on-site process involving peeling, cutting, overnight storage in water, oven-steaming, cooling and blanching.
After their final fry – I vote beef tallow, or “dripping” as cursive gold lettering on the front window advertises – the chips are utter wonders, hot, fresh, fat and crisp. Even the golden crags of crunchy bits surrounding them are swoony. A shining example of old-school British chippy style chips, they’re the work of chef Ben Sinfield who owns and runs Rosie’s with his partner Tania Ho.
Small, smart and no-fuss, and situated in a stretch of shops on the coastline road, Rosie’s is also one of the best places to eat high-quality fish in NSW. Depending on the day, and time of year, the menu board above a corrugated metal counter can offer sea bream, pink ling, blue mackerel, flathead, gurnard, swordfish, snapper and more.
All the fish are sustainably sourced and line-caught by local suppliers, specifically Shellharbour Square Fish Market and fisherman Craig Lukey at Soueast Seafoods in Ulladulla. Your fillet of choice can be beer-battered (using lager from Principle Brewing in Wollongong) or grilled.
There’s also chargrilled octopus, snapper and swordfish fishcakes, octopus and 𝄒nduja croquettes, fish and chicken burgers, and a truly magnificent chip butty on a soft white bun you can dip in hot chicken-fat gravy. Portions are generous – one grilled or battered fish and chips could feed two –and it’s good to get in early as the fish of the day can sell out.
Grilled mackerel, butterflied with the tail attached, is meaty and strong-flavoured. Team it with the accompanying pots of pickled red onion, salsa verde and tartare. The croquettes go beautifully with Sinfield’s take on mushy peas – fresh steamed peas blended with mint, onion and white wine vinegar. The UK-born chef’s potato-topped fish pie, lauded last year, returns later this month.
I find regular mouthfuls of the daily salad – on my most recent visit, fat, slow-roasted tomatoes with cous cous, spinach and feta – blur visions of deep-fryer fat coursing towards my heart.
Sinfield and Ho, who also run Vietnamese diner Banh Xeo Bar in Rosebery, offer quality ingredients, so prices are higher than most takeaway – fish and chips start at $25, while it’s $16 for the salad. The couple are also working to minimise food and packaging waste and all used cooking oil is collected by a local to run two cars.
You can sit, or wait, on footpath tables or watch staff cook from stools at the counter inside. But, when the sun’s shining, or the mist descends from the escarpment on cold days, it’s best to hug your hot paper packages and walk two minutes down the hill to Sharky Beach. Sit on the grass, eat top-notch seafood and scoff hot chips that defy sharing with anyone else.
Three more fish and chips to try
Peter’s Fish Market
A Sydney Fish Markets legend, Peter’s has been trading whole fish, fillets, crabs, lobsters, bugs, you name it, since 1994. There’s a sushi and sashimi bar, a full range of classic fish and chips options and 15 sauces for your pick of live seafood served fried, stir-fried, grilled or steamed.
Sydney Fish Markets, Corner Bank Street and Pyrmont Bridge Road, Pyrmont, petersfishmarket.com.au
Bottom of the Harbour
An idyllic, almost four-decades old institution with good prices. There’s a vast range of hot and cold seafood, plus daily market catches, but, come winter, go the fish chowder.
21 The Esplanade, Mosman, bottomoftheharbour.com.au
Out of the Blue
Known for its queues, OOTB hosts a regular and relaxed throng of sandy footed post-beach and Nippers types waiting for battered, crumbed or grilled New Zealand hoki, humungous chip portions, and the optional add-ons of a pineapple fritter, seafood stick or dim sim. The shop is also known for its towering burgers, including a sumptuous fish version featuring beetroot, carrot, garlic mayo and doorstopper toasted sesame buns.
2/272 Clovelly Road, Coogee, outoftheblueclovelly.com.au
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