SA Weekend restaurant review: Angler at Stirling

With its unique approach to sourcing and handling seafood and its promotion of lesser known species such as carp and latchet, this Hills seafood specialist is not your average fish & chippery, writes Simon Wilkinson.

Sam Prance-Smith, co-owner and chef at Angler.

In the spirit of the times, and following the terminology of political leaders, this column is something of a flex – a shift in direction, not the way the younger generation use the word for a show of strength.

Angler, in the Hills town of Stirling, barely qualifies as a restaurant at the best of times. It has two benches inside that, under current rules, can seat a maximum of eight.

A few weeks back, during our visit, that number was down to two, so it was only serving takeaway. But Angler is also much more than a fish and chip shop.

Fried food is not the only game. And its approach to the sourcing and handling of seafood is at a level you won’t find among the rest of our batter brigade.

Even from outside, a peek through the door is enough to raise expectations.
Whole kingfish hang from their tails in a special ageing cabinet at the far end of the shop. The open kitchen to the left has a large wood grill and the kind of equipment you would expect to see in a fully-fledged restaurant.

That’s the world co-owner/chef Sam Prance-Smith comes from, his CV including roles at the Star of Greece, Salopian Inn and Melbourne’s celebrated Cutler & Co.

The idea for this venture had been bubbling on the backburner but became reality in 2020 with the support/encouragement/pushing of his aunt Amanda Prance, who also happens to be the chair and advocate for pioneering local group, Fair Fish SA.

Woodfire plate of grilled seafood. Picture: Meaghan Coles

A key objective for Angler, then, is to introduce consumers to less familiar seafood varieties from our waters that can be caught sustainably.

Carp mince is turned into burgers.

The fillet for fish and chips might be lesser known species such as latchet or gurnard (though king george whiting is also available at a higher price).

Snacks are a good introduction to what Angler is about.

Good-sized Spencer Gulf prawns peeled between head and tail are grilled and finished with a splodge of fermented XO sauce made from leftover fish scraps. Long live the kings.

Better still are the cheeks taken from a deep-sea ocean jacket that are fried, coated in a thick dressing of galangal, tamarind and coconut, and served with a handful of fresh herbs.

The morsels are surprisingly plump and meaty, and the fragrance of that paste will take you straight to a beachside shanty somewhere in southern Thailand.

Selection of fresh seafood. Picture Meaghan Coles.

Larger serves include a steak taken from the dry-aged kingfish, grilled until its flesh has firmed and its skin bubbles up and crisps like a delicate crackling.

It comes with a dark, lipsmacking gravy based on fish frames.

The natural chemistry that exists between smoke and seafood is on full display in a “Woodfire Plate” for two, a selection that includes scallops, prawns, baby octopus, more kingfish and strips of squid tube.

It’s mixed grill meets catch of the day, if you like.

Throw in one of the sides – a salad or maybe even roasted carrots in a honey and caraway butter – to make a complete meal. That’s the flash option, obviously.

A piece of battered, crumbed or grilled fish is $14 (except for the whiting) and comes with lemon, a tangy cocktail-style sauce and hand-cut chips that, in our case, have become rather soft and droopy.

Like all of the food, they would no doubt have been better if eaten immediately, either in-house where Sam and his team can answer any questions, or across the road at a picnic bench in the park. Each will offer a different experience, hence the asterisks attached to ambience and service in the score.

No, Angler is not your regular restaurant or fish and chipper. It is much more. Retail shop, cooking school, champion of a more thoughtful way of collecting and consuming our seafood. And if that isn’t a crucial flex for the future, I don’t know what is.

For more reviews visit delicious.com.au/eatout