Shark Paradise looks like your typical suburban fish'n'chip shop, which makes its occurrence on Smith St a little atypical.
The menu starts out very much as you'd expect - after the fish and chips there's burgers, Chiko rolls, dim sims and potato cakes. Then there's something we would never have discovered if it weren't for a blog post from Johanna, a section headed Vegetarian Delight! Here there are five burgers listed, along with meat-free dim sims, soy nuggets, spring rolls and battered tempeh.
I chose the tempeh burger ($5) with chips (add $1.50). The battered tempeh is tender but unseasoned and a little bland; this is counteracted well enough by the BBQ sauce, tomato and lettuce. The chips were fine corner shop-style specimens - fat and fluffy with lots of salt and plenty of the crispy bits I like best.
Michael had a tempeh wrap ($7.80) with chips (add $1.40) - here you get double tempeh and what looks like double BBQ sauce, onion and beetroot as well as salad.
It's all highly processed and unrefined but it's the stuff I grew up with, and I love it. It's great to see a chippie with a few creative vegetarian alternatives to flake, and I'll certainly be returning to slather some tempeh slices in tartare sauce.
And if the food weren't enough to evoke some nostalgia, there's also decades-old arcade games to pump your change into!
Edit 01/07/2011: Shark Paradise is now closed! There's some kind of renovation going on in there so the shopfront will be hosting something new soon...
Edit 01/07/2011: Shark Paradise is now closed! There's some kind of renovation going on in there so the shopfront will be hosting something new soon...
Shark Paradise Fish & Chips
76 Smith St, Collingwood
9486 0609
unlicensed
veg snacks & meals $0.90-$9.20
yum! i love fat chips! also, a trip to sydney i once consumed about 7 million vegie dim sims. so good!
ReplyDeleteI went there one day and was informed that they fry everything in the same vat. chips, Dim Sims, fish and seafood all in one happy oily bath together. That thought itself put me off trying anything. I wish Feast on was still around!
ReplyDeleteI love this place!
ReplyDeleteThere was a time, not so very long ago, when I would spend a high proportion of my Friday nights drinking cocktails at Caz Reitops, and we'd always grab dinner from here.
Back then they didn't have quite so many veg options - there was just the vegetarian burger and the vegan burger. The vegan burger had your standard veg patty, but the vegetarian burger replaced the patty with a potato cake and a fried egg, making it my favourite veg burger ever. NOM!
Glad you enjoyed the battered tempeh - I had it plain with my chips and it was a bit much but I love the sound of it in a burger or wrap - must try it next time I am down that way
ReplyDeletethis history behind this was about 6 years ago there was another fish and chips shop two doors up that was run by hardcore vegans. they had an EXTENSIVE vegan menu including parma burgers etc etc... think the EBC but a million times better...
ReplyDeleteso this shop eventually put a whole bunch of fake meat options on the menu too...
so sad the other shop isnt open anymore.. had the best fake schnitzel I've eaten...
Carla - thanks for that back story! How I wish I'd been around to experience that rival shop...
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting to hear Carla's story as I thought that shark paradise wasn't quite the shop I originally remembered going to!
ReplyDeleteFake Schnitzel? Really? It taste like chicken doesn't it?
ReplyDelete