While it contains the usual fish and chip staples as a meal, this fish market in Clayfield is a lot more than that with a philosophy going through many years of having all of its seafood being freshly prepared, and locally sourced where necessary. There is something which is even more appealing to such places which hide the eateries in the guise of a specialty store, usually because they are such good quality, but often because they are also specialised and quite light on the wallet as well. That is a combination that is hard to refuse. Such is all those factors are with Clayfield's Seafood Markets, which is definitely recommended to all lovers of seafood.
For one of two reasons, I thought to give UberEats another go after it was successful from the home base. Now it was time to do it at the workplace. Getting in the fuel before a workout when I got home, scouring what was available I went with one of the most reliable, effective, and popular snack choices of the past several decades. Punching in a few details into the phone, all that was left was the waiting game before it arrived fresh and hot.
Rumour has it that when it is peak time for business over here, the lines get really long and customers can be waiting quite a while before placing their order. Anyone not in Australia needs to know this, and what was mentioned is a good indicator of what fish and chip places are worth your time - busier is better. Well, whether or not it was busy was going to be no worry to me as it was all by UberEats as mentioned. As an inference though, the car pulled up pretty much in the middle of the selected bracket so it mightn't have been too bad. Waiting at the curb outside my work, the car pulled up, the guy got out, gave me the bag, and Bob's your uncle. When they come up, they will be discussed further, but with the items ordered a couple of requests were placed not otherwise on the form (they had to be written in). So after another round I am starting to really prefer UberEats above other delivery services.
At the seafood markets, at least the menu available on UberEats, is more or less the local fish and chip shop. Mind you, it is tons better than many I have sampled and there are few in town up to this standard. There are several kinds of fish which can be cooked three different ways, a number of the extra bits both seafood (e.g. calamari, prawns, scallops) and otherwise (e.g. pineapple fritter, Chicko roll), along with several kinds of burgers. Bigger meals including fisherman's baskets are there, for different numbers of people. Fresh seafood is in most days, so that is based on availability.
What other than a fish burger? Always has been a favourite from fish and chip shops, going way back to childhood in the western suburbs. The fish here was a mixed patty of different reef fish, the usual salad of tomato, lettuce and onion, some avocado and a bit of aioli. An extra choice was to get some fries on the side, which I did, and as the classic request of a takeaway goes - it is always better with chicken salt. Bonus, scored. After that, I also got a potato scallop with the intention of putting it in the burger. Well, two for two with no hassle and it was time to have a delicious burger.
Now this is what I call a fish burger. Some that I have had in recent memory are a bit stogy, and perhaps a bit too much - possibly down to too thick of a piece of fish. This was not the case here, as it was all really good and the fish did not detract from the rest of the burger too much. It was a formed patty that had flavours of lime and herbs mixed through it. The best way to describe it was that it was like a big Thai fish cake. The tomato was fresh and juicy, there was not too much lettuce on it - and thankfully not the bland iceberg variety - along with enough onion to give it an aroma, and the aioli mixed well into the avocado which made it creamy, a bit on the tangy side, and a great sauce to compliment the already pretty good fish. Last but not least was the touch made to the bread roll, which I think might have been a bap, being slightly toasted. Then we get to the potato scallop, which was thinly sliced, well seasoned meaning not too much salt was added, and it went well into the burger itself. The potatoes were tender and well cooked, and for the fish and chip packets as always it is nifty to sneak one in.
The side of fries were delicious. You can never go wrong with some chicken salt, which gives it a big distinctive flavour and brings out a lot in them. The salt aside, the fries were very crispy, pipping hot and steaming, and I could not imagine having the burger without them now. This is how you make fries, and they are possibly some of the best that I have had in a while. Quite a few people in the workplace were impressed with them as well, because I am the sharing kind y'see. For only a couple of dollars more, this was very good value; the portion size was just right, the quality beat a lot of restaurants, and when fries are good, it is easy to describe why - but when they are great like this, it actually becomes harder. Point being, these are worthy to be on the hit list for anyone who likes their deep-fried potato straws.
It is easy to just see most fish and chip places as they are, simple fish and chip places. And that often makes it not seem so great as a choice at times. Then you come around to a good find like this, and finally the thought process is in the other direction. If this order, and the quality of the food presented here, is indicative of just how good the rest of the stock that is in store at the Fish Markets in Clayfield. The only issue that I have is I am not on this side of town so much, since this is definitely worthy of multiple visits and the residents of Clayfield and nearby surely have quite the gem in their midst.
As for 4.0, all up it would be higher but with having only one or two items from the menu there is only so much to base the critique on. If it as good as this, then the rating would surely be much higher. Still, for other places that I have given an equivalent score this is quite a deal better and I was completely satisfied with what I got.
TL;DR: What you see is what you get. What you see here is one place that truly loves seafood enough to give the humble fish and chips the dignity it deserves as well as the honesty to come with it.
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