Studfield Fish & Chips — Restaurant in Melbourne

Studfield Fish & Chips Review Update 9/5/2021

It's Mother's Day. My wife and I make an excuse to have fish and chips instead of Chinese meal, and after all, most restaurants are packed, and I still don't feel comfortable to dine in with many others in confined shops.

The Chinese lady owner speaks English much better than before. She gives away a can of free drink for most orders, because of Mother's Day. I have a few chicken nuggets instead.

It is quite a busy evening and I hope they continue to do well. Review on 6/1/2021

Out of the blue, I yearned for fish & chips instead of noodles for lunch. I wanted to try one from a shop that I had not bought from before.

Turning to Google, I found Studfield Fish & Chips and Charcoal Souvlaki in Studfield Shopping Centre. Some recent reviews of the business and the owner operators were rather unfavourable. That became an impetus for me to pay a visit.

The shop sign distinctly shows Studfield Fish & Chips. It is situated somewhere near the middle, among a row shops in the small Studfield Shopping Centre.

There is plenty of parking - 2-hr parking at the front, and all day parking near by.

The shop is not for dining in. With Covid restrictions still not fully removed, the owners purchased a couple of tables and benches for customers to sit outside and enjoy the food while it is still hot.

I managed to find out more about the shop from the owners, a couple migrated to Australia less than two years ago. With no prior experience in running a fish and chips business, and very limited English, they were so brave in taking over and running the business about a year ago.

When I entered the shop, I was quite impressed with the the gleaming stainless steel cooking facilities. The husband proudly showed me a Certificate of Compliance to prove that the ducts and range-hood were professionally cleaned the day before.

Over the front counter were five red boards, with prices written in white. The prices were very reasonable. In fact they are cheaper than what I can get from my neighbourhood fish and chip shops. In addition, the prices of the various fried fish are the same. Normally, I pay more for Butter Fish than Flake or Blue Grenadier.

After placing the order, I had a more detailed look at the shop. It had a rotisserie with a roll of meat over a bed of charcoal. As a new customer, I would not have known that Souvlaki was available, because the rotisserie was not visible from the front counter. A Donut promotional poster was stuck on the glass of the baine-marie, blocking the view of the rotisserie. I advised the owner consider removing the poster, which could possibly help to improve sales of the souvlaki.

I also found out as daily Specials that Chicken Schnitzel Burger an Hamburger the lot were also available.

My wife and I sat outside and enjoyed the Butter Fish, and Blue Grenadier. In addition, the "meal" also included a generous serve of chips and two potato cakes. The Butter Fish was as tasty as I expected. It was a rather big piece and very succulent indeed.

The shop was busier than some other food outlets in the shopping strip. I had an opportunity to observe how the owners handled the customers. They had no idea that I would be writing a review, and therefore it was like "what I see, what I get". The lady wearing glasses is the female owner who served at the counter. She had a smile while taking orders from the customers.

The owners come from non-English background. I do admire their courage and determination to take up the challenge in running such a business, which requires fact-to-face communication with customers, either on-site or over phone-in, in English.

I shall check on the owners and the quality of the food again one day to give a...

Things have changed, staff have changed. They nearly forgot my Dim sims and realised this before I left the store. They were about to get steamed dim sims when I told them politely I ordered fried dim sims. The lady that served me had a slight attitude to this and not once but twice told me how to order it properly next time I do a Phone order. I mentioned what I ordered and that I spoke to a man on the phone. She replied back and said that maybe he didn't understand me but said it like it was my fault. I told her that in hospitality and in retail the customer is right and to not blame the customer and point the blame on them when they are in the right. Not to be racist but I'm pure Aussie and the lady was Asian but made it sound like it was my fault they couldn't understand me. Sorry but I don't have an accent and yet somehow it was all my fault. My partner heard me place the order and so 2 people heard right and 1 did not. Will never go back to the racist staff who can't apologise for there own mistake and decide to take a dig at the customer who was polite but walked out annoyed....

I live locally and often visit this store to buy fish and chips for a home care client who also lives nearby. While the male owner is generally polite, he never seems particularly enthusiastic or welcoming. The customer service is very average at best.

What really puts me off, however, is the attitude of one of a young female staff members (often wearing heavy makeup). Every time I’ve been served by her, I’ve felt very uncomfortable—as if I'm not welcome there at all. She doesn’t greet customers, doesn’t smile, doesn’t say thank you, and doesn’t let you know how long your order will take. It’s just a cold “What do you want?” and that’s it. It creates an unfriendly and uninviting atmosphere.

I don’t particularly enjoy coming to this store, but I’ve continued to go there almost once a week because there aren’t many other options nearby and my client likes fish and chips. Still, I really hope they take customer service more seriously in the future, as good food should be paired with respectful, friendly service—especially in a small...