Chippie cool

Top views and chews at Mango¯ nui Fish Shop

The word ‘‘iconic’’ is bandied about a lot in travel. Whether it is a landmark, attraction or local business, it is often used to highlight importance and longevity. And while it can be misused, there is no denying that Northland’s Mangonui Fish Shop is worthy of the iconic label.

Undoubtedly one of the main reasons for tourists to make the turn off the Twin Coast Discovery Highway, this picturepostcard chippery on Mango¯ nui Wharf has been serving locals and travellers for more than 70 years.

It is famed for fish so fresh that it seems to have jumped from the sea onto the plate via the fryer.

The famous building perched on its poles welcomes you into the small settlement of Mango¯ nui, a historic fishing port in sublime Doubtless Bay. It isn’t big in size, but it more than makes up for that in charm.

There is a huge range of fish on offer, including bluenose, snapper, ha¯ puku and lemonfish.

When my husband and I visited last year, we dived headfirst into delicately battered blue cod with crispy fries. And a raw fish salad of fillets that was diced, marinated in lemon juice and smothered in coconut cream, was washed down with a perky pinot gris.

Luckily, on the day we were there, seats were freely available. We had heard that it can get pretty packed out at times. This is, after all, ‘‘world famous’’ (it says so on the side of the building).

Getting a good seat overlooking the water on a sun-drenched day, with nothing but some envious looking seagulls to disturb the view, is pretty unbeatable.

While it may be a bit strange to come to