Charcoal Fish
670 New South Head Road, Rose Bay NSW 2029
is due to open in late June 2021
We are both thrilled to announce that we will be opening a new business in Rose Bay called Charcoal Fish.
I have been hugely inspired by the charcoal chicken shop model. So many Australian families, ours included, on a near-weekly basis enjoy the convenience of a healthy meal of grilled chicken and salad. And yet, this same simple luxury does not extend to fish.
Our mission is to make restaurant-quality, charcoal-grilled Australian fish accessible to everyone. We have taken away all the hesitancy associated with a fish meal – fishy smells and pin bones are a thing of the past. There has never been a simpler way to get fish on your dinner table (or beach towel).
The menu will feature Aquna Murray Cod from Griffith, NSW – chosen for its performance as a sweet, white-flesh fish that grills well and its stability for the journey home with the flesh remaining juicy and skin keeping crisp. The Murray Cod also provides for an innovative use of all its parts (92%) in line with our waste-minimisation practice.
We have always championed diversity in the fish we use, but Charcoal Fish is about being dynamic and diverse with one fish.
Gravy will be made from the Murray Cod heads, frames & fins. The gravy will be spooned over floury baps filled with picked rotisserie cod fillet. The offal from the fish will be removed and allocated to the team at Saint Peter and Fish Butchery, where we will continue to make our charcuterie selection for retail and restaurant. The collars will be grilled over charcoal and served up with a fermented tamarind hot sauce and the fat from the fish will be rendered and added to our Murray cod fat caramel ice cream.
On the rotisserie, we will have whole Murray cod (with stuffing) spinning over charcoal and cooking until crackled to perfection. This will provide us with picked BONELESS fillet for our Rotisserie Cod & Gravy Rolls and our Salad of Rotisserie Cod, Skin, Butter Lettuce, Avocado & Charcoal Tomatoes.
Finally, the show-stopping, big-ticket item on the menu will be the square of butterflied, BONELESS Murray Cod – available as a Whole fillet, Half, Quarter or Single and grilled over our wonderful charcoal grill. This fish will be perfect for families big and small and a fantastic easy option on any night of the week paired with a salad.
Salads and charcoal-grilled vegetables will be an ever-changing array of options to ensure the offering is hyper-seasonal and relevant to the venue and its location.
Fish always carries a high level of expectation due to its price point. The generation before me grew up in an era where fish had always been relatively cheap and lesser celebrated. Often thoughtlessly captured or processed fish, i.e. tap washing, trawling etc., were dredged in batter and fried for the lowest price. Unfortunately, the damage this has done to perception when purchasing fish takeaway is not to spend more than $12 a portion.
We are setting out to elevate the standards of fish and how we cook, prepare and store our fish, but we are also trying to create a fish shop that the next generation can walk into with their families. A fish shop where the meal exceeds all expectations while remaining accessible. Our guests will see the provenance, science, love and attention that has gone into creating their meal.
Charcoal Fish is to be enjoyed every night of the week, not just Fish & Chip Friday.
Josh & Julie Niland
Charcoal Fish
670 New South Head Road, Rose Bay NSW2029
Website: www.charcoalfish.com
Instagram: @charcoal.fish
Images: Josh Niland