Fish and chip guide: Five Sydney hot spots

If you’re a lover of fish and chips, you are going to want to check out one or more of these Sydney hot spots.

Palm Beach Fish & Chips. Pictures: Beverley Hudec.

• The Daily’s Top 10 eats of 2017
• The Daily’s Top 10 eats of 2016

Forget New Year resolutions and clean eating, nothing says summer more than fish and chips on the beach.

Here’s five of the best northern beaches’ fish and chip shops. Some are traditional, others are trendy, but they’re all just a stroll from the beach.

OCEAN MASTER SEAFOOD

All the old favourites are up in lights in this popular family-run business. Takeaway fish and chips the Newport way is hake, a member of the cod family. Its provenance on the blackboard beside the counter explains that it’s wild-caught, sustainable and cooked in 100 per cent rice bran oil. A big plus is the visibility right into the kitchen and watch staff at work. Deep-fried fish comes in a light, non-beer batter and is served on a pile of McCain frozen chips. Add vinegar and salt to taste. The portion includes a lemon wedge and a overly-sweet squeezy sachet of Masterfoods tartare sauce. The fish is flaky and freshly-cooked and with the chips, it’s a good all-rounder. At $12.90 it’s the cheapest too. Enjoy at Bert Payne Park or on Newport Beach.

385 Barrenjoey Rd, Newport, 9979 9271

Orders: 11am -9pm

Fish and chips from Ocean Master Seafood at Newport.

MANLY FISH MARKET

This fish and chippie has a South Steyne address but it’s tucked around the corner in Wentworth St. Surfers and early morning swimmers can’t resist the hand-cut potato scallops, but come lunchtime, expect a wait, as it gets busy. Hake is the go-to fish for classic fish and chips. It is served with a lemon wedge and comes as two takeaway sizes, $14.50, or $13.90 for a smaller sized portion of chips. Who eats all the chips anyway? The fish is moist and juicy, the batter is crispy but neither thick nor greasy and the chips are big, chunky and slightly floury, just how they should be. Sprinkle with salt and vinegar, and cross the road to the beach. Locals love it, and so do we, it gets top honours for the best fish and chips.

1/25 South Steyne, Manly, 9976 3777

Open: 8am-8pm

Battered fish with a small serve of chips from Manly Fish Market

PALM BEACH FISH & CHIPS

Palm Beach has been a go-to destination for fish and chips since the 1930s, and it’s still well worth the trek up the peninsula. Virginia Christensen and her staff have been serving fish and chips to well-heeled holiday makers, families and Summer Bay day-trippers for 18 years. It’s super-popular so expect a wait, but you’ll be rewarded with a generous portion of fish coated in a barely-there Cascade beer batter, which is crispy and has great flavour. It’s served up with plenty of chips, a lemon wedge and some greenery. Beer-battered fish and chips is $14.90. Cross the road, and Pittwater Park is the perfect alfresco venue. Alternatively order a glass of wine and eat at the venue.

1104 Barrenjoey Rd, Palm Beach, 9974 1110

Orders: Seasonal, currently 11.30am to sunset

A classic summer feed from Palm Beach Fish & Chips.

SEAFOOD AT THE BEACH

Seafood at the Beach won the best fish and chips award in the inaugural Sydney Fish Market Seafood Awards, however staff are a little hazy about exactly when that was. This is your old school chippie updated with fancier options like salmon and prawn kebabs, or fresh juices and smoothies from the juice bar. The menu is huge, but we’re here for item number three — classic takeaway fish and chips for $13.50. The blue grenadier, or hoki, is a little dry, but the batter is crispy. There’s a decent serve of chips, with or without chicken salt. It does come with a lemon wedge. Sauces are extra. Ted Jackson Reserve opposite and the weekend surf boats do make a great backdrop for outdoor eating.

12a The Strand, Dee Why, 9971 9666

Orders: Daily, from 9am to 8.30pm

Seafood at the Beach’s fish and chips

BOATHOUSE SHELLY BEACH KIOSK

Would you pay over $100 for four fish and chips, a salad and a couple of lemonades? The lady in front of us did and without so much as a mutter. At $24, our single takeaway portion of fish and chips is the priciest and has the fanciest packaging, but then this is a takeaway from the Boathouse crew’s pretty-as-a-picture kiosk. Two pieces of Australian flathead on a mound of chips come in bespoke cardboard box, an anchor-printed paper napkin and wooden cutlery. The beer batter is really thick and they aren’t big pieces of fish, but they are white, moist and flaky. The portion comes with half a lemon and fantastic, tangy tartare sauce. Expensive, but that Shelly Beach view is gorgeous and free.

1 Marine Pde, Manly,9974 5440

Orders: Lunch daily, from noon to 3pm

Takeaway fish and chips from Boathouse at Shelly Beach