4 /5 nickelfoodrevs: I saw a YouTube video featuring Grand Boulevard Fish & Chips and thought to myself, “I’ve definitely got to try this place out,” especially since I’m on a quest to find the best fish and chips in Melbourne. And today was the day. Because it was about a 40-minute drive, I also called ahead to make sure they were open.
I’m giving 4 stars, and there’s quite a lot to say, both positive and negative, but mostly nice things.
For example, I really like how much food you get for $16, and you also get a can of drink. Dollar-to-performance is very good.
The food was ready within 15 minutes, relatively quick.
As for the taste, this place joins the list of fish and chip shops that genuinely serve decent, flavourful flake. On a flavour scale from 1 to 5, this is a solid 4. It could be a little more flavourful, but I think what held it back was the flake being slightly dry on the inside. The batter was nice and crisp, and the flake itself was quite large. Well done, Grand Boulevard.
All chips, except for one, were perfectly crisp on the outside with soft potato on the inside, almost mash-like. As you can see from the photo, there was only one chip with visible green bruising. Some of the others did have small black spots, but not enough to be an issue. A good result considering how many chips there were, along with the other food.
The potato cakes were a little lacklustre. Both were on the small side and a bit too thin, and they were also slightly dry. I think I would have preferred one bigger, thicker potato cake instead of two smaller ones.
The fried calamari had decent flavour, but the texture inside was a little strange, a bit mushy. Excellent crisp on the outside, though.
The dim sim was crisp and very much your standard, run-of-the-mill dimmie. You either love it or hate it. I’m indifferent. It’s very rare that I praise a dim sim, as a lot of fish and chip shops have very similar-tasting ones.
Everything had a good amount of salt. Not overly salty, but not under-seasoned either. Just the right amount.
I also liked how the overall mouthfeel was while eating. There was no oily coating left in my mouth. Very clean. I didn’t feel like I needed to wash anything down with my Pepsi. Honest and clean food. Quite a few places could learn something from Grand Boulevard in this area in particular.
The only other thing worth mentioning is that I would’ve loved to see a slice of lemon. I love lemon with fish and chips and think it’s a must-have to add that extra bit of freshness and subtle sourness.
Otherwise, it was well worth the trip. I’m mainly rating the amount of food in this case, with the score heavily weighted toward the fish and chips in particular. I ate this meal around 12 (lunchtime) and it’s now 9:48 PM. I’m still quite full, which says what it says.
Great value. Highly recommended.
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