New Year's Day: Swim, Fish & Chips and Bocce, Dee Why (1 Jan 2013)

12A The Strand, Dee Why NSW 2099

Happy Foodie New Year

First day of the year weather conditions were perfect for my annual trip to Dee Why Beach for a swim, fish and chips and a game of bocce in the nearby park with friends. Our usual Seafood at the Beach pitstop was still busy at 4.30 pm and the wait time was around 15-20 minutes which wasn't too bad compared to some years. Grilled fish and chips ($12.50) was pretty good. All cooked to order so chips were hot and crisp and fish quite tasty and decent size. Seafood salad ($8) had a fair amount of prawns amongst the seafood stick and considering they charge $7 for garden salad I thought it was the better deal. Beach water was clean with a bit of seaweed and thankfully no sign of sharks as recently reported around the northern beaches. My Eastern suburbs team were victorious again over north side team — first two games won out of possible three.

Other visits to Seafood at the Beach:

• 1 Jan 2013 - Grilled fish and chips, Seafood salad

• 1 Jan 2012 - Grilled fish and chips

• 1 Jan 2011 - Fish and chips, Salt and Pepper Calamari

• 1 Jan 2010 - Fish and chips, Snack Pack, Oysters

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Fish and chips cooked to order, Nice location, Beach nearby

CONS: Finding parking is a nightmare in the area

MUST TRY: Bringing own salads next time to save money

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Grilled fish and chips ($12.50), Seafood Salad ($8)

Pretty good chips and decent portion

Fish nice but not sure what kind — probably flake, maybe barra?

Seafood salad ($8) — decent amount of prawns amongst seafood stick

2 teams of 3 with 2 balls each

Plenty more beers to choose from this year

Shot of the day

Tricky terrain

Ditch of the day

Close call of the day

Old school measure

Thongs are footwear of choice

New Year sunset shadows

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Fish, Chips and Beer to start the New Year with game of Bocce, Dee Why (1 Jan 2012)

12A The Strand, Dee Why NSW 2099

First lunch of the new year

As per tradition my first swim, beer and fish n chips of the year was on New Years Day at Dee Why Beach. Seafood at the Beach was again very popular as expected although by around 3.30 pm when we visited the wait wasn't as long as previous years. I decided for a slightly healthier option of Grilled Fish and Chips ($12) this year instead of my usual battered fish. Thankfully I felt far better after and it tasted pretty good. I like how they separated the chips from the fish so the chips could remain crispy. The Seafood Salad ($7.50) had some decent sized prawns with a fair amount of crab stick meat and was quite enjoyable. The beach was pretty warm this year but subsequently very crowded as well. After a nice swim and lunch it was time for Bocce in the nearby park for a couple of hours to work off the hot chips.

Other visits to Seafood at the Beach:

• 1 Jan 2012 - Grilled fish and chips

• 1 Jan 2011 - Fish and chips, Salt and Pepper Calamari

• 1 Jan 2010 - Fish and chips, Snack Pack, Oysters

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Pretty good fish and chips cooked to order

CONS: Finding parking is a bit of a nightmare in the area, Fish shop is always busy

MUST TRY: Bring more beers next time

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Grilled Fish and Chips ($12)

Seafood Salad ($7.50)

Beer selection

Lunch in the park

Time for bocce

Working out which ball is closer to the jack

A few rough patches to make it challenging

Measuring to be sure

My winning two shots (top) in the final game

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Seafood at the Beach: New Year's Day Fish n Chips, Dee Why (1 Jan 2011)

12A The Strand, Dee Why NSW 2099

First beer & lunch for new year

New Year's Day has become my first swim of the year followed by a fish and chips lunch and a game of bocce with friends — hopefully the traditional will continue. Seafood at the Beach seems to have quite a monopoly at Dee Why beach and hence a 30 minute wait for your order is not uncommon when busy as it was today. My basic Fish and chips ($11) had a sizable amount of fish and a fairly thin batter although could have been a bit crispier. The higher priced Grilled barramundi with chips ($17) and Grilled perch and chips ($19) looked quite nice. After a short walk to the park the decently sized Grilled swordfish with garlic, lemon, parsley, butter and chips ($19) looked pretty soaked with butter. A generous serving of Salt and pepper squid ($9) with it's KFC looking coating was fairly tender but could have been a bit better and less oily. Looking at the menu compared to last year it looks like a few items have gone up in price and some have stayed the same. I was keen to get some oysters but they weren't looking particularly happy in the display counter. Service is frantic in the kitchen and always looks a little stressed so friendliness can be a little hard to come by.

Other visits to Seafood at the Beach:

• 1 Jan 2012 - Grilled fish and chips

• 1 Jan 2011 - Fish and chips, Salt and Pepper Calamari

• 1 Jan 2010 - Fish and chips, Snack Pack, Oysters

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Handy location to beach and park, Lots of menu choices

CONS: Relatively expensive, Long waits when busy, Oysters weren't particularly looking fresh

MUST TRY: Getting oysters from Sydney Fish Market on the way next year or checking out Dee Why Seafoods to compare

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Fish and chips ($11)

Grilled barramundi with chips ($17)

Grilled perch and chips ($19)

Grilled swordfish with garlic, lemon, parsley, butter and chips ($19)

Salt and pepper squid ($9)

First beer of the new year

Menu

Customers waiting for their orders

Display counter — only a few sad looking oysters left

Across the road from the park and beach

My best shot of the day (left)

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Seafood at the Beach: Fish n Chips and Bocce, Dee Why (1 Jan 2010)

12A The Strand, Dee Why NSW 2099

First Swim, Fish n Chips & Beer

For the last few years my New Years Day has been spent catching up with a few friends at Dee Why beach for our first swim, fish n chips and beer of the year as well as playing a friendly and fun game of bocce — it's becoming a bit of a tradition now which is a nice way to start the new year. We always go to the most popular fish n chip shop in Dee Why for our lunch which is named Seafood at the Beach — although I'm thinking it was called something else in previous years? They have been cleverly promoting their 'Best Fish & Chips Award' which when reading the fine print is actually from the Inaugural Sydney Fish Market Seafood Award which is back in 1997. The 2009 Best Fish and Chips Sydney winner was Ocean Foods in Drummoyne.

My snack pack had nice sized fish cocktails but I much prefer the thin and crispy batter of Ocean Heart Seafood in Brighton-Le-Sands which I recently visited — I also prefer the Ocean Heart Seafood calamari rings. My friends are happy with their Baked Snapper, Fresh Bream and Grilled Salmon Cutlets — the dill mustard sauce is quite yummy too. The beach surf was perfect for body surfing and the games of bocce helped work off a few small calories while we watched the beautiful sunset fall over Dee Why.

I wish all my readers a fun and exciting new year ahead filled with plenty of amazing and delicious food to satisfy the taste buds :-)

Other visits to Seafood at the Beach:

• 1 Jan 2012 - Grilled fish and chips

• 1 Jan 2011 - Fish and chips, Salt and Pepper Calamari

• 1 Jan 2010 - Fish and chips, Snack Pack, Oysters

Snack Pack: 5 fish cocktails, 3 calamari rings and chips $11.50

Pacific Oysters $7.50 half dozen

Baked Snapper with Shallot Ginger Special Sauce and Chips $19

John Dory and Chips $18

Grilled Salmon Cutlet with dill mustard sauce and chips $15.50

First beer of 2010 – Coopers 62

Menus

Award winner sign

Swim and Bocce time

Dee Why Beach

Bocce or Boules

Best shot of the day

Bocce crystal ball — eat, drink, blog, then eat more again.

Sunset of 1 January 2010 at Dee Why

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