Fish On Fifth

After reading the varied reviews we thought… what the heck… we’ll give it a try. Some people seemed to like it. The result below proves once again… there is no accounting for taste.
The service was prompt and courteous, but they got our order wrong. No problem… they fixed it.
The fish and chips (yam fries) were less than top notch… not sure why some people rave about either of them. The fries were soggy and the chipotle mayo was insipid. (They must have just waved the chipotle over the mayo.) The batter on the fish is far from light and quite greasy. The «tartar»
sauce is «unique»… I’m sorry I can’t come up with a better word.
The restaurant is very noisy because of the open kitchen… the exhaust fan is loud enough to make conversations difficult.
All in all I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant and I will not be returning unless starvation drove me to it.

Had dinner here tonight.
The service was slow and the food was bland.
Being a server myself I try to understand when my server seems to be overwhelmed, but this whole experience was extremely disappointing.
The appetizers arrived before our pitcher of beer, and everything tasted the same.
Won’t be returning, it’s a shame because it seems like it could be a cool spot.

The fish is divine! But if you order one fish, you get one tarter sauce. Although order two fish and you still get one tarter sauce. They insist you pay to receive any extra tarter sauce so it must be worth its weight in gold. I found this pettiness to override the experience of the establishment as there are many other fish places in town just as good.

Top quality fish and chips, great beer, delightful staff!
Also, bonus points for TARDIS bathroom door

I am from San Jose California. My entire family (8 of us) were just stopped in Sidney while on vacation. I am very picky about food and how it’s cooked. I’m not often impressed when I go out to eat.
Fish on Fifth was recommended to us by some locals so we thought we would give it a try. It’s not a fancy place but plenty clean, nice, and very comfortable.
From the moment we walked in the service was excellent, and they were already very busy. The food was surprisingly fantastic! Everybody ordered something different. We were all so impressed with our dishes that we wanted each other to try them. It was a fantastic experience and My only regret is that they aren’t located where I live! I would frequent them a lot!

Best fish and chips in Sidney. The fish was so fresh it was amazing! Yummy! Prices reasonable.

Pros: Great considerate service on a busy day. Fun outdoor deck on a warm day. Fried food was fast and fine.
Cons: No itemized bill presented to me — just a rushed exchange at the cash register where I was overcharged quite a bit. Realized it later and returned; they matter-​of-​factly corrected it, like no big deal for them, but not such a great experience.

We have visited recently and the food is terrible. Small portions, dried up fish it’s really bad. Why it gets recommended I’ll never know.

Stopped in for lunch today while in the area on business. They have a nice space inside or a lovely patio outside. The staff is really friendly and the food is great! I had the halibut burger, with grilled halibut instead of fried. It was delicious and came with really good coleslaw and fries. I would definitely recommend this place if you enjoy seafood. Especially if you can’t eat (or don’t like) batter. They offer no-​batter fish and chips as well!

Food was okay, service was mediocre. Went there with my mother in law and partner for dinner. my food (chicken strips) came out very dark, i’m assuming because the oil hadn’t been cleaned in a while, and the same with my partner, and mother in laws food. Didn’t taste bad but it wasn’t great. My partners dish was strangely cooked, she had undercooked fries but over cooked batter on the fish same colour as my chicken strips. We had just assumed it was because they were busy and we decided to come back on a slow day.
So just my partner and I came back and it was the same thing, batter was very dark again. Service was very mediocre and there was miscommunication with the staff. They tried to over charge us saying we had both gotten halibut when only one of us got halibut and the other got cod. Then they weren’t very forgiving with it and almost made us pay for two halibut meals. Luckily the server that served us came walking by and told the person at the till that we weren’t lying about it and she put it in correctly. All in all not a fantastic experience, wouldnt recommend this to my friends.

We visit the place for dinner before taking the ferry back to Vancouver. Found it on Unilocal too! Happy with the choice. The girls there are very friendly and helpful. Good fish! Definitely come back when visiting Victoria again

Nice staff, good fresh fish, excellent slaw, and overall good value.

If you ever visited Sidney BC, please visit this little fish shop!
Primarily, they have fish and chip. But, they also have other choices like burger. Even so, they serve beers. In addition, in the back of the shop, there’s also a coffee shop look area.
Friends and I all had fish and chips but we choose different sides. There are a few options. Out options of the sides are: fries and slaws X 2, Yam fries, and garden salad. On each table, they have vinegar for the fish. It was delicious. Fish was certainly very fresh,
Another reason we all love this place is because they offered to separate our bills for us. How nice is that?! Their payment system is very nice. 1) swipe your card 2) give amount or percentage for tips 3) sign and it’s done. It saves a lot of time to calculate how much to give. It’s very smart!
If I visit again, I defintely will come back!

Tasty salmon, excellent crispy jacket potato fries, great service. Go have some fish and chips there, it should live up to standards.

This place is PHENOMENAL $ 10 for All You Can Eat fresh paddock and homemade fresh cut fries. I overnight in Victoria pretty regularly and I make a habit of visiting this wonderful establishment as much as I can. If you enjoy beer, your in luck they feature Phillips Beer and the brews they have on tap go great with anything on their menu. Want a milkshake??? They have delicious milkshakes as well. Fish on Fifth has wonderful customer service and they understand what quality food and fun atmosphere is about. Hands down THE BEST PLACE IN VICTORIA.

Excellent fish. Great yam fries. Very nice service.
Generous portions.
We’ll done!

It was just okay. We came from Seattle area and had high hopes! Seaside town, deliciously fresh fish. Hidden gem? Not so much.
Fish portion (cod) was big. I should have gotten one piece but luckily my BF ate most of my second piece.
I opted for ½ salad ½ fries for extra money. Kind of a rip but the salad was yummy. Really good. The fries were also really good. I could have not paid extra and gotten fries and coleslaw.
The reason for the lower rating was the fish. While it was big, and the the batter was yummy, like tempura, it was super mushy between the fish and batter. Not sure why. It was kind of gross actually. Super soaked in grease. Gave my BF a belly ache later. You can get way better fish at ivars.
The tarter was just okay.
We sat on the deck. It was okay. There was a pesky bee flying around our mouths and plates while we ate. That was cool… not.
After the meal was delivered the waitstaff (teenagers or 20 something’s) came by only once early on. Our waters ran dry.
We loved this little city but I doubt we’ll visit this establishment the next time we visit.

The fish and chips were amazing. Best I have ever had by far. Actually I didn’t have fries I had a salad instead but that was amazing too. Not just a crappy garden salad one thst had everything from the garden.

A great little fish and chips place, with some local style — kind of a dive, but fun. The staff is friendly and the funky atmosphere works well for them.
Stick to the fish & chips — some of their other food (i.e. halibut sandwich or halibut burrito) are not up to snuff. But the fish & chips are great.

Lunch stop in Sidney. 4 stars as long as you:
–Stick with the fish and chips or the fish burger. Fish has a crispy, crunchy coating and the yam fries are great with the honey mustard (?) dip. Halibut burger had fresh fish and a variety of veggie condiments (lettuce, dill, etc.) that helps maintain a light, healthy taste.
–Stay far away from the clam chowder. The bowl I opted for in lieu of the regular fries had a thick Elmer’s rubber cement consistency that would probably best described as thick glop with chewy, tasteless clam pieces. I don’t understand how Fish on 5^th received an award for this slime.
So… everything seems to be a good choice EXCEPT for the chowder. Service was lacking as well. The place, primarily manned by college students, was half empty but yet it took about 25 minutes to get our food. Drinks were never refilled, the server never stopped by and when asked for more sauce, a stank face was what I got. Really?