TL;DR: It is more or less fish and chips dressed up a bit differently than usual. Credit where it is deserved with aesthetics, but all in all I have had better fish and chips but I have also had worse fish and chips. Ultimately, it merely does a notch better than adequate as a choice for something to eat around here.
After some success down in Melbourne, Paper Fish makes its way into South Bank from the same mind that was behind Stokehouse. Possibly the furthest idea from what Stokehouse offers is right here, though with the reputation as being one of the city's finest places, clientele can be rest assured of a keen eye on quality being right here. So yeah, fish and chips in a location that for a long time was calling out for such an outlet that also delivers on the aspect of quality - it is finally here.
Getting to a general ritual, it was high time to meet a friend of mine in the new year after such a long break. This time around, she was without a car so it was off to meeting around the central area of town - namely, the Cultural Center bus way. This has been a pretty common arrangement in meeting her, and with absolutely no complaints from me with West End just on the cusp (hence, a cornucopia of eateries) but it was her suggestion to take the other turn for something a bit different. With that being the only difference, it was all on the fly in deciding where to go, more or less taking a lap around the Stanley-Grey Street junction of eateries. Noting many in mind, there were a good number of possibilities and this ended up being the choice. As long as it is hot, and preferably got a bit of grease to it, I am all good.
This is not like the usual fish and chip shop. No matter where in Australia you are, the whole environment there is familiar. You won't be seeing countless bits of fried seafood, nor many of the dubious fried snacks that many clientele love to add on. They keep it fairly simple, straightforward and streamlined with what they offer, which is possibly why I noted that it reminded me of a cross between fish and chip shops right here, and within the United Kingdom. Part of it had to do with the atmosphere, where the fish and chip shops over in Britain aren't going to be winning any awards for decor, but they do make them up to be a little like casual eateries. Mostly takeaway, they still do have a few tables around the place alongside one bench at the far end; it is one place where the kitchen possibly takes up the lion's share of the shop space, which on paper makes it sound cramped, however
While it is a little rough around the edges at the moment, the service here manages to be pretty efficient. At first I thought it was a bit no frills, with getting your own forks and whatnot - but they are onto that pretty quickly. Quick and efficient is the mentality here, plus the usual route of going up to the counter, paying, then taking a number and getting a table is how they do it. Before you know it, the fish is being fried in hot oil and it is at your table within minutes.
Another touch that distinguishes Paper Fish from the majority of suburban - along with Gold and Sunshine Coast - fish and chippys, has to be the choice of drinks which they have. How many other places selling fish and chips can you think of which have a range of beers, wines, and frozen cocktails to have alongside the meal? Sodas are also there, only a couple of the usual suspects with the Italian-style ones making out for the rest of the selection.
To use that as a launch-pad to the actual meal, with her order my friend got one of the frozen mocktails - a limonata. I managed to nick a sip of it, and it was not too bad. Essentially think of it as one of those frozen drinks available from the convenience store, and that more or less sums up how it comes across. It was flavoured with the lemon drink, which was a mixture of sour with a bit of sugar put through. For a hot day (or summer night), this would do quite well and it doesn't go so badly with fish and chips.
Getting onto the food, while there has definitely been bigger feasts to eat within recent memory, where there was a big order of coconut prawn tacos, along side one of sweet potato fries, and the classic fish and chips, with some Cesar salad to wrap it all up. The fish of the moment was a blue grenadier. Throughout it all, while there was the noted highlight of the tacos, it was all pretty much adequate.
As it had already been stated, everything here is cooked fresh to order. Regardless of the situation, that is always an advantage. What was possibly the best of the lot would have been the coconut prawn tacos. A combination of some sweet prawn meat, with the robust coating that was given that distinct texture from the coconut is a combination that can rarely go wrong. Add that into some soft tortillas, and mix them up with a solid lot of coleslaw, and it makes for quite the bar snack.
Giving them some more credit as well, the blue grenadier was well cooked as well. Not quite as light as tempura, the batter was still lithe and sweet, which went well with the mild-tasting fish. Not to mention, the big serving size for one person - and I haven't even gotten to the fries yet. There was regular and sweet potato, with the latter definitely being the better lot. The seasoning on both was alright, with maybe a bit more cooking needed for the regular fries to make them crispy. In saying that, I liked the touch of them being crinkle cut, and the sweet potato fries being shoe-string helped distinguish the two effectively beyond the type of vegetable used.
Also on the side of the fish and chips was the choice of salad. Cesar is often a good choice, with just enough freshness from the lettuce to make it semi-fresh, and the creaminess of Parmesan cheese, and the dressing, and little bit of crunch from the croutons also helps.
With Paper Fish, it was not quite the best fish and chips that I have had - here or anywhere, however the quality was quite good and the price itself was decent value. This is not because of anything bad about it, it really is just fine. It fits a good and balanced niche, where cost is considered but quality does not get compromised, something many places in South Bank have realised in recent years. Credit where credit is due will be given, where they keep it pretty simple. This place will work more for some people, not quite for others, it all depends on taste.
Portion sizes will certainly fill most people up as either a snack or a meal, and even if there is not a beach around per se, the whole experience can still be replicated the same way South Bank has been known to replicate the beach experience for those staying in Brisbane. Taking the fish and chips to go, that possibly the selling point for Paper Fish on top of the fact that cheap fish and chips can still be tasty.
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