Review El Chiringuito De La Roja - Geelong

quite a fun experience to order off a food boat, it would be super nice with a more sunny weather, was a windy day for me, bit chilly to sit at their outdoor seating - few tables. $10 for a bucket of steamed mussels, they have three flavours to choose from, fresh (not debeard) but good for a snack. chips were alright to go as a side as well - $5. parking maybe challenging at waterfront but if you find a spot and walking along the coastline, could stop by and try.

First visit. Super dupper horrible and terrible experience. Hope i could give -5 stars. Better walk abit to northern part of beach as there were plenty local shops and cafes which serve better food and experience. Ordered calamari and chips but took 50mins. Should have informed us about the waiting time, but seems they just didnt care about customer experience. Approach the person and asked about the order but just replied the food would come soon. Waiting/eating area was deadly shocking and filthy. Thankfully there was the big rubbish bin which was cleaner than the area. The calamari and chips was ok, crunchy but too salty. Shouldnt spend time waiting the order, otherwise we could have explored eastern beach much more. Tbh, this is my first review with 1 star. Very much not recommended.. Shocking!!!!

DO NOT ORDER THE PAELLA!!!! It was too salty to eat, only ate the mussels in it and threw away the paella, it’s inedible. Way too salty, rice was hard and barely any seafood. I’d say order the fried food but never try the paella.

The oysters were not fresh. They did however provide a refund when requested. The ones I did eat gave me food poisoning. The service was good but very slow. The calamari, chips and potato cakes were good though.

Mussels not de-beard and has mud in it and too salty. Paella tastes nothing like paella. Not recommended.

Nice place for an easy mussel snack

Horrible and rude customer service. Waited 50 mins for garlic prawns & calamari/soggy chips. Not to mention the arguing inside infront of customers. Recommend to go elsewhere along foreshore. Kept taking orders but no food was being cooked.

If I could rate this place with negative stars I would. Horrible rude customer service. Waited 1 hour no apology just ordered calamari chips, and garlic prawns. Over priced! Prawns NOT fresh - looked like it’s been microwaved for an hour. Just taking orders and not making the food. Not surprised by today’s BAD reviews on this place!

This little seafood boat is located along the geelong pier, wasn’t what I expected. Could have been a bit more to it, the seafood itself although fresh wasn’t cooked to the best I would think, the price was also very pricey in comparison. Overall ok experience but probably wouldn’t venture back to this joint.

We ordered paella, calamari & chips and mussels and it was just delicious. Paella had proper crusty bits like in Spain and a really nice taste. The calamari were butter soft and and in a beautiful thin crunchy batter. Chips were alright and the mussels were great. The price is good and you sit right at the pier (don't expect luxury, it's plastic tables). So surprised to see one star reviews here... Definitely recommended.

Ate here on Saturday had the fish and chips worst fish and chips I have ever had, tastless, doughy batter and way over priced<br/>would not recommend <br/><br/>

$10 mussels here were really fresh and full of flavour (white wine, garlic and parsley). It was salty with a strong garlic taste. It usually isn't something I'd go for but after trying it, i would definitely come back again!

Loveee the seafood here, very fresh. My bro in law even said their paela was even better than what they had in spain. I dont like calamari but i like theirs. Prawn was good but not really worth it 5pcs for $9, fish n chips was good, we ate there 3x, 3days we stay in Geelong, thats how good their seafood are. Buy then eat it outdoor while enjoying the scenery and watch the helicopter flying away on a sunny day. Perfect.

Paella. We had $10 seafood paellas and they were awesome!

More fun than fish and chips!. When I'm at a waterfront town like Geelong, I want to have fish and chips while I'm sitting outdoors next to the Big Briny. But Fishermen's Pier was too expensive for what I was prepared to spend, the chip shack next to it looked desultory and The Wharf Shed didn't even have a menu out where I could see it. (But I was going to go there anyway.) Then I noticed El Chiringuito. Not a food truck -- a food boat! Way cool!<br/><br/>The menu is limited -- mainly, mussels, paella and chips -- but hey, it's a boat on the water. You don't expect four pages of choices and a wine list. Stroll onto the dock, lean over the gunwale, place your order and a couple of minutes later you have shellfish in your hand. The hombre running the place quickly banged me out a batch with red wine sauce, tomatoes and red capsicum in one of those small boxes like you get Chinese takeaway noodles in. It wasn't a huge portion for $7, about a dozen mussels, but they were cooked correctly, moderately spicy and I didn't get gas tro from 'em. The cup of chips ($4) were extra-crispy. I think they had been re-fried, and that gave them a nice crunch.<br/><br/>It was a chilly, windy day but it was still a great seaside eating experience. I fought off the mob of seagulls that wanted to share, watched the whirlybird take off from the helipad nearby and soaked up the scenery while I snarfed. This was an unexpected find, one of those atmospheric places that I'll remember. Helped that the food was decent, too.