Tiny NSW town of 2000 revealed as top foodie destination

It is a small town on the south coast of NSW with about 2000 residents, but it soon could be home to two of the delicious. 100s winners.

It’s easy to wonder if there’s something in the water at Burrill Lake, a regional town of only 2000 residents just south of Ulladulla that is in the running for winning two coveted categories in the delicious. 100 this year.

This tiny seaside town, where fishing for bream, paddleboarding and the surrounding bushland are drawcards for holiday makers, also has some of the best fish and chips and croissants in the state.

Sitting virtually side-by-side mere moments from Burrill Lake, The Fish Shop and Lagom Bakery are already beloved by locals and have now attracted the attention of gastronomes further afield.

The Fish Shop is on the delicious. 100 list this year for its stellar fish and chips, selected as one of the top five offerings in New South Wales.

The Fish Shop Burrill Lake. Picture: Supplied

Australians’ hankering for a golden fillet on a bed of crispy chips is a peculiarly unique national craving, a summertime fling saved for when we’re beachside and salty. We

will queue outside the fish and chip shops we love and trust; thongs on, towel around sunburnt shoulders, waiting for our number to be called out. We seek out the best in town, the best on the coast, the one-you-have-try down South or up North, and feel elated when we find and snag a good one.

At The Fish Shop, Cooper Jones, who cooks fish and chips here, says good fish and chips is about the fish, and at this lakeside shop it’s mostly local, including the hugely popular flathead as well as yellowfin tuna and bream.

“We get people from Queensland come down and say it’s the best fish and chips they’ve had.”

A sample of the offering at The Fish Shop in Burrill Lake.

But there’s no fancy beer-batter or tempura-style techniques here. “It’s a standard fish and chips style, we don’t mess around with it too much. All these other places do something fancy but people like ours,” says Mr Jones.

Here fish fillets - such as flathead, bream and blue grenadier - are dipped in a batter made from self-raising flour and water. It’s then deep fried in a “fusion oil” of olive and rice bran oils, which is cleaned regularly and replaced often, keeping the flavour immaculately fresh.

But part of proper fish and chip eating is where you are, and how you feel, when you bite into the golden battered fish and crispy, molton chips.

Lagom Bakery delicious 100 2023

Here in Burrill Lake the setting is part of the scene; it’s almost compulsory to take your white cardboard box to one of the picnic tables on the lake, with the surrounding landscape, the snorkellers and your own sandcastle-building offspring nearby.

Return early morning from 7am with a Lagom Bakery croissant - up for the best croissant in the state in the delicious. 100 this year - and ethically sourced coffee in hand. This beautiful bakery is a sourdough-specialist destination worth making the three hour trip from Sydney for alone.

Lagom Bakery is already beloved by locals and have now attracted the attention of gastronomes further afield in the delicious 100. Picture: Facebook

The owners started baking sourdough during lockdowns in the pandemic, distributing their slow-fermented, good-for-the-gut loaves to a few select shops and then expanding to their own bakery after resounding community applause.

The croissants at Lagom - and yes there’s also a pain au chocolat with two long batons of dark chocolate within - has a perfectly flaked exterior and crunch. Inside is the buttery, pull-apart-able pastry is seemingly designed for dipping in coffee. Lagom Bakery does an almond croissant and a twice-baked chocolate and hazelnut croissant, as well as a cinnamon scroll, cardamom bun, and other essential items that demand you stay in town a little longer.

Cooper, working next door in the The Fish Shop, says he pops into the bakery often for his Reuben toastie, his favourite. “People come into The Fish Shop and ask if we’ve tried the bakery’s croissants all the time. It’s funny, I wonder if they do the same for us.” Word is out, Burrill Lake is worth the trip.

Discover the best fish and chips and croissants in NSW now, and vote for your favourite at delicious100.com.au.

Voting closes on November 3.