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Mangonui Fish and Chip Shop
The Mangonui Fish and Chip Shop is a national icon for one of New Zealanders' favorite meals. It is often mentioned as producing the finest fish and chip meals in the country. It may not necessarily be the best, but the location would be very hard to beat.
The shop, which is actually more of a cafe, sits in a magical location, right over the water. The fish is all locally caught and wonderfully fresh. The variety of fish used is determined by what has been caught that day.
There is little else on the menu, but eating your fish and chips on one of the bench-like seats from a white paper wrapper is one of the delights of Northland. You can also have a beer or glass of wine (the cafe is fully licensed) and don't forget the essential condiments - tomato sauce and a slice of lemon. Heaven.
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Growing up my brother, sister and I always spent our school holidays up in Kaitaia as my Mum and Grandparents live up there. It became a bit of a family ritual that every time we went up to visit, which was at least 4 times a year that we would go for a drive to Mangonui to go to the best fish and chip shop in the world Mangonui fish and chips.
We would always get so excited when we heard the day had arrived to go to the Mangonui Fish and Chip shop, and would spend the whole car ride talking about what we were going to order off the menu, were we going to get the fish, the hot dog or perhaps something else? Now that I have a family of my own we still every now and then will travel the long haul up to Kaitaia to visit family and I have made it a ritual for us to make sure we visit the Mangonui fish and Chip Shop each time. The Mangonui fish Fish and Chip Shop is unlike any other, you can sit inside the shop on white bench-like seats over looking the beautiful views of the ocean while eating out your fish and chips off newspaper just like the old days, lets face it Fish and Chips from a cardboard tray just don't taste the same!
You can always guarantee that the fish is fresh, though the type of fish that you are going to be ordering varies on a day to day basis as it is caught daily and brought in freshly each morning. As well as fish they have a variety of other fresh seafood options (that's if you like seafood, personally I don't) and they also have cute little tubs behind a cabinet which have a variety of desserts in them such as fruit salad, cheesecake and mousse which make the perfect treat for after your yummy Fish and Chips.
The price is understandably higher than most fish and chip shops but it is well worth it, if your ever up North, be sure to stop in here, you wont be disappointed.
Yumm this has got to be my all time favourite fish and chip shop!! By far the best food in the far north, you can't get nicer fish and seafood unless you catch it yourself! Whenever we visit the far north (every few months) we are always sure to visit here, whether it be picking up takeaways to enjoy at the beach, park, friends place or dining in at the cafe/restaurant which is situated right on/over the water.
You never know what type of fish you are going to be getting until you turn up at the shop as they sell what has been freshly caught and brought in off the boats that morning. Depending what fish they have depends on what I order as I prefer certain fish, however there is always plenty of other seafood options (including scallops, oysters, prawns in sauce, mussels etc) that not knowing before turning up to the shop doesnt worry me.
One thing to be mindful of is that this place is always busy! No matter what the time or day, there is always plenty of people packed into the place. They are always fairly prompt with service and your food being ready though and no matter how busy the shop seems I have never been disappointed with how long we have to wait.
The other thing I will mention is that the price at this venue isnt the same as your "normal" fish n chip shop so don't go there expecting a cheap meal! This is something that I don't have an issue with at all as the food is well worth the price!
If you ever visit the far north I fully recommend you visit this place ~ you wont regret it!
This fish and chip shop is literally world famous!! It is world famous because it dishes up the yummiest fish and chips in the Far North!! It is not just a take-a-ways it is a dining experience that is matched by none....the shop is actually a cafe/restaurant and it is situated right over the water so while you are munching away on you tasty lunch or dinner you have a fabulous view of the water.
The fish that is served depends on what has been locally caught that morning so the customers can't get fresher than that. The Maunganui Fish Shop is 2 and a half hours north of where I live and is off the beaten track a bit as it is a drive to get there but I am willing to make the road trip because their food is really that good, and the rural scenery can't be beaten. The place is always full of customers so that also must mean something aye!!
The current operators have only been in business the last few years, but the service doesn't seem to change, the food definitely hasn't changed it still tastes as good as. I know of a few people that complain about the price, because yes people are paying more for their fish and chips than what you would pay at a 'normal' takeaways outlet but the quality of food is 1000 times better, and I don't mind at all paying more for better quality! The fish is crispy, the chips are crispy and not soaky, and man I do hate a soaky chip!
The fish and chips experience is still there because the food is served in chip paper, so can't get any more kiwi than that either, and it is great to see the mixture of cultures dining at the restaurant, and I am proud to be a New Zealander and being able to offer such a great experience to tourists from overseas. New Zealanders should be proud of this place and people that live close enough to the Maunganui Fish Shop should take advantage of this fantastic place.
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