Another valentine's day gone. When I checked here to see the rating of Fish Face for dinner tonight, I have to say I was a little disappointed with the 6.5. I first heard about FF in SMH Good Food Guide. After dining there tonight, I have to say the rating is around 2-3 points shy of what they deserve. We had the 3 course Valentine's day special (each course had around 5 dishes to choose from).
Cost - $69 pp. It was exceptional value and the food was fantastic. Entrees we chose Snapper Carpaccio and 6 Wallis Lakes Oysters. Mains were Snapper with this amazing nut oil and carrot puree. Desserts were scrummy cream brulee and an equally yummy berry (something). Staff were fabulous. My advice to you, ignore the rating, this restaurant deserves better.
I am 60 and live in the CBD. I eat out a lot. I like the occasional fish and chips. This was the worst fish and chips I have eaten/seen in a long time. It looked like pluto pups, bright corn yellow, thick batter (slightly undercooked inside) and cool, limp chips. We shelled the fish out from the casing and ate it (we were really hungry after a very long wait for the food).
At meals end, our plates were piled with what looked like shredded kitchen sponges which the staff viewed but studiously ignored. Oh god! I felt like I'd eaten sludge. @ $64 for two servings we were expecting edible. In retrospect we should have refused to pay.
This food is fabulous! I love that its small, give an amazing buzz. Service is fine, nothing great, just busy waiters attending to you. Value not too bad because the food is so fabulous! Did I mention that the food is fabulous!
This place cooks fish in a consistently outstanding manner. Second to none in my experience. Took me a while to get over the fact that they no longer accept Amex, now I won't go as often but I still have to go.
If you can get over the fact that you're paying top dollar for a cramped atmosphere which is more like a cafe/fish and chips shop, then go and be prepared to really savour every mouthful cos that's how good their dishes are!
I usually go for the snapper but last time I tried the blue eye trevalla, absolutely divine with a thin potato crust. Watercress salad with radish and a light mustard dressing was a lovely side. Interesting selection of wines and I love a place that permits byo any night.
If you love fish and you don't mind paying for a unique experience, add Fish Face to your list.
Do not go on a busy weekend night unless you plan on not eating for an hour or so. The maitre d' woman with the short brown hair is very disorganized and service was laughable, except we weren't laughing because it was my birthday and they ruined the evening. There wasn't enough staff to accommodate the amount of bookings. Yes, it costs more for staff, but better service means return customers.
We called that evening and said we only wanted to come if they had a booking soon (we were hungry). They said they had one at 7:30, well, when we got there the table wasn't ready, we gave our name for the booking to the maitre d'. They offered to let us drink our wine on the sidewalk, next to the rubbish bins just behind us. We sat on the sidewalk with our wine for 35 minutes, with the chef coughing outside near us as well.
Then we finally got a table. We asked for water, it was not delivered. Our entree finally came after 1 hour of waiting since arrival. Also during this time, I had a missed call from the maitre d' at Fish Face who obviously didn't take our booking properly.
The entree was very good (yes very small portions for the price, but I was hoping to treat myself for my birthday and expected this). We had the pasta and a cuttlefish both well cooked and great flavours.
The mains were also very tasty and very well cooked. I had the blue eye with capers and orange zest. My partner had the kingfish (?) with beetroot and pancetta, a very well designed meal. However, the chips arrived half way through our mains. It is a shame because the food was very good, but this restaurant has gotten too greedy and taken more bookings than they can handle and I will never return.
To top off the evening, I took the bill in myself because they weren't coming out to get it and was ready to get out of there and clearly not happy (I made this quite obvious). They still charged my the $10 corkage for 2 people after having to drink my wine on the sidewalk (near the rubbish bins) and waiting 1 hour for our meals with a booking.
We paid the bill in full and will never return. I suggest you do the same or go when you aren't hungry, by the time you get your food you will be starving.
Steven Hodges quite simply knows how to deliver the freshest fish to your plate in the most clean and precise way. Never dissatisfied with a visit to Fish Face.
You are not going to get better-cooked fish in Sydney. Simple as that. Sure you can complain (as many have on this site) about the uncomfortable chairs, or anything else, but nothing changes the fact that this place does perfect fish. Better than others, you name it.
If you want comfy chairs, just don't go, and stop whinging about something that is well obvious from just looking at the place. Far out. I've had mixed service on my visits here, the maitre d' is always awesome, some of the other waitstaff are sometimes a bit vague but again, it's obvious from looking at the place that you're not going to get white tablecloth service.
Nowhere is everything to everyone. Fishface is a fish cafe that can afford to charge what it does because it's the best in town. Live with that, and you'll enjoy it every time.
Dropped into this restaurant as our original restaurant was booked out for a function. Had been meaning to try it out as it had received a chef's hat. They definitely know how to cook their seafood!. My seafood bisque was packed with flavour and the fish was perfectly cooked.
Our waiter though attentive did forget to bring out my latte with my dessert as I had asked and just assumed he had got it right, so service though friendly was a little hit and miss. Cosy place for two and maybe up to four but very overpriced and heavy handed with the olive oil. However, they really do know how to cook a fish.
Great great food. 4 of us had to wait 30-40mins but it was well worth it. Small place but something different and its all about the quality fish.
Starters great, amazing fish rolls to start, so so fresh. All of the mains were great, particularly the trout in filo, very tasty. Deserts were fab also.
BYO very disappointing, 5 dollars per head was crazy. 60 bucks for an average bottle of wine jumps up the bill for all. Expensive night for a byo but great food, well worth the wait and a busy buzzy place to visit.