One of the (few) things I miss about England is comfort food; roast dinners, parmos, sausage and mash, a dirty kebab and of course fish & chips. On our traditional Christmas trip to the UK the chippy is the first place we go to in London once we’ve landed! Due to the current situation we can’t leave China so the possibility of us getting fish & chips is slim but I had seen several posts about Dessa, an Australian chippy in Chegongmiao so last week we went to check it out.

Located by exit C of the metro stop this small restaurant just off the main road has developed a reputation for serving decent Western style fish & chips. Inside it’s pretty compact probably seating about 20 people but nicely decorated and clean. You can order from the menu via the QR code on the table.

The owner and chef told us he was inspired to open Dessa after learning how to make fish & chips when he lived in Australia for 7yrs (hence the Australian tag to the name). Once he returned to Shenzhen he realized there was a gap in the market and opened this place.

We ordered 1 portion of fish & chips, 1 serving of onion rings, 2 cheese balls and 2 pineapple fritters – do not come here and expect it to be a healthy option! Everything is cooked fresh to order and our food arrived quickly. The fish had a thin, light, crisp batter and the wedges ( you can choose wedges or chips) were good too. The coleslaw and tartare sauce on the side offered a bit of crunch and acidity. The onion rings served with a sweet chili mayo were so good I wished we’d got a portion each, I’d definitely order those again. The pineapple fritters served with a berry jam reminded me of going to the chippy or Chinese takeaway in England and getting battered pineapple rings / banana – so bad yet so good!!!

We paid 97 RMB in total for our meal which we felt was excellent value and as well as the food included a beer and Coke Zero. The food was pretty decent and somewhere we’d return to for lunch if we were in the area. Is it what would call ‘traditional’ fish & chips? No, it doesn’t claim to be. It’s not doused in salt and vinegar with scraps and there’s definitely no curry sauce or gravy, but if you want a taste of ‘home’ this is as close as you are probably going to get for a little while!

This is a screen shot to show where Dessa is located, it’s opening hours are 11.30am – 8.30pm and it currently has a rating of 4.7 on Dianping.