We all know that fish is good for us, low in fat and high in things like omega 3′s.  In fact, it is recommended that we consume 2-3 serves per week of oily fish.  However, it’s often hard to get a good quality, reasonably priced fish meal at lunchtime.  Usually all that is available are deep fried fish and chips, or minute slivers of salmon in  nori rolls.  There’s only so much canned tuna that one can eat, and lunching out at expensive restaurants is just not feasible on a daily basis!  Sometimes, we just yearn for a nice, simple and quality piece of grilled fish.

Enter @Sea, a simple takeaway located in QV Melbourne’s food court.  Yep, that’s right, a food court. But please hear me out!  Yes, @ Sea does fish and chips, but the beauty is that they offer healthy grilled or steamed fish too for $9.50.  The concept is simple: 1) choose from salmon, tuna, barramundi, scallops or prawns, either grilled or steamed; 2) choose a salad, and 3) choose either rice or cous cous.

The fish meal comes in a nicely designed box   A special grilling press, very similar to a sandwich press, ensures quick and consistent cooking of the fishy goodness.

This is grilled salmon with teriyaki vegetables on rice.  As you can see, you get a decent sized fish!  They also tend to use good quality veg; the string beans are usually very crunchy and fresh.

The fish with Green papaya, beans, tomato and peanuts salad zings with chilli spice and the tang of the shredded papaya.

This is grilled barramundi with Brocolli, zucchini, olives and feta salad.  Quite tasty!

Roasted red peppers with tomato and basil “salad” is actually a ragout-like accompaniment.  It’s OK, but we prefer the other salads.  Another favourite salad (not pictured) is Fennel with ginger, orange and coriander.

@ Sea also has somewhat of a Japanese bent, selling sashimi and sushi packs (which I haven’t tried), miso soup, and (OK) nori rolls; they currently have a deal on where all rolls are 2 for $1 (normally they’re $1.50 each).  They also have the usual fish and chip staples of fish burger, potato cakes, and dim sims.

But the real winner is the grilled fish meal.  Whenever Mellie and I feel like a healthy fish fix, we head down to QV for a nice piece of salmon!