THE EMPIRE
So aside from the usual Burger reviews, I like other food too
A friend invited me to head over to the new family business to try out their fish and chips, Now given this is a kiwi classic it either has to be really good or have something different about it
Well this is certainly a different approach, Everything on the menu ( except some of the beers) is Gluten Free
Where: Spudz,Unit 4/1 Caslani Lane, Tauriko, Tauranga
Parking: plenty of parking shared with a pub and a couple other food places
Ordered: Hot Diggity Dog – 1x fish ( more like 2) 1x Hotdog ( more like half) 3x Nuggets $16.00 and I threw in 3 squid rings for good measure
Now to be fair it needs to be said, I know the staff and I know the owner so that being said I still need to be fair with this review..
When this place first opened the demand was so huge wait times were an issue, But this was a couple weeks after they opened so they had time to get their processes sorted and iron out some of the teething issues
We had a table reserved for 6 and as we were a bit late for dinner rush we more or less had the place to ourselves, Staff are awesome and I’ve heard that from other people too so its not just that I think they are cool cause they are mates!
But the food, Ok so like I said their angle is being Gluten Free, which for some people is a pretty big deal for health reasons or just wanting healthier options, now I’m a bit sensitive to fatty foods and I’ll either avoid something like fish and chips or know there is going to be regret after.. and this was neither. I prepared myself for the sore guts and all that goes with something like an overly oily fatty dinner and given we’d gone rather huge I was expecting it to be bad, but it wasn’t… at all, I duno what they do but they managed to get a proper fish and chips meal with little to no regret, and for some one like me that’s a pretty big deal given im trying to get in shape but I still love food..
In fact I even ordered the take away so i could have something prepared that any average joe would get and it was equally as good as when we dined in.. Now I don’t wana say this is the best fish and chips in the country, a call like that is gona take A LOT more research, but you know what, of what I’ve had in the last few years It’s right at the top, easily..
Everything was perfectly cooked, the batter wasn’t as thick as other places I guess due to their different techniques but the flavor and the texture was there, I might go so far to say it had a little extra crunch on the fish batter which gave it more levels to enjoy, I don’t know what they put on the chips I wana stab a guess at chicken salt but whatever it was, its epic.. But I’m gona put a dollar bet on chicken salt I’m we’ll find out when I ask next..
IF I had to find a gripe I’d say a slightly bigger salad/ slaw would be a nice offering, again given I’m trying to eat better the ratio would have been accepted if more leaning towards more greens, that being said I did order the biggest deep fry thing on their menu. Also the hotdogs, I’m guessing their supplier they get the GF dogs from does it for their own reasons but they are a bit on the small side from what you might be used to, when I ordered the takeaways I ordered 2 cause I like them.
If you’re in the area and you like to have a healthier option this is 100% where you need to go, if you’re a true blue red blooded kiwi and fish and chips is in your DNA its a strong recommendation from me to head down and try it I highly doubt you’d be dissapointed. You can either dine in, there is space for maybe 20 or so to have in house, or get it take away and sit in the park and look at the lake, its a pretty nice setting..
to give it a number I’d have to give it a 9/10 nothing is perfect but this is pretty close
If you wana find out more their menu is available online here — > https://www.spudz.kiwi/menu
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