Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Vegan Review: Bliss & Chips, Newtown (100% vegan fish and chip shop!)

Seafood basket with chips, potato scallops, tartare sauce and lime chilli mayo


Sydney's seen vegan pizza, we've seen vegan burgers and vegan hotdogs but now we can add another to the list of Foods We Never Thought We Could Eat Again After Going Vegan....

Fish and Chips!

Seemingly popping up overnight, Australia's first 100% vegan fish and chip shop Bliss and Chips quietly opened their doors to the public yesterday on the 9th of November 2015. Fittingly located in the vegan friendly suburb of Newtown, Bliss and Chips sits on King Street where Burgerlicious used to be. Although hoping to settle in with a soft opening, from day one the vegan community in Australia has been spreading the word about rumours of the opening of a 100% vegan fish and chip shop. News travels fast and even the Sydney Morning Herald has made a visit to see what all the fuss is about.

Liss owns and runs Bliss and Chips. She comes from a hospitality background and has been vego for about 20 years. Funnily enough, Liss was never repelled by meat. She organically became vegan by being too lazy to go to the butcher and was drawn to the ease of vegan eating.

The team gives off a close-knit, family vibe and I have a chat with Liss' mother Sophie who proudly shows me pictures of her gorgeous grandchildren. If only I were lucky enough to have an Aunty who runs a vegan fish and chip shop! The chef tony is a joker and all round the shop seems like a fun place to be.

The food
Liss' vision for Bliss and Chips was fun food that tastes good. You won't find any mung bean salads, standard veggie burgers or zucchini pasta here. One look at the menu and that's plain to see, since asides from the fish and chips you'll also see deep fried pizza and deep fried chocolate bars (a must try!). 

Catering to todays sensitive consumers, the menu is allergen friendly with many gluten free, non-GMO options. Gluten free options are clearly marked on the menu although they're happy to answer any dietary requirement questions. 

The batter is made on the premises and has gone through countless experiments involving rice flour or soy flour and undoubtedly much needed taste testing and then some to find the perfect recipe.

It is so close to the real deal you would never know. The textures of the mock meats are strangely on par with their real counterparts and the house made batter is deliciously crunchy without being too oily.

Tomato sauce is yours for free or choose one of the these sauces for $1 a pop. 
Hommus
Hot Chilli
Lime & Chilli Mayo
Mayo
Seafood
"Sour Cream"
Sweet Chilli 
Tartare
Hot tip: The Tartare sauce is well worth your dollar.

Liss' recommends ordering the Chicken Cup or Fishless and Chips although thinks the deep fried pizza and deep fried chocolate bars are really good too.

Personally I'm a classic sweet-tooth and I'd be happy with a few sweet potato scallops with tartare sauce (OMG that tartare sauce!) and a Deep Fried Jokerz bar.

The chocolate bars are the American vegan bars - Jokerz, which is pretty much the vegan version of a Snickers. And Twilight, the vegan Mars Bar equivalent (which I wasn't able to try since they're currently sold out in Australia. Sad face.). The bars are coated in batter then frozen before going into the fryer. They're surprisingly not oily and are actually quite delicious. The only thing I could nitpick about is the slight dryness of the batter after a few mouthfuls. Though Liss happily took on this feedback and promised to experiment further. If volunteering were optional I'd put my hand up for taste testing these experiments.

I'll be back again when the Twilight bar comes back to Australia. Though in the meantime it's a great place to take a few friends for a cruelty-free fish and chip fix. Why not grab some fish and chips to share in Camperdown Memorial Park just around the corner?

Seafood basket with chips and scallops
Calamari
Crabstick
Prawn
Bliss Fish
Bliss Fish
Sweet Potato Scallop
Potato Scallop
Deep Fried Jokerz
Deep Fried Jokerz
Deep Fried Jokerz
Overview
Price | Fair ($2-$15)
Cuisine | 100% Vegan Fish & Chip shop
Must try | Bliss Fish with chips, scallops & tartare sauce and a Deep Fried Jokerz Bar
Vibe | Fun, fast and unpretentious 
Rating | 4/5


Shop Details

Address | 215 King Street, Newtown
Telephone | coming soon
Facebook | coming soon



What's your fish and chip sauce of choice? Have you ever tried fishless filets or a deep fried chocolate bar? What are your thoughts on a 100% vegan fish and chip shop?

11 comments:

  1. awesome, awesome, awesome!! I live near Melbourne but now I have a reason to go to Sydney!! Fantastic !

    ReplyDelete
  2. They are wonderful people and it is a great place to go.

    ReplyDelete
  3. That would be dangerous if it was near me. Everything looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That looks amazing! Do you know what their opening hours are and what food items are gf?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They're open every day from 11am to 9pm.
      Everything's gluten free except for the Pluto pup, chicken cup and one of the two types of fish (fishless).

      Delete
  5. Wow that sounds like fun. I've heard of this place but it's good to see a review of it. Have you tried the vegetarian butcher in Newtown?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've tried Suzy Spoon's schnitzel wrap but would love to go and try the big breakfast or the burgers and such. The schnitzel wrap was really good, especially the house made mayo!

      Delete
  6. Wow, that Deep Fried Jokerz looks amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am so visiting- Newtown has some great vegan eateries

    ReplyDelete
  8. I wish we had more vegan options over here. Unfortunately, my area is big on meat, especially pork :(
    Those chips look really crispy - yum!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wasnt a fan, was really excited but it tasted all the same, and extremely small serving for the price. I will go back to try some other things, but as a vegan of many years now i felt i can go to my local chinese grocer and buy the same mock meats in larger quantities myself. Nothing special, but good to see something like this going well.

    ReplyDelete