The Master Fish Bar — Restaurant in Hastings

Quick Summary;

We've eaten here twice now and we have to admit, it's incredibly expensive... But there are very few places that offer gluten and dairy free cod and chips and even fewer that offer a nice one and that's where this place excels!

Detailed Summary;

I eat both but am trying to cut down on my gluten and dairy intake so I'm a pretty good judge in terms of someone who can tell you about recent experiences of both rather than someone like my partner who hasn't had glutenous / dairy food in many years due to her intolerances.

Both myself and my partner went for a large cod and chips each and at over £16 (just over £2 more than the glutenous large cod and chips) it's pretty damn expensive, but the batter is light which is pretty rare for gluten free, it has a nice rich taste (again not as delicious as a really good glutenous alternative, but definitely on par with a lower end glutenous batter which may not sound like high praise but it really is!).

The cod itself was actually very tasty, you could tell it's nice and fresh and is on par with getting cod and chips in a posh restaurant, this really helps boost the experience and makes it worthwhile.

The chips are cooked in a separate fry vat so as to not cross contaminate with the glutenous chips and again they are very nice although for me as I was having a large cod and chips, I felt the portion size was more like a standard portion of chips.

I also ordered bread and butter which oddly enough is listed on the gluten free side of the menu but I was told it's not gluten free... So that was a bit odd! And at £1.20 I expected at least 2 slices so I could make a while sandwich rather than half a sandwich but no, just 1 slice... It was nice though.

We also ordered dessert at the start of the meal to come out once we were done but after waiting a long time after they took our plates, that never arrived so we just paid and went without so service could have been better in that sense, though everyone seemed nice and friendly.

All in all at over £40 for the pair of us including drinks, the meal plus my partner also had curry sauce and a gerkin, it's an expensive fish and chip shop, but as one of the only gluten-free fish and chip venues to actually offer a nice meal I'd eat here again, just not too often at...

What a deightful experience this was! My partner and I popped in on what appeared to be an extremely busy lunchtime after meandering down the main street looking for somewhere to eat. Although the place looked busy, we thought we would wait to see how long we would be, before we were seated and it transpired not long at all. We were greeted by a young girl called Jess, who was very pleasant, polite and courteous. Perfectly placed as a server, her happy and professional approach to greeting customers could not be faulted. We were shown to a table and then, despite the restaurant appearing quite busy, Jess came straight back and asked if we wanted drinks. These were promptly served and then again, very shortly afterwards, Jess returned to take our order. My partner and I both plumbed for the fish and chips, being advised that there was no haddock available due to having sold out. We chose the cod and were given the option of a large or standard. We both chose the standard (thankfully) and a portion of bread and butter and some curry sauce. Our food arrived promptly and looked absolutely delicious. The portion size for a 'standard' was, in my opinion, bigger than any 'large' option I had ever found anywhere in the country. The chips were cooked perfectly and it was evident that both the fish and the chips were freshly made and most definitely weren't left sunbathing under a hot lamp. Another server came to the table with another two cups of tea and we informed him we had already been served ours. He said he had accidentally reproduced our drinks order and if we would like another cup of tea it was on the house! Never one to refuse a brew, we accepted graciously. Observing the other customers around us, it was clear to see why this particular establishment has previously won awards. An all round fantastic and delicious experience and in particular, a massive well done to Jess our server for her unparalleled level of service and friendly, outgoing personality. Fantastic food, great value for money and amazing staff, 10 out of 10 for The Master Fish Bar in Hastings, we will mist definitely be returning and I would highly recommend this...

2 friends and I just dined at this location. Firstly, my order was menued as having salad with it. I asked our waitress if I could change the salad for mushy peas which she simply said yes to. The menu cost is £15.50. My friend ordered a portion of mushy peas to go with her food as an extra. Upon payment I was charged extra for a portion of mushy peas. The same waitress was taking my payment. I explained that i shouldn't have been charged extra but apparently thier menu states you pay the full payment EVEN if you don't want certain items and pay extra for substitutes. I pointed out the following 1- this was not made clear at the time of taking my order 2) the 2 portions of mushy peas came in 1 bowl unhygienicly. The attitude of thr staff was "well that's how they do things". After a debate, I had to offer up a suggestion to resolve, ie that we were only charged for 1 portion. How appalling to make your customer argue over such a school error! I would have been happy to have kept my order as originally advertised. And to serve multiple portions in 1 dish is just not acceptable. No chip dunking!! The reason for raising this review is to alert other customers to the exceptionally poor customer service ( no apology, no effort to resolve issues by them, and no line managers to speak with). The food was ok but you can get better down the road!!! So please take heed if you go here. Also, this place caters for vegetarian, vegan customers allegedly even to the point of offering gluten free fish n chips YET they fail to offer 1 alternative milk option. So no tea or coffee if you don't want semi...