Review Balmain Blu - Balmain

Consistently great-tasty and fresh fish and chips, very reasonably priced and generous servings. We've been going here for 5yr now. They changed hands a few years ago and it is sad to see that it is not as busy as it used to be, because the quality has not changed as far as we can see. We buy both fresh and cooked, and it is consistently good. Get in early to buy your fresh seafood- they do sell out, which I think is a good thing. You know they aren't holding stock over to the next day.

Something weird going on at this place. Food takes a really long time (well over 20mins wait for 2 x grilled fish and chips. Multiple people ordered some time after us, and then everyone’s orders come out all at the same time, not staggered like you would expect. They also don’t use the fish on display for their orders. Its almost as if they order it in from somewhere else. Chips tasted old, fish was mediocre.

Took 20 minutes for 3 fish and chips orders to be prepared and it wasn’t that much. Chips were too crunchy. There was a lot more batter around the fish and it was also too crunchy.

Comically bad value. I dined in and ordered the advertised special: barramundi with chips and salad for $16. When it was delivered to our table, I had to ask if there was a mistake — it seemed they had forgotten the fish! But there it was, two small wedges camouflaged atop a fist full of fries. Four dry, flavourless mouthfuls later and it was gone. The chips were passable, but I wasn’t tempted by the salad, which amounted to a smashed quarter of an iceberg lettuce adorned with a slice of tomato, lightly dusted with some shredded carrot (seasoning thoughtfully provided in a single-serve container on the side). You can imagine my surprise and disappointment, given all of the signage advertising their “award winning” status. Utterly underwhelming, we will not be back.

The battered fish tasted bland and frozen. The battered sav was only half full! Not even sure how this happens! The chips were average and the scallops were tasteless. Disappointing as this place used to be really good!

Waited over 30mins for simple fish and chips with salad, pretty sure my order was given to another customer. Poor service and no apology for waiting so long - to make it worse the fish was pretty soggy and the chips over cooked (oil tasted dirty too). Salad was limp. Overall, pretty awful. Won't return or recommend.

High turnover means the fish and seafood here is always the freshest. I buy salmon steaks here rather than Woolies because they're ready to cook - descaled and deboned. Plenty of seating if you want to eat in, and it's licensed, so if you're in the mood for a glass of wine with your fish and chips you're in luck. Friendly service and great staff too.

Salad is bland and tasteless. Chicken burger very bad like rubber. You only get about 11 chips if you order size small. I won't go back due to bad customer service. I live up the road and spend about $65 a week here on fish and salmon. Tonight I was 60 cents short as I didn't bring my wallet with me so said i'd drop the 60 cents off the next day. The lady was so rude! she refused and looked me up and down. I was pretty shocked especially due to the fact I've been a regular customer for almost 1 year! OMG 60 cents! haha I won't be going back.

Just terrible service and portion size.  I complained, and she barely looked up from her phone to acknowledge me.  Do yourself a favour and go elsewhere.

If I could give negative stars I would. DO NOT GO! Worst customer service, the fish was tiny and so rude! Fish is off and portion size is for ants. I HATE THEM!!

I think Balmain Blu has changed hands again and it shows. It took over 20 minutes to get a kid's meal, and when it arrived the chips were cold and the fish cocktails soggy with oil. While waiting we could hear people yelling at each other in the kitchen. This place used to be great but sadly I don't think I'll be back.

Stopped in for a quick mid-week din. This brightly lit fish shop has plenty of seating inside & is the perfect place for a quick eat or to takeaway. We ordered a Balmain basket ($16.95) and grilled fish basket ($15.95) & a soda. Very impressed with the meals which were well cooked and very generous. Especially loved the octopus & prawn/salmon skewers. Another cool thing about this place was the 11 varieties of Bundaberg sodas they stocked !!! <br/>

So this place doubles as a seafood shop with fresh catches of the day. You can buy your pre-marinaded sea creatures to take home or have them cooked on the spot. Nice novelty on the predictable Darling Street Strip.

This is a local fish and chip shop that offers a good range of seafood, and lots of well thought out package options. They have a good casual seating area, and it's not unusual to see people sitting eating their fish and chips with a glass of byo wine in hand.  We have had takeaway fish and chips from here a couple of times and enjoyed it.

Loved the fish'nchips. Delicious on Wednesday so going back to get miore today (Sunday 5 April 2015). $8 per person - that's value!<br/>Wouldn't dine in because it's a small joint with a large TV and I hate any TV eating experience.

Nice service. The food is fantastic. Will come here again.

Shocking!!. Just ordered fish and chips and it was cold!! Felt like it was cooked 30 mins ago.

Disgraceful. I went to this place a while back with two other people . We ordered fish and salad, for myself , and two fish and chips for the people i was with . We paid about $60 which worked out to be $20 per head which isnt bad , except that the food we received i wouldnt even eat for free. My salad was slimey and soggy and my friends chips were very dark brown and clearly old. I dont usually complain but this was just unacceptable. I approached what looked like to be the owner or manager and complained. I would of given the place a second chance , except my complaint wasnt dealt with or acknowledged. Your better off going to ocean foods and paying $80

Disgusting. So bad I just had to set up an urban spoon account. Seriously, I should have taken a picture of the food that I paid $30 for THE WORST SEAFOOD I have ever had. Cook your food the whole way through, google, "how to make batter", learn what a fillet of fish looks like. Honestly guys, this would have to be the worst takeaway in Balmain now. You can be nice and smile at your customers but it doesn't count for anything when you are ripping them off with food like this. We could not even eat one morsel of the food. On the other hand, the vegemite sandwiches we had for dinner were good but not as good as the fish and chips I was hoping to eat tonight.<br/><br/>Whats the story? New owners?

Great food, great staff. Always come here with my partner for late night dinners. Unique, yummy and fresh food always. We love the seafood skewers, the salmon and the sweet potato fries! Lovely staff as well :)

VERY POOR!!. We waited 1 hour for our fish and chip and it was the smallest serve we have ever seen!! Discraceful, nothing special either, I would say very ordinary .... Honestly don't waste your time or money... Go to fat fish Annandale as its 100 percent better fresher and value for money!!! <br/>Will not be going again... Service is also a shocker...

Ffoebe begonia. I am addicted to the grilled salmon. Excellent fish every time.<br/>Will not get better quality in a top(and expensive) restaurant, so a great<br/>reason to get my fish fix here!

Best seafood takeaway!. Love the quality of the seafood and how its cooked, the grilled fish is seasoned perfectly, the salads are fantastic and the salt and pepper calamari is my favourite! Highly reccommended

Cheap as (fish and) chips!. This is a great option for dinner or lunch. Loving the super cheap lunch specials and the platters at dinner. You can BYO here and many people do wander down with a bottle of wine. Great quality seafood served grilled with salad for those with lighter tastes or down and dirty for the rest of the crowd. A

Probably the best fish and chips I've ever had in my life :)

Loved it. Simply great fish and chips. We would kill for this quality of fish product in Murray Bridge. Nice friendly family business. Deserves its 89% rating.

Not Fresh. Never been a fan of this place. Fish looks tired and kind of dry. There's way better seafood in the area.