Top 4 on the Gold Coast, and still #1 in Burleigh

Red Hot Cod has again been voted by you, the punters, as the number one fish and chips restaurant in Burleigh Heads, Australia.

And the Gold Coast Bulletin readers poll for “Best of the Gold Coast” jumped us up a notch or two in 2019 and we are now in the top four in the city.

That’s a city of 600,000 people and a bucket-load of fish and chips shops – and we’re number 4. It is the third year in a row we have been in the top 10.

Thank you to everyone who voted for us. We’re really humbled. And congratulations to all our fish and chips colleagues across the city who also made the podium.

But most of all thank you to our customers who keep coming back and loving our food. It gets us out of bed every morning with a smile.

Actually, its the smell of salt and those Burleigh barrels that get us out of bed each morning but you folk are a close second.

The Gold Coast Bulletin article itself can be hard to find sometimes so here is the gist of it:

With the ocean at our doorstep, Gold Coasters are hooked on fish and chips, but who serves the best in the region? We’ve reeled in the top 10 fish and chip shops as voted by you.

10. KIWI FISH N CHIPS

14/112 Discovery Dr, Helensvale

A fry up reeling in the clientele with NZ techniques, Kiwi Fish and Chips owner Tommy Doull says his shop takes the delicious dish back to basics. “We cook it how we were meant to cook it in the old days. We keep it real,” he says. The shop gets New Zealand fish delivered once a week and batters its fillets to order. Tommy says the potatoes are changed seasonally, ensuring a high quality chip every time.

MUDGEERABA’S FIVE BEST EATERIES

9. SCALES SEAFOODS

47 Kennedy Drive, Tweed Heads

If the fish were any fresher at Scales Seafoods it would be wriggling at the end of a rod. The seafood wholesaler and takeaway shop has an enviable position right on the Tweed River, where the trawlers unload daily catches straight to its cold room. Manager Bryce Freeman says there’s plenty of locally-caught mackerel around and the season for sea mullet is on its way. Scales also serves gluten-free batter options and you can have your chips cooked “well done” or soft, however you please.

8. BENOWA GARDENS SEAFOODS

Benowa Gardens Shopping Centre, Cnr Ashmore and Benowa Roads, Benowa

Benowa Gardens Seafoods’ reputation spans much further than the Gold Coast thanks to the nearby Bundall Turf Club. “We get a few country people because of the racetrack,” co-owner Shane Parkes says. And whether you’re picking up fish and chips every week or once a year, Shane and his wife Mel say they send out a consistent product. The couple order whole fish in and fillet and crumb on site. “Our snapper and chips is the most popular,” Shane says.

7. CHEVRON ISLAND SEAFOODS

48-50 Thomas Dr, Surfers Paradise

Chevron Island Seafoods is the embodiment of Finding Nemo character Dory’s wise words: just keep swimming. The fish and chip shop has been frying and grilling since 1972, taken over by today’s operator Frank Vayonitis in 1995 and co-captained by friend Warren Ebbels in 2008. The takeaway shop is proud of its long history attached to the Gold Coast, specialising in grilled seafood and affordable meal packs.

6. KINGFISH AND CHIPS

1162 Pimpama Jacobs Well Road, Jacobs Well

Fish and chips for the fam can get a little costly at times so there’s meal deals a-plenty at Kingfish and Chips. The Jacobs Well takeaway shop cooks all fresh seafood and sources “A grade” chips for its hungry customers. “We get fresh deliveries three times a week,” manager Kelli Dobson says. “The share pack is very popular — $25 for two people, with plenty of food for a couple. We offer packs that are budget friendly.”

5. Crisp Fish and Chips

1a/93 Gemvale Road, Mudgeeraba

For a unique fish experience with a little Japanese influence, try Crisp Fish and Chips’ panko crumb option — a lighter type of coating that absorbs less oil and grease. “We’ve got wonderful panko crumb, people really like it,” owner Tim Poeszus says. “I get a lot of regulars coming from outlying areas, from Springbrook, people from Brisbane, and they say it’s the best fish and chips they’ve ever had. We have a secret oil and secret batter, special panko breadcrumb, amazing homemade potato cakes and calamari.”

4. RED HOT COD (That’s us!!)

1716 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads

Red Hot Cod is a small fish in the big Burleigh dining pond but owner Simon Scott says his shop is quick and clean. “It’s one of the smallest seafood places on the Coast but very busy — really fresh and really fast,” Simon says. Instead of having the fillets ready to fry in the cabinet, customers choose their fish and preferred coating before being fried or grilled to order. Red Hot Cod offers gluten-free batter on its fish as well as fresh salads, sweet potato chips and brown rice.

3. FRESH CORAL SEAFOODS

Mudgeeraba Market Shopping Centre, 30/3 Swan Lane, Mudgeeraba

Grilled red emperor? Crumbed snapper or battered jewfish? Whatever you’re fishing for, Fresh Coral Seafoods can make it happen. “We do have packs, but it’s definitely more about people making up their own choices on what they require,” owner Platon Kaplanidis says. “We’ve got a wide variety of seafood available. If you have a special request, I’d see what I can do for you.” Part seafood deli, part fish and chippery, customers can indulge in a side of crispy cut potatoes or salad, or pick up a whole fish and cook it at home.

2. MUDGEERABA SEAFOODS ON SCHOOL ST

Corner of Railway Street and School St, Mudgeeraba

Mudgeeraba Seafoods owner Peter Hawkes says the key to a great serve of fish and chips is keeping the fryers separate. “Our chips are cooked in cotton seed oil, same as our fish,” he says. “We don’t mix them with the fish. That’s the only secret I’ll give away.” Mr Hawkes and his wife Peisie are proud of the consistent five-star reviews online, where customers praise the gold band snapper, flake and calamari curls. “Our calamari, it’s very special — we marinade it overnight. It melts in your mouth.”

1. OH MY COD

1/3 Dalton St, Upper Coomera

It’s a common story among new hospitality ventures: you can’t find what you’re after so you do it yourself, and that’s how this year’s best fish and chips on the Gold Coast was born.

“We opened in June,” owner Izaac Gardiner says. “We couldn’t really find any decent fish and chips around the Gold Coast.”

Izaac says it’s hard to explain why Kiwis do fish and chips better, so we’ll have to just take his word for it — or taste it for ourselves.