New Fast Food

REVIEW LOCATION:
Whanganui

Store: New Fast Food, 62 Moana St.
Price: $3.80

Amount of chips:     5/5
Chip quality:        5/5
Size of fish:        4/5
Fish quality:        5/5

Total Score:         19

Well drained of oil?: Yes
Satisfied?: Yes very satisfying.


Comments: You can quit rubbing your eyes, the price is correct - $3.80 for a fish and a half scoop! Provincial fish and chips doing it right! After not living in Whanganui for a while I wanted some local knowledge on the best chip shop atm so my dad suggested the New Fast Food shop around the corner from our family home. It's actually called New Fast Food and it's been there for years.
On arrival I noticed their shop sign humbly states "BEST IN WANGANUI". With these two opinions on board I have to say I was rather skeptical. Cruising around my old stomping ground I was flooded with pleasant memories and standing outside waiting for my order I was treated to waves of nostalgia.
The menu was painted silver with fancy hand lettering in black chisel tip vivid. The specials menu was printed out twice, there was a soft toy claw arcade machine and the rugby played on a flat screen tv above the smorgasbord Chinese food. The shop had a pretty decent turnover but my order didn't take very long at all.
The chips were probably some of the best in the game in all aspects. Crunchy exterior thru to a creamy middle, the bang and hang was off the hook and they weren't dried out like over hung chips can get. The finger grease and waxy mouth feel was non-existent and they were seasoned perfectly. The fish was fresh and moist with the right amount of crunch in the crispy golden batter. The batter to fish ratio was also golden. This would have been perfect 5's across the board but even though the fish seemed large it was a quite thin, however, I guess paying $3.80 a thicker fillet might have been asking for a bit much. Where this meal lacked it most definitely made up for in nostalgia as I sat in the family home and watched The Fifth Element. Great to end these reviews on a positive high. Thanks for reading! 

Mt Vic Chippery

REVIEW LOCATION:
Wellington

Store: Mt Vic Chippery, 5 Majoribanks St.
Price: $17.80

Amount of chips:     5/5
Chip quality:        2/5
Size of fish:        4/5
Fish quality:        4/5

Total Score:         15

Well drained of oil?: Yes
Satisfied?: I'm full and lethargic.

Comments: I simply asked for a fish and a half scoop. I thought this would be a straight forward request. However, this was met with the question of which fish I would like from the ott list on the wall (75% of which were unavailable). I was next asked which of the 5 different chip options I would like. I feel like this place over complicates itself for no reason. If I want a specific cut of fish or beer batter fries I'd hit u up if they're available. You don't have to prove anything, it's just fish and chips. Just chill k.
Once I had let this go and finish rolling my eyes, I find out they don't offer a half scoop. I felt the tension build in my shoulders as I responded "ok just a scoop then thanks" with an empty smile, a skill I had naturally picked up from years of working in hospitality. As I leaned in to pay with paywave, the FOH staff changed as the first guy goes off to do something more important so I had to repeat my order. That's fine. Then she said "$17.80" and it's at that point where I had utterly given up any hope in this place, while at the same time a corrupt Sound Garden mp3 played over the stereo.
The wait time was a lot shorter than I expected and it was nice to see that the fish gets rested in paper towels to remove excess oil. Unboxing revealed a powerful amount of chips, as one would expect at this price range from a fish shop but it seemed like they were double the amount of chips that one person would need. If only there were some sort of way around this issue. Some way to only order half of that amount. Hmmmm.
I took the huge amount as an unspoken challenge and worked my way through the lot with the exception of a few green chips that I didn't trust enough to grant access to inside my body. It was a struggle but I got there eventually. As I made my way thru the mountain of fries, the number of fries I ate which were still raw in the middle began to increase exponentially to the point where I was eventually left with a box full of uncooked fries.
The fish was a fair size and chunky and even though the batter ratio was bang on it was unfortunately doughy in areas. I'm partial to Moki but it became quite rich after a while.
I dunno about this place. Gentrifying hood food is bull shit and when you can walk up to Cuba St and get better quality for $10 cheaper I guess I have to tell it like it is - this place fucking sucks so much.

Chameleon Restaurant

REVIEW LOCATION:
Wellington

Store: Chameleon Restaurant, 2 Grey St.
Price: $28.00

Amount of chips:     1/5
Chip quality:        5/5
Size of fish:        2/5
Fish quality:        5/5

Total Score:         13

Well drained of oil?: Yes for the fish but the chips purposefully drenched in olive oil.
Satisfied?: Did it full me up? - No way haha. However, it was pleasing to the eye, nose and mouth.


Comments: In b4 saying this isn't fish and chips. In b4 saying this is a fish meal. This has two of the main components of fish and chips - fish and potato.
The potato was thick cut and oven cooked. They were cooked to perfection in olive oil and swimming in a tomato vinaigrette. I'm a sucker for snapper and this was a very thick and juicy fillet. Lightly crumbed with a lemon and thyme crust and topped with a lashing of taramosalata and some type of sprout (sorry this isn't sprout reviews, so I have no idea what that is.. alfalfa or some such). This plate was very decadent and flavoursome. V bougie. Savoured every mouthful not only due to the sophistication and subtleties of this meal but also due to the tiny portion size and high price tag. I didn't really feel comfortable taking a finger grease reading in this environment. Still hungry afterwards, we ordered a bowl of fries for desert which the rich wankers on the tables surrounding us scoffed at while drinking their buttery Chardonnay.

Salt & Pepper Takeaways

REVIEW LOCATION:
Wellington

Store: Salt & Pepper Takeaways, 62b Kilbirnie Crescent.
Price: $5.20

Amount of chips:     5/5
Chip quality:        4/5
Size of fish:        5/5
Fish quality:        4/5

Total Score:         18

Well drained of oil?: Yes quite well.
Satisfied?: SO FULL


Comments: This chip shop had a real nice mom design aesthetic. Purple, black and orange colour scheme with very neat handwriting on the menu blackboard and hand drawn cloud borders around everything. Fairy lights in the window and the notice board has two notices - one of which is advertising for their own shop. Visually this place was SO SICK.
The chips were near perfect only they were ever so slightly under cooked. The fish was probably the biggest fish I've had. Thick and juicy, it fell to bits but was tasty. I'm unsure if I had batter fatigue or I just got full because it was so huge. So much food and well seasoned these were the perfect economy class fish and chips if you are hungas and on a budget.

Starfish Fish & Chips To Go

REVIEW LOCATION:
Wellington

Store: Starfish 184 Molesworth St.
Price: $6.70

Amount of chips:     5/5
Chip quality:        4/5
Size of fish:        5/5
Fish quality:        2/5

Total Score:         16

Well drained of oil?: chips yes, fish nope.
Satisfied?: Yeah... alright.


Comments: This is a little 'to go' chip shop in the New World Thorndon car park that drive past every week while doing deliveries for work. So I thought I'd have a look. Nice clean environment. Crisp and modern with swirly GVC logo font (soz I didn't get a pic). The chips would have been perfect if they were cooked a little longer as most were raw in the middle. The fish was also under cooked with a sludge layer between the flesh and batter surface. The fish wasn't drained of oil too well and it got me greasy and unable to finish the last few bites. Overall portion size was great and it was well seasoned but this would only be a place I'd recommend to my enemies.