Best of the Gold Coast 2019: The top 10 fish and chip shops as voted by you

Gold Coasters are hooked on fish and chips, but who serves the best in the region? We’ve reeled in the top 10 fish and chip shops as voted by you.

With the ocean at our doorstep, Gold Coasters are hooked on fish and chips, but who serves the best in the region? We’ve reeled in the top 10 fish and chip shops as voted by you. Will Fresh Coral Seafood in Mudgeeraba win it again ? Read on to find out!

10. Kiwi Fish N Chips

14/112 Discovery Dr, Helensvale

Kiwi Fish and Chips co-owner Melissa Doull. Picture: Jerad Williams

A fry up reeling in the clientele with NZ techniques, Kiwi Fish and Chips owner Tommy Doull says his shop takes the delicious dish back to basics. “We cook it how we were meant to cook it in the old days. We keep it real,” he says. The shop gets New Zealand fish delivered once a week and batters its fillets to order. Tommy says the potatoes are changed seasonally, ensuring a high quality chip every time.

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9. Scales Seafoods

47 Kennedy Drive, Tweed Heads

Scales Seafood Tweed Heads is right on the river, with the fish coming straigh off the trawlers into the cabinets.

If the fish were any fresher at Scales Seafoods it would be wriggling at the end of a rod. The seafood wholesaler and takeaway shop has an enviable position right on the Tweed River, where the trawlers unload daily catches straight to its cold room. Manager Bryce Freeman says there’s plenty of locally-caught mackerel around and the season for sea mullet is on its way. Scales also serves gluten-free batter options and you can have your chips cooked “well done” or soft, however you please.

8. Benowa Gardens Seafoods

Benowa Gardens Shopping Centre, Cnr Ashmore and Benowa Roads, Benowa

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Benowa Gardens Seafoods’ reputation spans much further than the Gold Coast thanks to the nearby Bundall Turf Club. “We get a few country people because of the racetrack,” co-owner Shane Parkes says. And whether you’re picking up fish and chips every week or once a year, Shane and his wife Mel say they send out a consistent product. The couple order whole fish in and fillet and crumb on site. “Our snapper and chips is the most popular,” Shane says.

7. Chevron Island Seafoods

48-50 Thomas Dr, Surfers Paradise

Mmmm, it doesn’t get much better than fish and chips. Picture Rebecca Michael.

Chevron Island Seafoods is the embodiment of Finding Nemo character Dory’s wise words: just keep swimming. The fish and chip shop has been frying and grilling since 1972, taken over by today’s operator Frank Vayonitis in 1995 and co-captained by friend Warren Ebbels in 2008. The takeaway shop is proud of its long history attached to the Gold Coast, specialising in grilled seafood and affordable meal packs.

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6. Kingfish and Chips

1162 Pimpama Jacobs Well Road, Jacobs Well

The age old questions — batted or crumbed? Chicken salt or sea salt? Tour. Picture: Jerad Williams

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Fish and chips for the fam can get a little costly at times so there’s meal deals a-plenty at Kingfish and Chips. The Jacobs Well takeaway shop cooks all fresh seafood and sources “A grade” chips for its hungry customers. “We get fresh deliveries three times a week,” manager Kelli Dobson says. “The share pack is very popular — $25 for two people, with plenty of food for a couple. We offer packs that are budget friendly.”

5. Crisp Fish and Chips

1a/93 Gemvale Road, Mudgeeraba

Cassidy McKenzie from Crisp Fish and Chips at Mudgeeraba for the Best of the Gold Coast: Western Food Tour. Picture: Jerad Williams

For a unique fish experience with a little Japanese influence, try Crisp Fish and Chips’ panko crumb option — a lighter type of coating that absorbs less oil and grease. “We’ve got wonderful panko crumb, people really like it,” owner Tim Poeszus says. “I get a lot of regulars coming from outlying areas, from Springbrook, people from Brisbane, and they say it’s the best fish and chips they’ve ever had. We have a secret oil and secret batter, special panko breadcrumb, amazing homemade potato cakes and calamari.”

4. Red Hot Cod

1716 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads

The famous Burleigh Beach Box from Red Hot Cod. Picture: Jerad Williams

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Red Hot Cod is a small fish in the big Burleigh dining pond but owner Simon Scott says his shop is quick and clean. “It’s one of the smallest seafood places on the Coast but very busy — really fresh and really fast,” Simon says. Instead of having the fillets ready to fry in the cabinet, customers choose their fish and preferred coating before being fried or grilled to order. Red Hot Cod offers gluten-free batter on its fish as well as fresh salads, sweet potato chips and brown rice.

3. Fresh Coral Seafoods

Mudgeeraba Market Shopping Centre, 30/3 Swan Lane, Mudgeeraba

Best of the Gold Coast Fish and Chips Winner. Fresh Coral Seafoods. Owner Platon Kaplanidis. Photo by Richard Gosling

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Grilled red emperor? Crumbed snapper or battered jewfish? Whatever you’re fishing for, Fresh Coral Seafoods can make it happen. “We do have packs, but it’s definitely more about people making up their own choices on what they require,” owner Platon Kaplanidis says. “We’ve got a wide variety of seafood available. If you have a special request, I’d see what I can do for you.” Part seafood deli, part fish and chippery, customers can indulge in a side of crispy cut potatoes or salad, or pick up a whole fish and cook it at home.

2. Mudgeeraba Seafoods on School St

Corner of Railway Street and School St, Mudgeeraba

Peter & Peisie Hawkes from Mudgeeraba Seafoods on School Street.

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Mudgeeraba Seafoods owner Peter Hawkes says the key to a great serve of fish and chips is keeping the fryers separate. “Our chips are cooked in cotton seed oil, same as our fish,” he says. “We don’t mix them with the fish. That’s the only secret I’ll give away.” Mr Hawkes and his wife Peisie are proud of the consistent five-star reviews online, where customers praise the gold band snapper, flake and calamari curls. “Our calamari, it’s very special — we marinade it overnight. It melts in your mouth.”

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1. Oh My Cod

1/3 Dalton St, Upper Coomera

Oh My Cod in Upper Coomera wins Best of the Gold Coast, fish and chips. Izaac and Charlene Gardiner with some of their food including their famous fish burger. Picture Glenn Hampson

It’s a common story among new hospitality ventures: you can’t find what you’re after so you do it yourself, and that’s how this year’s best fish and chips on the Gold Coast was born.

“We opened in June,” owner Izaac Gardiner says. “We couldn’t really find any decent fish and chips around the Gold Coast.”

Izaac says it’s hard to explain why Kiwis do fish and chips better, so we’ll have to just take his word for it — or taste it for ourselves.

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Oh My Cod in Upper Coomera are new to the fish and chip game but have made a strong start with their Best of the Gold Coast win. Picture Glenn Hampson

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“The New Zealand style … just tastes totally different. It’s just the way that it’s cooked, the products that are used, the quality of the oil.

“I blend my own oil — that’s a secret to fish and chips is how you can blend your oil.

“The most popular fish would be the NZ hoki. I only sell New Zealand hoki, Atlantic cod and Australian snapper.”