Garfish: a blog review

We were not present at the food bloggers’ night, but as we are the food blog nearest to Garfish and we do go there quite often, we will take this opportunity to review it.

Garfish is one of our preferred restaurants in Manly. There is always a good choice of fish and a range of interesting side dishes to go with it according to your taste. This is excellent flexibility. The chefs are very serious and visible and there is no question about the right of customers to send back food if they are not satisfied and have it corrected. But usually this is not necessary.

The staff are usually very pleasant. Occasionally we have experienced inadequately trained staff.
The main obstacle at Garfish is the traffic. It is better in winter or on a rainy day because the windows are closed. When it is fine, with the windows open, the car fumes can be very unpleasant, especially when they are jammed up at the lights as they usually are in Manly on a weekend at lunchtime. Motor bikes and vintage cars are the worst.
The second structural problem is the smoking area at the entrance. Again the windows are usually open when it is fine and the smoke fills the entire eating area. If you complain about the smoke the staff ask the smokers to stop, but complaining somehow spoils the ambience (am I the management?). In the interests of customers and staff if would be advisable to prevent smoke drift

It could also be informative to display information about fish and food on the plasma display panel instead of videocapture 'boat parking on the harbour'. Some customers would like to know where the fish/seafood is sourced from, aquaculture, place of origin etc.

UPDATE 14082011
After many disappointing meals we do not go there anymore...

Image: The roofed smoking area of Garfish, view of Wentworth St, Manly

Fish Mashup and Mad Cow for Dinner?

Would you eat fish that has been caged and fed cow meat or bone meal that could possibly be infected with mad cow disease?

Creutzfeldt Jakob disease can be transmitted through the byproducts rendered from cows.

Scientist are now urging “government regulators to ban feeding cow meat or bone meal to fish until the safety of this common practice can be confirmed...We have not proven that it’s possible for fish to transmit the disease to humans. Still, we believe that out of reasonable caution for public health, the practice of feeding rendered cows to fish should be prohibited"

There are many health issues associated with aquafarming for the consumer, the fish and the environment.

Eating fish in restaurants (in Manly, Sydney) one rarely can make an informed decision whether the animal is sourced from aquaculture or caught in the wild. The menus do not specify such relevant information. The place of origin can be at times elicited from the staff. The right to know seems an irritating extra to staff and management when any other retailer has to display the content on the commodity.

Traceability in the age of RFID belongs to product integrity.

Ask for certified organic products or just go vegetarian.

Source: IOS Press BV (2009, June 17). Farmed Fish May Pose Risk For Mad Cow Disease.
Image: Henri Le Secq, 1855-1856 via Zeno

Sydney Restaurants And Risky Behaviour

A Sydney fish market stored its crabs in a toilet cubicle...SMH

We have pointed out the risky nature of eating at restaurants and suggested improvements.
A coackroach in a meal in one of Manly's 'better restaurants' put an abrupt end to 'eating out'. These unsanitary and unprofessional practices are not the exception in Sydney.

"The past 12 months has seen a number of disturbing breaches on the name and shame list, including cockroaches, rats, a band-aid, a cigarette butt and now this case." SMH "The Food Authority... has issued 1,000 fines the past 12 months against 594 businesses." ABC.
A small fine and it is back to 'business as usual'.

Food Authority NSW

Fruit & Vegetables and Persistent Organic Pollutants in Australia

Eat only organic fruit and vegetables

"The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants is an international environmental treaty that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) ." Wikipedia

In Geneva 150 governments have met to advance global efforts to rid the world of some of the most hazardous chemicals produced by humankind, such as pesticides, flame retardants. The list includes "Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane; Beta hexachlorocyclohexane; Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether; Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether; Chlordecone; Hexabromobiphenyl; Lindane; Pentachlorobenzene; Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride." UNEP

"According to the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority website, Lindane is still registered for use in Queensland, and is used for the prevention of white grubs and symphylids in pineapples." abc

"Australia refuses to join ban on pesticide". Endosulfan is used "...on a variety of crops, including tomatoes, carrots, beans, sweetcorn, peas, cereals, oilseeds, citrus fruit and cotton.This stance has placed Australia in the minority of major economies still using the pesticide, along with the United States, Brazil and India" SMH

• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
• UNEP
• National Toxics Network, very informative
  
• Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority

Update:
Australia might be 'forced' to stop using poisons on food."Endosulfan has been linked to breast cancer, immunosuppression and birth defects, and was recently implicated in the discovery of millions of two-headed fish larvae in a Noosa River hatchery...It is still permitted for use on a wide range of citrus fruit, vegetables and cereals, despite a global trend of banning endosulfan outright." SMH 251009

Meat and gastro - What is the human caused connection?

97% of bacterial gastro-enteritis in humans is traceable to 'domesticated' meats. " Chicken and cattle are the principal sources of C. jejuni pathogenic to humans..." Animals living in their own habitat only accounted for 3 %. Campylobacter jejuni, living in the gut of poultry and mammals is being distributed into the human food chain. Preparing or consuming the infected meat is the main route for infection.
A lot needs to be done at the source of meat-production, transportation and processing, to not 'spill the guts' around. Sporadic gastro-enteritis through water or restaurants is very common. Even by being a vegetarian, one is still exposed to this 'slop-back' via water and implements. What a 'culture'!
The DNA sequencing research was conducted by Daniel Wilson, of the University of Chicago, and formerly Lancaster University, United Kingdom
via Wilson DJ, Gabriel E, Leatherbarrow AJH, Cheesbrough J, Gee S, et al. (2008) Tracing the Source of Campylobacteriosis. PLoS Genet 4(9): e1000203. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1000203
Image: Egyptian relief, Berlin Museum 08

Ranking restaurants to avoid illness

As food-related illnesses are very common in Australia it would be wonderful to participate in a consumer-driven ranking of restaurants and other eateries such as CleanScores.

"The goal of CleanScores is to reduce the incidence of food-related illnesses by helping consumers make informed restaurant choices based on official hygiene inspections."