Edita’s Fish ‘n’ Chips

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Edita’s is a full-fledged fish-and-chip shop, inspired by the all-Australian chippie but imbued with freshness and creativity, as well as the Polynesian background of the family that runs it. Siblings Tima and Stan Tausinga named the venue after their late grandmother, a mural of whom is found on the interior shop wall.

But it’s their father’s affection for a McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish that inspired the shop’s most popular (and somewhat internet-famous) item, the Edita’s burger, which sees fried fish drenched in house-made tartare sauce with American cheese on a toasted potato roll. It’s a glorious mess of a sandwich, but the fish is fresh, not out of the freezer, battered just before going in the fryer, and the quality of the ingredients make it more than just a tawdry jumble of fried, sweet and gloopy things.

Other hand-held items include a brioche roll filled with prawns in a creamy coconut dressing, with flying fish roe and crisp lettuce. The Tongan and Samoan influence shines through in the sweetness of the bread and the tropical flavours of coconut and seafood. Tonga and Samoa are also represented in the chop suey spring rolls, a mashup of Chinese take-out staples with a Polynesian spin.

The basics, too, are done far better than average. The chips are hand cut and thrice fried, finger-like logs of crispy goodness. Smashed beef burgers are only $14, while the packs in particular are fantastic value – $19 gets you a piece of fried flake, a hand-cut potato cake, dim sim, chips and a can of soda. A family pack, which feeds four, is $70.

About those dim sims, which are a family-specific take: the filling is a pork sausage that’s based on grandma Edita’s recipe, and the result is like a rissole encased in a golden-fried wrapper. It almost has more in common with a Scotch egg than a traditional dimmie, albeit one with no egg at its centre. Regardless, it’s true to the spirit of the dim sim, in that it’s a delicious Melbourne take on food that’s influenced by many and diverse populations.

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