Photo February - Day Nineteen

Feddish Fish and Chips

Our book group meets once a month on a Tuesday night. Over the years we've searched for places across the city to have dinner which are affordable as well as close to transport. These places also need to be quiet enough for us to talk so we can all be heard. Over the years, Feddish, on the banks of the Yarra at Federation Square, has been our summer meeting place.

Last month's meeting was not the Feddish we knew from earlier last year.

We returned last month to our haunt to be really disappointed with the service - horrendous service. How hard is it to clear a few dishes after everybody is finished? How hard is it to let a large table know that dinner will be running late - especially when you booked ahead and the restaurant isn't that busy. We weren't happy at all last month.

This book group was Feddish's last chance. If they messed up tonight that was it - we'd be finding another place to hold our meeting.

Well, thankfully, the experience of last month was not repeated.

As a group, we like Feddish for the location and the easy Australian classic menu. It's in the not too pricey range and generally the food is always pretty good, nothing flash or fancy, but you are fed well and there is lots of choice. They used to have a veal schnitzel with apple coleslaw that was to die for. That's no longer on the menu unfortunately.

Tonight's meeting was great for a number of reasons. A slightly smaller group we were discussing Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" A brilliant read - so worth it.

Also, unlike the last meeting where we were met with indifferent service, we had no complaints with the service at all. Jackie, our waitress for the night was attentive, on the ball, friendly but not in our faces. We were offered coffee and dessert - unlike last meeting. Dishes were cleared quickly after the table had finished their meals - unlike last meting. Also unlike last meeting, the food turned up promptly in half an hour. There was no hour wait with no explanations.

The Feddish we know and liked was back.

I had the fish and chips tonight. I loved the crunch factor of the chips and the fish was lovely and fresh. Also, I asked for a pot of tomato sauce because I have a lot of bogan tendencies and need chips with my tomato sauce. This came in a pot on the board without a blink - really happy with this. Our requests were met with a smile.

Of the other's meals, there were no complaints either - in fact it appeared everybody was happy - Kez to my left said her lamb shanks were lovely, Blarney was really happy with her salmon, though served with a Caesar Salad, she was a bit overcome by the amount of anchovies in the salad. I thought it a bit strange that a nice piece of salmon is then served on a really fishy Caesar Salad. Other than the anchovies, Blarney said that the fish was great.

The highlight for me -  the chips - Feddish really do great chips. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and the serves are generous.

We had a chat with Jackie on leaving. She said that they were working on ironing out a few difficulties. On tonight's performance, we have no problem with going back there for the next meeting.

It's not fine dining, but good honest food - and Feddish doesn't pretend to be anything else. It never appears to get too busy and the location, overlooking the Yarra, is great. It's a wonderful place if you need to hold a meeting or a mid-sized get together where you need to talk - and we like the place for that reason. The location is especially superb on a balmy summer night where you can sit on the balcony and look over the river.

We also hope that the service stays on a par with what we found there tonight. We were pleasantly surprised which was very good indeed.