Middle Fish

Middle Fish is a decent Thai place; they serve decent food in a nice environment, they’re not totally Westernised (they use fish sauce, for one), and they push out meals quickly. I’ve never had an awful meal here.
They would be a four star place but they’ve recently gutted the menu and not all the decisions make sense. They’ve kept a burger that has fish cake and bacon, and ditched fried rice with anything other than soft shell crab. They’ve also been a bit prone to mixing up orders recently; hot coffee coming out instead of iced, meals going missing, and so on; it’s not a complete dealbreaker and the prices haven’t changed, but the last few visits have left me starting to think that Middle Fish is getting a bit expensive for what they’re offering.

I think managing expectation is part of the restaurants experience. I had the green curry, was really craving Thai eggplants, told the waiter that’s what I was craving, well I guess she never understood me, but no eggplants, and just some on the under cooked carrots. Maybe it’s a south Thai v northern Thai thing. And Feels very expensive for what it is. Maybe I’m missing something but didn’t love it. Possibly ordered the wrong thing. Menu also very confusing.

Desperately wanted Thai signature dish — Papaya salad. This restaurant doesn’t make one which was very disappointing. They ran out of all salads on the menu when we got there. They don’t sell beer and wifi wasn’t working. Yes it was at 8 pm and it was a day after a holiday…
It is a nice place, the ambiance is very hipster, just like any other in Melbourne. The food was decent, not your typical Thai spicy zesty and full of flavours but doable. I wouldn’t recommend to my friends nor would I go back for more.

Funky atmosphere and tasty thai food. Cute booths and warm atmosphere. Highly recommend the Asian breakfast. Great veggie options. Great value for money. A new favourite!

The best Thai food I’ve found in Melbourne. Everything is delicious from the Tom Yum soup to the Green Curry. Lots of vegetarian options, so I get to explore the menu and try different things. Good food, friendly staff, great environment for a casual delicious Thai meal.

Not very special. The rice in soup is just ok. The soup tastes really like a phở soup. And also not cheap. So I don’t really recommend.

Quite good. Kha na was delicious and flavours were well balanced. Serving was on the small side though. Coconut ice cream desert was also good.

Excellent lunch — had a soup (can’t remember the name) but broth, vegetables, and meat. Was a little spicy and absolutely delicious. Great service even during busy lunch hour. Also had cappuccino and brownie — yummy.

This place is right near my office, so I go there a lot for lunch. They’re quite good, and if they’re full, it’s easy enough to get takeaway instead. They like to change up the menu with reasonable frequency and they also have specials — had a great salmon and rice soup the other day.

I had a great lunch at Middle Fish today. I really enjoyed my crab fried rice (A+, would order again) but what impressed me most was the front of house team. Everyone was warm, relaxed and attentive even though it was in the middle of the lunch rush. One waiter even noticed I was on my ipad and offered me access to their wireless network.
My takeaway coffee was lovely too (I might even be so bold as to suggest the coffee was better than Seven Seeds, just down the road). Thanks for such a nice meal Middle Fish — I’ll be back next week.

Middle Fish has a good energy within a cool open space, perfect for a Sunday morning brunch that’s a little more exciting than the usual brunch spot…
The menu is Thai, featuring many favourites to please and interesting options to try.
Friendly service, happy to let you be without hurrying you through your meal.
Congee special was a highlight, mushrooms were juicy and rice was creamy. Topped with a perfectly poached egg.
Will be back!

Been here around three times and each experience has been different.
Love the omelette, however a little on the oiler side for my liking, it was still very tasty. will order it without oil next time.
The congee was a little bland, but the mushrooms on top saved the day… not really my favourite cup of congee. But it was novel to eat this for breakky.
Love the design of this place, not like any other traditional Thai establishment… adore the fact that it’s warehousey and hidden away and not at all where you’d expect to find a place such as this.
Looking forward to trying more items of the menu. The staff are extremely helpful and friendly.
No place to tie up your pooch out the front though, so leave them at home or with your mother.
Kapunka.
x

Will not eat here again.
I had high hopes that Middle Fish would turn out to be the awesome, authentic Thai joint that Melbourne is sorely lacking. We were instantly impressed by the bright industrial chic space a few doors down from Seven Seeds. It was a great atmosphere and I was feeling fairly excited about the food.
We ordered two appetizers and a main to share and waited a rather long time for the food, which disappointingly came out all at once. Prawn spring rolls were ok, if a bit ordinary but the roti, served with a rich satay source, was tasty and satisfying. The main (pork ribs in a curry with rice vermicelli and raw slaw) was a big fat no for me. First, it was served cold. Second, I found the curry sauce to be rather bland. It was spicy but there was no depth of flavour at all. The raw slaw was an unappealing scatter of shredded cabbage and carrot which added nothing to the dish. The pork itself was well cooked and tender but the rest of the dish absolutely brought it down.
None of the three dishes exemplified what I love about Thai food: The wonderful contrasts you get between salty, sweet, sour and spicy. They were all essentially one note and I’m sorry, but serving a cold dish is NEVER acceptable. I should have sent it back but I was so hungry after our 30 minute wait that I just gobbled it down.
We were still hungry on our way out so we bought a muffin to go. I should have known better! It was pretty much the worst baked good I’ve had in Australia, totally dry and tasteless.
Skip this place and head out to Footscray or Richmond for superlative Asian cooking.

I ventured to Middle Fish on a day that I wasn’t feeling well and was craving congee!
When I got there, I was devastated (dramatic I know, but true) to find out that congee was only sold for brekkie.
I asked the waitress if there was any other soupy dishes on the menu and she recommended ‘Kang Som’ — it came with a «It’s really really spicy».
I had a blocked nose and thought the spice will clear things up!
Clear things up the soup sure did. This thing was spicy! I could barely take a sip without dying a little on the inside.
I finished it tho, with the help of my side of brown rice, which is a massive plus! Love brown rice. It was tasty but I think the spicyness overtook my ability to enjoy the flavours.

Was hoping to get my congee on but was unfortunately a few hours too late. Instead I switched for something fresh and the description of ‘Crying Tiger’ was too hard to refuse. Yum :) steak pieces (generous portion) in a fresh Asian salad with plenty of coriander.
Unfortunately staff were over attentive which was slightly annoying and no congee after 11am is silly!

I may be a little in love with this place having just gotten the roti and satay, because, well you can just get roti and satay. It’s always been a life goal.
Excellent hot hot hot roti too, you could taste the butter and feel it melting in your mouth.

I went here for a friend’s birthday… she booked the entire place owing to her managerial connection so my review may be slightly skewed. The staff were outstanding, catering to our every utterance and the Thai food was sublime, I feel that it almost rivals Cookie in terms of culinary aptness… we were essentially able to have a royal feast for $ 20 with BYO and no corkage, sadly I don’t think that this is how the normal course of events transpires…
The venue itself is also delightfully chic. Highly recommend it for an outing for a group or just a table for two.

This Thai café is adorable. Really cute converted warehouse space and welcoming staff invite you to dine on thai fare at any time of day. Baked beans served with sriracha? I’m listening…
Most reviewers have revered that this is one of the few asian restaurants where you can also get a decent cup of coffee. I found the traditional thai coffee just far too sweet to finish and the temptation of Seven Seeds a few doors up won me over for a brew post-​meal.
The food however was lovely and so were the staff. It made me miss asia. I will definitely be back.

A café offering great Thai food *and* good coffee? Crazy talk?! Nope, not at Middle Fish.
As much as we all adore Seven Seeds around here, that beacon of caffeinated bliss in a cup, their food menu options just don’t do it for me. That’s assuming I even have the patience for elbowing my way through the redonk lunchtime crowd to get in line for a table. Enter Middle Fish.
The food here (as other reviewers note) is great — fresh and packed full of authentic southern Thai flavour — making it a welcome and much-​needed addition to the rather limited lunchtime scene around this end of Melbourne Uni campus. My favourite has to be the wonderfully aromatic brown rice and fish soup, which always leaves me feeling nourished and ready to face the afternoon.
It’s a great spot for a midday unwind too, with the eclectic décor and quintessentially Melburnian warehouse-​chic ambiance. But for those of us who sometimes need to bring lunch back to the office (aka me on most days) they’ve recently started doing take-​aways for around $ 10, which is pure genius.
But, food aside, I feel like I need to make an extra plug for the coffee which is really, truly, surprisingly good. Obviously, they have some stiff competition, and it would be pointless to argue that one ought to come for the coffee alone. What they do offer is a well-​prepared cup of a darker roast (a 5 Sense blend) than the house blend that the coffee temple two doors down uses. So, if you prefer a coffee with less brightness, fruit and acidity — or just can’t be bothered with the lunctime lineup at Seven Seeds — you might want to give it a go. On my last visit, I met a newish staff member who used to work at St. Ali. He seems to know the drill.
Rumour has it they’ll start a dinnertime service with a bar sometime in the near future, so stay tuned. .. .

I’m a fiend for a hot and spicy breakfast and that fact that I can get it at Middle Fish excites me no end. Rice soup with chicken and monster loads of fresh thai herbs before the first coffee of the day seems like a perfectly reasonable breakfast if you ask me. Or a big plate of vegetarian fried rice covered in Siracha chilli sauce instead of the usual café poached-​egg-​bircher-​muesli-​avo-​fetta options that we get everywhere else? OH YES.
This is simple, fresh and well made Thai food that you can get stuck in to for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The tea selection is great and comes served in a very generous sized teapot so you can have multiple top ups. The colourful ceramic teacups are a delight to drink from.
Service is efficient, though I wish they had some form of heating to warm. I can’t imagine this large cavernous warehouse space is going to be much fun once winter well and truly sets in.