Rock Salt & Vinegar

Hmm, it looks like once again I am the odd one out amongst my fellow Unilocal reviewers. It seems that pretty much everybody has given this place a grand total of one star (which I have to say is pretty impressive). Well, I’m going to suggest that this place actually wasn’t all that bad. I needed to grab a quick bite before Bible Study and I saw this place as I was making my way up Smith Street. Well, fish and chips tend to offer a good takeaway, so I decided to check it out. Sure enough they had a souvlaki available, so I grabbed one, and I have to say it wasn’t bad. However, the thing that caught my attention was that this fish and chip shop had beer on tap — only in Melbourne. The problem was that there wasn’t really much room to actually sit down, so ordering beer on tap seemed to be a little pointless.

Nup.

My office is just around the corner and full to the brim with in the know foodies. We had all seen the well designed signs advertising it was opening soon and we all have all eagerly tried it out over the last week or two since opening. Being a vegetarian who does not eat fish I was a little hesitant to try it but those well designed posters and great interiors won me over. The place looks the part and does seem semi high-​end for a fish and chip shop. It sits perfectly on the working class smith st and hipster suburb of Fitzroy and collingwood.
I ordered the vege burger and small wedges (about $ 15). The burger was bland and the bun was the best part though way too much of it. Wedges were smothered in salt but not too bad — it would be hard to stuff these up. I was not super impressed with service or food and from what I understand from my co workers it’s average at best. It should try a bit harder if it wants to compete with all the amazing lunch options smith st has to offer.

Sadly I must agree with the last review. From the outside I thought this was going to be a mouth watering experience. After entering all went downhill. Staff did not fully understand menu. Polite but no product knowledge. Ordered fat boy chip. There was too many small prices of chip. Usually appears in cheap product. Tasted disgusting. Could not finish them. My partner had crumbed fish which they claimed was flake. To me it seemed like hake not flake. Really had no fish flavor at all. Sadly I have been awaiting the opening of this outlet. So disappointed will not return.

From the moment I walked in to this venue I thought we may be in trouble. All the salads looked like they had been sitting there all day, the piles of pre cooked and pre battered fish looked days old. Things did not improve once we ordered. Staff who did not know the menu (had to ask 3 times for their burger with the lot and ended up pointing it out on the board to them) Things did not get better once we actually ate the food, inedible dim sims, and both burgers left with over half the bread and ingredients on the plate. Won’t be going back there in a hurry.