Fresco Seafood — Restaurant in District of Gungahlin

Fresco in Franklin is both a fresh seafood vendor as well as a fish and chip shop, much like Ocean Fresh Seafoods and Cafe in Fyshwick or the newly opened Gungahlin Fresh Food Market. Out of the 3, Fresco remains my favourite and most frequented, although this might be because it's the closest to where I live.

The seafood is decent and I've prepared many sushi / sashimi platters from shopping at just Fresco alone. I especially love their fresh scallop. The sushi grade fish, is indeed sushi grade but you need to give it a bit of love by drying and chilling it a bit. For me, sashimi is like brie or camembert in that I often let the fish cuts age for 1 or 2 days to bring the flavours out, depending on the type of fish. I bring it up to room temperature before slicing and plating.

Today we had the seafood basket for $17.90 which is enough for 2 people. The batter was light and crisp, like a cornflour/ beer combo. I would have liked salt and vinegar on the table, or at least a shared condiments area. The oysters were amazing: large, juicy and mild tasting. On other visits, the oysters were not that fresh....

This morning, I went to buy fish and asked the staff if the store was open. She said the fish was ready for sale, but the cooked food section wasn't. I asked if they had Pomfret, and she said yes. However, the person inside handling the fish said something unclear, possibly indicating he was in a bad mood.

I asked if I could choose my fish, but they refused. The fish handler directly picked one and put it in the bag without asking if it was suitable for me and then weighed it. I didn't want to argue with them as I felt it was unnecessary, and I did need the fish for cooking, so I remained silent.

The female staff member mentioned that all the fish were from the same batch, implying there was no need for me to choose. However, shouldn't I be allowed to pick a larger or smaller one according to my preference? I occasionally go there to buy fish, but after this unpleasant experience with their service, I will never go back again.

I'm not sure if these two employees were the owners or just staff. If they are employees, I hope the owner can improve their service attitude. But if they are the owners, I have nothing...

Rip off of food for price. Definitely not value for money. Ordered 2x ling fillets @ $15.90 per piece (not including chips). Size of fish bismal, never lone the potato scollop that was brown & tasted off. We have supported this business since it opened, only ever had one bad experience when new staff were engaged. Thought we would give it another try. Well they have lost us as customers. This is disgusting the quality of food & value for money. The ling fillets in the seafood section of the store were at least 8 times the size we received cooked. Fish does not reduce this much when cooked. Be wary before you purchase because quality, freshness & value for money is not guaranteed. Staff member was absolutely rude & defensive when we advised phone not working. Photos taken but nowhere...