Reviewed: Adelaide’s top 5 best fish and chips
You voted for Adelaide’s best fish and chip shops, so we decided to taste-test SA’s top five. Read the reviews, then have your say.
Food & Wine
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Alright, so we didn’t invent the dish, but we’ve sure embraced it.
So much so that fish and chips are just about as Aussie as vegemite on toast and meat pies.
But where can you find Adelaide’s best fish and chips, and what makes them so good?
Before the warm weather bids us farewell, we’ve visited SA’s top five fish and chip shops, as voted by you, and road tested their most delicious offerings.
From battered flathead to crumbed butterfish and sides of calamari and prawns, plus the all-important, crispy golden chips, here are the state’s best.
PORT NOARLUNGA FISH & CHIPS
22 Saltfleet St, Port Noarlunga
Medium butterfish, chips and tartare sauce: $10
Calamari: $1.30 each
Why are their fish and chips so good?
Owner Kosta Papageorgakis says: “We use IQF (Individually quick frozen) fish, which basically means they are frozen instantly out of the water, and that keeps them preserved for quality.
“The fish is super fresh and tastes the best it can. We also use fresh potatoes which we chip and peel every day, then blanche them before cooking them again. We double cook the chips every single day.”
Antimo Iannella’s verdict
It’s hard to fault these fish and chips, which have been a staple at Port Noarlunga for the last 30 years. I tried the “entry-level” butterfish (or hake) and found it very tasty, with the batter quite light, yet with a nice crunch and not too oily at all.
Combined with their generously portioned hand-cut chips – which are lovely and golden brown with a velvety finish – and their tangy tartare sauce, and you have a perfect pack to split between two on a summer’s evening.
I also tried their calamari, which paired well with the fish and wasn’t stringy or chewy – it was just right.
Taste: 8.5/10
Value: 9.5/10
Overall rating: 9/10
ANGLER STIRLING
5/11 Mount Barker Road, Stirling
Fish and Chips (Barramundi): $14
Why are their fish and chips so good?
They say fresh is better and in the case of the Angler, the saying proves to be true. The Hills fish and chippery prides itself on providing market fresh seafood to customers, which is prepared onsite daily.
They have also partnered with SA Fair Fish to ensure SAs fishermen get the credit they deserve. It also means that they don’t just serve your average fish and chip pack, with their current menu providing plenty of variety.
This includes barramundi from Robe, ocean jacket from Port Vincent, red perch from Venus Bay, latchet from Smoky Bay and king george whiting from Kangaroo Island. You can choose to have your fish battered, crumbed or woodfired and served next to hand cut chips paired with the Angler’s secret sauce.
Lydia Kellner’s verdict
The Angler has dedicated itself to serving fresh and quality seafood to the Hills community and the results are clear for all to see.
The fish not only looks and tastes fresh, but is perfectly cooked and moist. The batter is crisps and not overly oily, while the chips are prepared daily and just taste great.
For Hillsiders not wanting to track down to the ocean but enjoy quality seafood that tastes like it came straight off the boat, the Angler is a must visit.
Taste factor: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
SOTOS FISH SHOP
23 Semaphore Rd, Semaphore
Crumbed flathead, small chips and tartare sauce: $15
Why are their fish and chips so good?
When you’re on to a good thing, don’t tamper with it. So when Co-owner Bruce McKay took over the reins of the Semaphore institution, he stuck with the tried-and-true recipe for success that has had crowds flocking to the shop since 1949.
Mckay said it’s a very simple process to the quality of their deep-fried fish.
“Because we turn over so much fish - it is always fresh,” he said.
“We only cook in quality oil and that oil is dumped every night.
“And the texture of our batter is second-to-none.”
While he’s happy to reveal that the fish is battered, then crumbed before being deep fried, McKay would not divulge the ingredients in the perfect batter.
And their chips, voted amongst the best in SA in a recent poll, are handcut every single day.
“We use a chipping potato that not many other stores use,” Mckay shares.
And their chicken salt is also a tightly-guarded secret, made on the premises and exclusive to Sotos.
Lisa Woolford’s Verdict
Honestly I can’t remember the last time I had fish and chips. And I confess I was a somewhat reluctant recruit to the taste test, recalling the battered seafood dripping with oil of my childhood. But this battered, then crumbed, then fried flathead was absolutely splendid. The crumb coating was golden and perfectly crispy crunchy and the tender white flesh was moist, flaky, deliciously divine and left not even a skerrick of oil on my fingers. There was barely a grease stain on the butcher’s paper - of course a shop steeped in 70-years of tradition would eschew trendy boxes in favour of the good-old wrapped variety. And the hand-cut chips dusted with just the right amount of the inhouse made chicken salt were also cooked to perfect crispness with fluffy insides. It’s a generous serve, perfect for two to share while sitting on the sand at gorgeous Semaphore beach. It’s been a long time between fishy feasts, but I’ll be back. I’m totally hooked.
Taste factor: 10/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 9.5/10
FISH OUT OF WATER
117 King William Rd, Hyde Park
Fisherman’s Basket (Butterfish, 2 scallops, 2 prawns, 2 calamari rings, chips and tartare sauce): $16.40
Plus battered flathead $11.90
Why are their fish and chips so good?
It’s all about keeping it simple and fresh, from the straightforward – yet tasty – batter using self raising flour, to each piece of fish crumbed to order. It’s a basic formula, well-executed and designed to ensure maximum flavour.
Antimo Iannella’s verdict
There’s a sign above the large menu inside the eatery which proclaims: “The greatest fish and chip shop in the universe”. Fish Out of Water might not hit those heady heights but there is plenty to like about their offering.
The fisherman’s basket offers great value for two people, with a wide selection of seafood bites along with their “panko crumbed” butterfish. The Japanese-style breadcrumbs provide a tremendous crunch which blends well with the smooth fish.
The crumbs don’t work quite as well with the calamari and scallops but it’s still delicious, especially with the creamy tartare sauce and a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Feeling a little extra peckish, I also ordered the battered flathead which was turned out to the highlight. The batter was crispy but thin and with very little grease, and the fish itself was flavoursome and very more-ish.
The golden chips follow the right formula and have some crunch with a soft centre, but are perhaps a little underseasoned.
Taste factor: 9/10
Value: 8.5/10
Overall: 9/10
THE STUNNED MULLET
8 East Terrace, Henley Beach
Battered coral perch and minimum chips, plus a can of soft drink $16.20
Why are their fish and chips so good?
This little fish and chip shop at Henley Beach has a big reputation for seving local and sustainable seafood and winning awards.
It is the reigning state champion of the Australian Fish and Chips Awards -
run by the national Fisheries Research and Development Corporation - which were last held in 2019. Owners Dino and Amanda Papadopoulos tied for first place with Fish Out of Water, at Hyde Park.
That joint win came followed The Stunned Mullet outright claiming the SA title in 2018 and 2017, when it also got the national gong for the best fish and chip shop name.
Those awards are just four of many, some of which are on display, along with photos - showing the family’s fish and chip heritage at Port McDonnell - and fact sheets about fish varieties including nutritional information.
The Papadopoulos family is passionate about local seafood, with a menu that includes southern garfish, flake (gummy shark), King George whiting, coral perch and deep-sea flathead - all sourced in SA. You can also dine in or outisde at cute, little tables or enjoy your meal on the beach, which is just a five-minute walk away.
Anna Vlach’s verdict
Fish and chips, greasy lips? Not at The Stunned Mullet. Where, I have to confess, I felt like a - and sorry to use a competitor’s name here - fish out of water.
It had been a very long time since I had eaten fish and chips, which I have always found to be too greasy. I need not have worried, because that’s not the case here.
The staff were most welcoming. Offering advice as to what fish I might like, they took the time to talk me through the menu and what sustainable, SA seafood was on offer on the day.
I chose the delicious, delicate and slightly sweet coral perch - a generous portion cooked to perfection in light, crispy batter.
My only regret is that I ordered minimum chips. Crunchy with moreish creamy centres, they were the best I have ever eaten.
Taste factor: 10/10
Value: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
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