Heidelberg Fish & Chip Shop — Restaurant in Melbourne

Visited on a Wednesday evening around 6pm. Pretty quiet trading. On entry was straight away greeted with the smell of old unchanged oil with acrid bitterness hanging in the air - that I was immediately concerned would be later embedded into my batter.

A cardboard offcut scrawled in black marker shouted out that the establishment was strictly CASH ONLY! A subtext resigned itself underneath to allow for direct bank payments via PayID. First impressions were not great. ‘Well the reviews still seem mostly positive’ I thought to myself as one of the staff emerged from out back, through the old striped plastic doorway tassels, to slap down what looked like a half-thawed old bit of meat onto the griddle for some unassuming customer’s steak sandwich. I placed my order after fiddling around with bank transfer, feeling as though I was embroiled in some illegal black market fish & chip deal as my funds left my account never to be seen again.

Ten minutes later I collected my unmarked package and retreated back to my vehicle and to my home. On opening the bundle my suspicions were confirmed about the quality of the oil and produce. The chips were a stodgy, greasy mess. Undercooked and bruised, I tried a handful before giving myself over to the fish which looked equally darkened by possibly day-old batter in months old fryer oil. While the texture wasn’t too bad for the fish, the rest of my senses were advising me to be cautious, particularly with the potato cakes which still had undercooked batter against the potato. All in all an under seasoned, undercooked, greasy mess.

You’ll know yourself as you walk in the doors how first impressions often belay the end result and in this case they did. I hope the owners work to turn this around – and for goodness sake invest in an...

Do not know what the food is like, just stood in there for 5 minutes while the guy was out the back watching videos on his phone. Did not look up or come out from the back. Won't go back again extremely bad customer service. I have over 20 years experience in customer service and retail so know what i am talking about. Oil was burning and smoking in 1 fryer, oil was to hot or burnt, am a chef so know about oil and caring for it, obversly not cleaned often enough, staying near and can smell the burnt oil when i go...

I don't go frequently, but every single time I have gone they have been quick and efficient. There is parking directly in front and nearby. Possibly because I usually put in a large order, there is often a small discount or a bottle of soft drink and a few extra potato cakes thrown in, but the speed of production is what I go for. It is even more expensive on menu log so make the effort and get the full fish take-away experience. I recommend the Blue Grenadier, large and moist, with only a hint of...