Fish Shop - Booterstown

I had seen a few tweets and musings about this new fish chips place in Blackrock Market and it had me intrigued! Then I saw French Foodie in Dublin’s blog with amazing pictures from her visit and knew for sure I had to go…As luck goes my hairdresser is in Blackrock, so I made a well timed appointment for 2.30pm planning to go to for lunch at Fish Shop first… We went in the entrance to the Market off George’s Avenue which is the easiest way to Fish Shop for where its located. Fish Shop is open 12-9pm Tuesday to Sunday. Firstly the shop itself, a very cute, beachy seaside style shack, with pretty bunting across the opening. It’s owned by a young couple who are just lovely. They offer beer battered fish and chips, mussels and on Fridays and Saturday the (amazing ‘fillet o fish shop’. On the day we visited they had hake, brill and blossom available along with grilled mussels. There’s some seats right at the shack area itself with colourful stools and this part has a roof of sorts. And then there are some picnic benches to the side area. Luckily the weather was fine when we visited so we had a choice, we sat in, rather than at the benches mainly cos there was a cat up on the wall beside the benches (and I do not like cats… ! To the food – the reason you visit here… there aren’t enough superlatives for what they offer, the batter is light and thin on the fish, not greasy and the fish itself is so fresh and flaky. I had the ‘fillet o fish shop’ as after hearing so much about it I just had to… and he had the fish chips – with hake. With two cans of diet coke it was €18.50 for it all. Pretty good value I think for what we got. The fillet o fish – brioche bread from Arun Bakery, with the battered hake, a slaw with apple, garlic mayonnaise, baby gem lettuce…one of the nicest things I’ve ever eaten, hands down! His fish chips were perfect – just the right amount of chips with fresh hake in a light beer batter… tasted even better than it looked if that’s possible! We will definitely be back (soon! and in the meantime I’m telling everyone I see about it …

Situated in The Blackrock Market, Fish Shop is one of those little gems that the locals have no doubt known about for ages. I had spotted them on Twitter after reading a review from a fellow blogger. The talk of a lightly beer battered fish had me jot it down as a place to visit. As luck would have it I was due to head to Blackrock anyway for a visit to Dublin Cookery School for a class so decided to try out Fish Shop beforehand. The market itself was actually closed as it was a Wednesday evening but Fish Shop was open. They actually open Tuesday to Sunday every week. No doubt the weekends are much better with the buzz of the market around you. Unfortunately it wasn’t a great day weather wise to visit as it was dull and kinda cold and Fish Shop only have an outdoor eating area. Put that aside and you are however in for a treat. It’s essentially a small wooden cabin with a decked seating area attached and some larger picnic tables. Row of picnic tables to the side which would be perfect for eating out on a sunny day. They have some really nice touches such as blankets left out incase it’s cold and small coloured stools you can either use to eat your fish and chips off or of course sit on. All the fish is freshly caught and locally sourced which is great to see. The menu will vary depending on what was caught that day. On my visit they had Hake and Haddock on offer. The menu is written on a simple chalk board attached to back of the doors which close the shop. I opted for the Haddock with Chips and my buddy opted for the Hake with Chips. Both worked out at €8.50 each which is reasonable value for what you are getting. You would pay the same in your local chipper for a far less satisfying experience. The service was excellent and very friendly and even came with an apology for the weather. Not sure they could do anything about that but they can certainly serve up a great fish and chips. The Haddock was served simply with a portion of homemade chips, which are a welcome change to those awful frozen chips many places churn out. It came In a small container with a slice of fresh lemon some small wooden cutlery and a napkin. What else could you ask for. The beer batter was very light and crisp and the fish inside was cooked perfectly and was moist and chunky. If you have eaten battered fish you will no doubt have come across many places where the batter is so greasy that it pretty much ruins the taste of the fish inside it. That is not the case with Fish Shop. They have it just right. My buddy had the Hake and I have to say when I visit again I will order it. While the Haddock was good the Hake was better. It seemed to have a much sweeter taste to it. Again served identical to the Haddock with a fresh slice of lemon. To wash it all down there was a can of refreshing Pellegrino. It would be an even better idea for Fish Shop to team up with The Grape Escape which is also in the market to see about serving some crisp white wine. I would imagine they would have many takers willing to pair the two. If I’m back in Blackrock I’d definitely visit again. It’s good food at a good price and that’s all you can as for. Oh I should also mention they also do a Fillet O Fish Shop on Friday and Saturdays. I have heard great things about it. On my list to try next visit.

Hands down the best fish chips in Dublin. Fresh fish sourced daily, hand cut chips and incredible homemade tartare sauce. They're closing for winter but opening a branch in Smithfield in February.

Nothing is better than fish with lovely traditional Irish chipper style chips, and homemade tartar sauce!

Probably the best fish chips in Dublin. Haddock Chips are lovely!