Flatheads Cafe

The inclusion of "cafe" in Flatheads' name is perhaps something of a misnomer - the place is a fish and chip shop, if with a few frills in the decor and the menu. Located next door to All Bar Nun in the O'Connor shops - it seemed to attract a reasonable cross sample of the suburb's population on our visit on a Saturday afternoon. Sitting next to us in its pleasantly sunny, warmly painted interior were a baby boomer threesome talking property speculation, over from them were a couple of fashionable 20-somethings, behind us was a parent with a couple of kids apres-Saturday morning sport, and outside was an art-student-looking type reading Camus.

Being a fish and chip shop, I imagine that the owners of the place could expect that there would be customer resistance to them charging real-cafe prices, but they seem to get away with it. Quality-wise it was a bit of a mixed bag. The vege burger we ordered was quite possibly the best vege burger either of us has eaten - with an excellent lightly fried patty, crisp salad and buns, and delicious tatare sauce. However, the fish was a bit of a disappointment and the chips were average (and only warm, rather than hot). Specifically, our complaints with the fish were waaaaaay to much batter and the use of fillets teeming with sharp and nasty bones that seriously detracted from the experience. It's a bit of a tough one in terms of making a judgement, but fish issues aside, that burger would probably tempting enough for a future visit sometime.