The South Coast takeaway shop bringing back ‘proper’ fish and chips (and five more for a top Aussie catch)

In sleepy seaside village Coledale, about 20 minutes’ drive north of Wollongong, a fish and chips renaissance is under way.

Rosie’s Proper Fish & Chips opened two weeks ago, serving crisp-battered local snapper, crushed peas and – rare for an Australian takeaway shop – chips fried in beef fat like the ones found in northern England. It’s the way many Sydney chippers, and even McDonald’s, used to cook spuds too.

The lunchtime queues have been relentless.

“We figured there would be some local interest to have a solid fish and chip shop opening in the area, but we certainly didn’t expect to be selling out each day,” says British-born chef Ben Sinfield, who owns Rosie’s with his partner Tania Ho. The store is named after their two-year-old daughter.

“We’ve had a lot of British expats coming in, stoked they can eat chips cooked in beef dripping again, but Sydney chefs have been driving down to visit too, and some locals have been back two or three times. I had 600 kilograms of potatoes delivered on Monday, and I’m worried they won’t last until the end of the week.”

Advocates for beef-dripping chips say the flavour is far tastier than potatoes fried in vegetable oil, although Sinfield still offers that option. Using grass-fed beef tallow and Southern Highlands-grown potatoes, Rosie’s made-from-scratch fish and chips with tartare is $27 – a fair bit more expensive than other takeaway shops.

A big part of the cost also comes from Sinfield’s commitment to working with local fishers and avoiding more common imported fillets such as basa (a type of South-East Asian catfish) and New Zealand hoki.

“Hoki is perfectly fine and really good value,” says the chef, “but it also makes me think of fish fingers. I want to support local fishers as much as possible, and I want to offer fish that flakes away really nicely. We’ve used snapper and gurnard, but I find the best local fish for batter is pink ling, caught on a longline just off the coast here.

“I’m working with a local fisherman, and my goal is to start buying direct from him, so the fish doesn’t have to go all the way up to the Sydney market first. He’s currently building a bigger boat, and when that’s up and running I really hope to make him my sole fish provider.”

Sinfield notes that there have been a few grumbles from customers about the cost of his fish and chips, but “If consumers are choosing Australian seafood, they should understand that it is more expensive,” says Veronica Papacosta, chief executive of Seafood Industry Australia. She says Australian catch is usually associated with higher quality too.

Fish and chips using imported fillets usually costs between $12 and $15 at most takeaway shops. Many chippers offer a choice of Australian and imported catch, although once upon a time it was almost all locally caught. One reason for the change, says Papacosta, is that most seafood now goes through major cities, where most of the consumption happens.

The other is that prices for Australian fish have gone up due to “regulatory burden” and increasing business costs, such as labour, transport and energy. Currently, about 65 per cent of the seafood we eat is imported. “We will always need some level of imports to meet local consumption demand,” says Papacosta.

More fish and chips shops may start to spotlight Australian catch over the next 12 months, however. In November, state and territory governments voted to implement country-of-origin labelling for seafood sold in restaurants and takeaway stores, bringing it into line with retail standards. The law, which will come into effect next year, requires hospitality businesses to clearly identify if seafood is either Australian, imported or mixed origin.

“Country-of-origin labelling is about transparency,” says Papacosta. “It’s about consumers understanding what they’re buying, so they can make their own informed choice.”

Sinfield says he just wants to see fish and chips return to the great centre-of-the-table (or picnic blanket) meal it once was. “It’s such a much-loved dish all over Australia, and it’s a shame that over the years people have become conditioned to frozen chips and cheap fish.”

Five more fish-and-chippers for Australian catch

Blue Marlin, Sutherland

Squeezed between a kebab shop and hairdresser near Sutherland Station, Blue Marlins offer fresh seafood to cook at home, plus a cracking fish and chips. Usual beer-battered suspects include Lakes Entrance flathead, Queensland red emperor, and local snapper and dory. The milk bar-style burgers are the real deal, too – asking for beetroot and pineapple will not offend.

Charcoal Fish, Rose Bay

When Josh and Julie Niland opened their ambitious take on a charcoal chicken shop (but with fish), hunky fillets of Murray cod starred in their supernaturally crisp batter. There’s still plenty of barbecued cod to take to the beach and eat with a cucumber and kimchi salad, but these days the fish and chips offering may also showcase Bermagui-caught pink ling or Corner Inlet rock flathead. Don’t sleep on the salt-and-vinegar potato scallops either.

Doyles on the Wharf, Watsons Bay

After almost 140 years in the business, Doyle’s is still giving Watsons Bay day trippers what they want. That is, a water view, fish and bronzed spuds. Barramundi, flathead and whiting are all fish and chips options at the institution’s takeaway outpost, served with Alice Doyle’s signature plum and chilli sauce for $26.90. Chips and battered snapper will set you back $52.90 at the nearby original restaurant if you’re feeling flush.

Lifeboat Seafood, Brooklyn

Now this is living. Fish and chips on the Hawkesbury, with cold beer, live music, and local school prawns and oysters. A line-up of fresh choices for the Lifeboat fryer often includes ocean perch, whiting, mullet, barramundi, dory, luderick, sea bream and mulloway.

Peter’s Fish Market, Pyrmont

An anchor for Sydney Fish Market since 1944, Peter’s retail arm provides everything from caviar to pipis to live lobster and mud crab. The stalwart also runs a takeaway kitchen, and it’s eternally tempting to ask for a fresh fish of your choice to be battered, fried and fashioned into lunch.