Roma's Hook and Chook

Closed seems like the old owners have sold out and there is a new establishment at the City location on the corner of Gordon St and Joske St which we will investigate soon enough.

We've been forced to reopen the books on where to get good fish and chips in Suva, and barring any new discoveries, Roma's Hook and Chook is currently filling that gap in our lives.

The first shop in Samabula was the basis for this review, but Hook & Chook has just opened shop number 2 in the centre of Suva, on Gordon Street, right next door to a certain curry house.

The Samabula shop offers an express lane for pre-cooked, kept-in-the-warmer chicken, chips and anonymous fish ... and the 'Student pack'

All else is pick & point: cooked on demand; starting from $5.50 for the fish cakes, and climbing up through the various fillets to Ulavi, somewhere around the $10 mark. The choice of regular or spicy batter is a nice touch in our chilli-mad nation.


I was excited when I first saw scallops on ice, but my enthusiasm has been somewhat dampened. Scallops should not be dipped in batter and deep fried. They should be seared ... or if you really must fry them, then roll them in breadcrumbs.

That aside, the other bitsy seafood packages live up to their calling: calamari, mussels, and the cheap anonymous seafood equivalent of sausage: 'seafood sticks'

The "chook" part of this eatery's name deserves but a brief mention: there is little anyone can do to make chicken and chips sexy ... and Roma's doesn't try. And in any case, if chicken and chips is your thing, then you need a serious injection of culinary verve.

Also on offer: salads. These appear to come from an MH deli (convenient, okay, but sometimes on the trailing edge of fresh).

Extra tomato and tartare sauce sachets are available if the included condiments don't meet your requirements.

In addition to the standard range of soft drinks, there is an espresso menu.

Both shops are small and rather cramped with seating at a premium - plan to eat takeaway.

It heartens me greatly that the serving staff were able to tell me how fresh the different fish options were ... even more heartening was that most of it had come in that morning.

For good fish & chips, and a choice of venues, Lunch in Suva gives Roma's Hook & Chook a thumbs-up.

In Summary

Roma's Hook and Chook

Waimanu Road, Samabula

Gordon Street, Suva

Opening Hours:

?

Spend:

$5.50 - $12 per person

Treetops

Treetops has closed, the apparent victim of capitalism. They have been replaced at their lovely location by Barristas, who shall be the subject of a review at some later time. In the mean time, take your desire for focaccia downtown.

Treetops is a small concern, hidden away in the heart of the University of the South Pacific Laucala Bay campus. Despite being right next door to the student dining hall, it has manages to remain the sort of place you can have a leisurely lunch.


This little restaurant is run by the USP Catering Services department, but is open to the public. The interior is cramped and somewhat dingy, but the balcony provides a very pleasant lunching environment, and on fine days one can make use of 4 out-door tables.

My main interest in Treetops is their grilled Focaccia sandwiches. These are offered with a pick-your-own-fillings approach. The Lunch In Suva team are pleased to report (after a bit of experimenting) that the combination of cheese, tomatoes, gherkins, sliced black olives and onion makes an excellent vegetarian focaccia. At $5.50 this makes a good-sized lunch.


The same focaccia bread is also on offer as a variety of mini-pizzas with pre-ordained toppings.

With the exception of the grilled vegetable platter, I am unable to recommend anything from the grill. Actually come to think of it, I can recommend that you stay as far away from it as possible.

Treetops offers one of the few salad bars in Suva. Sadly it is an annoying affair. The thrill of getting cheap ($2.50) salad soon wears off when the salad bowls are no bigger than those little space-savers airlines prefer, and the serving implements never seem suited to the various bits of greenery they are intended to transfer. I have dropped as much salad on the floor as I have ever managed to fit into those bowls.

The usual range of soft drinks, the odd fruit juice, and a very average espresso menu round out your meal options.

In Summary:

Treetops

USP, Laucala Bay Campus

Opening hours

10am - 5pm Monday to Friday

Spend

$5 - $7 per person

Verdict

A big thumbs-up for anything with focaccia bread. Thumbs-down to the grill.

Sweet-T-Pie Coffee Café

This Nasese eatery has closed ... well, it's been closed and sold and is currently under renovation by it's new owners. We will doubtless see further action at this location (it's too close to the new FIRCA hq to go to waste), but in the mean time, take yourself to the new Cakes 2000 digs on Butt St.

Cakes 2000 has had more locations and incarnations than I care to remember. Their latest incarnation in Nasese takes the form of a combined cake-shop and café-style eatery, alternately branded Cakes2000 and Sweet-T-Pie Café.

Their lunch menu consist mainly of:

• A BBQ/Grill section

  The grill has never made me happy ... steak not tender enough, chicken breasts not quite cooked ... or maybe I've just been on all the wrong days.

• All-Day Breakfasts

  A range of protein-rich, 'get-me-started' meals from $6.50 - $11. These have never let me down. The omelettes in particular are always good. Absolutely recommended.

  

• Miscellany at the counter

  A very boring selection of sandwiches, a couple of very heavy stuffed-croissants, a couple of salads, and quite possibly the best fresh fruit-salad in Suva. If you're lucky, you might visit when chocolate éclairs are available, otherwise there will be a small selection of deserts and cakes.

Drinks are a little limited. There is a small selection of fresh fruit juice & smoothies, and a limited espresso stand. A request for anything beyond that will get you a recommendation to visit the soft-drink fridge in the corner shop next door.

I am unable to recommend eating-in unless it is pouring rain, or you turn up very early in the morning to partake of the breakfast menu. The only tables available are outdoors, and under a heavy canvas awning, which does a wonderful pressure-cooker impression if the sun is anywhere in sight. This recommendation may change ... there seems to be work on a new premises on Butt St in the heart of Suva, which promises a large indoor eating area.

Update by kania tiko on 19th April: While the omelettes in general are good, the notable exception are the ones with cheese in them - they use some nasty processed kraft-like "cheese food" substance - prompting me to ask "what's wrong with good old Rewa Cheddar?" In their defence, Picky Eater swears he got the good stuff when last he ate there.

In Summary:

Sweet-T-Pie Coffee Cafe (aka Cakes 2000)

Ratu Sukuna Rd, Nasese

Opening hours

7am - 6pm Monday to Friday, 7am - 3pm on Saturday, 8am - 2pm on Sunday

Spend

$5 - $10 per person

Verdict

A caveated thumbs-up, and thumbs down to "processed cheese foods" of all kinds