Review - Fitzies Fish & Chips
Brooklyn sits in the picturesque northern reaches of the Sydney basin, on the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River. While Brooklyn is the northernmost suburb of the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area, the former fishing village still retains the feel of a country river town, albeit with a lot of fancy Sydney escapees. Down by the Brooklyn Ferry Wharf, where you can alight the train at Hawkesbury River railway station and catch a small privately-run ferry to Dangar Island and Little Wobby Beach, you’ll find Fitzies Fish & Chips.
With counters butting right up to the narrow pavement, it’s a tiny, no-frills operation. A chalkboard easel lets you in on the daily specials, with the rest of the menu contained on a quaint hand painted wooden menu board sitting over the deep fryers.
In the rear there’s a makeshift, partially covered dining area, where you can sit with bush turkey companions and eat your simple fish and chips.
Not being all that big on fried, we opt for the fancier Prawn and Oyster Platter ($49). It delivers a dozen shucked oysters, twelve king prawns in the shell, and some well-dressed salad, with lime and lemon.
The locally sourced Sydney rocks are small and a little creamy, lacking in liquor; but they do with job under a squeeze of lemon. The king prawns are firm and have a good balance between salty and sweet.
We ‘round out our meal with two Aussie fish shop classics: Potato Scallops ($1.50/each) and Pineapple Fritters ($2.50/each). While the potato scallop tastes like memory, the pineapple fritter has a slightly different texture to the ones I remember - it’s kind of a hybrid batter-meets-crumb.
The whole experience, while certainly not ranking among the best seafood meals of my life, has an easygoing, nostalgic, Aussie charm.
Fitzies Fish & Chips
8 Dangar Road, Brooklyn
Ph: (02) 9985 7954