First things first. For any fish shop to make good fish (Hake) and chips they must have a steady supply of iced hake.
This is not always possible in which case frozen Hake can be used that is no older than 3 months. BUT frozen Hake is never the same as fresh Hake.
Something you may not know? Freshly caught Hake (same day) is actually not nice at all. It has to rest a few days on ice for it to mature a bit, say 3 to 4 days, then it is the best.
Find a fish shop that deals in ice Hake and secondly knows how to prepare it and you should be on the money.
About 4 months ago a friend and I were pleasantly surprised at the portion of Hake served at Snoekies in Hout Bay. They used to be the best in Hout Bay for many years until it changed hands. Gosh I must be talking about the mid to late 80's. Even the staff of Mariners Wharf used to go buy their lunch at Snoekies. They used iced Hake from the I&J Trawlers stationed in Cape Town Docks back in those days. Snoekies used to have permission to collect their fish straight off the Trawlers. Anyway that was long ago. Now there are Long Liners that land their Hake in Hout Bay, I&J is a figment of the Company it used to be, things have changed somewhat over the years and there is a lot of long line Hake on the market which they cannot all sell overseas as that market is weak and the Rand is strong, so more Hake is actually coming on to the local market for a change.
I think Fish Hoek uses fresh Hake. Kalkies I think uses frozen and in the corner at Kalk Bay is a place called lucky fish or live bait and if I know them they probably use fresh iced Hake.
I also appreciate a good packet of Fish and Chips.
Enjoy your parcel.
