The Ancient Mariner

After a day of sightseeing, I was craving good fish and chips. Found this on Unilocal and it was nearby. The storefront is very nice and quite fancy for a take away place (didn’t realize it wasn’t a sit-​down until I got inside). There were about 6 customers ahead of me so I had time to look over the large menu. Ordered fried oysters, calamari rings, halibut, a tarakihi (fish) burger and a corn fritter.
The place did have several tall barrel tables and stools, so I decided to eat there. The cook and cashier were very friendly and knew I was a tourist (must’ve been the American ancient) and gave me fork, knife, napkins and water.
Food was ready in about 5 minutes and it was GOOD. The batter was light and not overly greasy. Oysters, fish and calamari were fresh and tender. The corn fritter was perfect. The best part, I didn’t get that overly greased throat feeling at the end of the meal. Very happy.
In 30 years of work travel, this is the best fish and chip place period. Would definitely return on my next Auckland trip. I just wish I found this place at the beginning of my trip.

They provide exceptional foods for the price they charge. It feels more like a takeaway then a restaurant. They only do lunch from Friday till Sunday. Otherwise it’s dinner only. The lemon salt they sprinkle on the crispy battered fish is Devine. It’s just a shame that you gotta pay for vinegar at a fish and chip shop. But I suppose they do give you enough lemon to sour everything. ;-)

I love fish and chips, and since I heard NZ was famous for them, I was eager to try somewhere! I’m sure there must be fish and chips closer to home, but sadly, if there are they aren’t on Unilocal yet, so I decided to go for a bit of a walk to the Ancient Mariner.
I was a bit surprised to discover there was minimal seating indoors, although I’m not really sure why, since I’ve not dined in at many fish shops. The seating was small shippy-​things (I’m a bit of a landlubber, so am not sure of their technical term) around large barrels. They were quite uncomfortable to sit on, but since we didn’t want to walk all the way home with cold fish, sit on them we did.
My husband and I shared two pieces of snapper and chips, with some malt vinegar. And oh god, it was delicious. The fish was amazing — fleshy and white and great flavour, and the batter was the perfect thickness and seasoned with lemon pepper (I think). Chips were chunky and crunchy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside.
I’ll definitely be back here — even if I have to perch on an uncomfortable piece of ship furniture to do so!

These guys know how to do great fish and chips! They used to own the Fish & Chip shop at the Royal Oak roundabout. We’re so glad that they’re now even closer to us after opening The Ancient Mariner a few weeks ago. We’re big fans and highly recommend the snapper and chips, although the hamburgers are pretty good too.