By Hannah Mars, From Buzzfeed – [November 20th 2015] Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahmars/fish-and-chips-and-enlightenment?utm_medium=email&bffbfood&utm_term=.rh8LoNV7n#.rpJEOaRLd Newtown is known for its many vegan-friendly eateries. There’s even a vegetarian butcher . Now, the quirky inner-west suburb is also home to Sydney’s first vegan fish ‘n’ chip shop. Bliss & Chips is located on King Street, near Missenden Road. From the outside, it looks like your typical fish ‘n’ chips shop. Nothing screams “vegan”. The bench seats and simple wooden tables are decor leftover from Burgerlicious, the site’s previous occupant. The menu is handwritten in blue marker on a backlit whiteboard behind the counter, where you order and pay. Everything on offer is totally plant-based, though judging by appearances, you wouldn’t know it. The menu mimics a traditional Aussie fish ‘n’ chip shop, including the usual deep-fried seafood suspects, burgers, potato scallops, mash and gravy, coleslaw, and tartare sauce. The drinks are more reminiscent of a stereotypical vegan outlet, including kombucha soda and house-made cold-pressed juices. Owner Liss Harry told BuzzFeed Life that she came up with the idea during Vispassana, a 10-day silent meditation. “It just came to me,” she says. “I’ve worked in the food industry for 20 years, and I saw a gap in the vegan market.” Harry, who has a food science degree in chemistry and biological science, spent three years working with manufacturers around the world to perfect her products. Ingredients include soy-based proteins and konjac, a gelatin-like substance of Asian origin. Most items are gluten-free and coeliac friendly. The “seafood” basket gives you a taste of the calamari, crabstick, prawn, and bliss fish. In terms of taste, nothing is overtly oceanic, though the texture of each item is uncannily realistic; spongey yet firm as you would expect from your average sea creature. The chips (though vegan anyway) are solid, seasoned with a plant-based alternative to chicken salt. Burger options include faux fish, prawn, and chicken, with customisable toppings. The “chicken” burger comes on a gluten-free bun with crunchy colesaw, lime and chilli “mayo”, and cashew-based “cheese”. The nuggets have the same chewy bite as a well-fried schnitzel. For dessert, there’s even a deep-fried “Mars Bar”. On the menu, it’s called a “twilight bar.” There’s also a “jokerz bar”, which is like a Snickers. Also, rather ambiguously, there’s “butter”, which Harry says is “literally deep-fried vegan butter”. In the future, Harry wants to expand the menu and improve on her current offerings. “I want everything to be nature identical. So for example, the “fish” will have omega-3,” she says. There are also plans to turn the front counter into a salad bar, with rotating seasonal options. For now however, Harry says: “I just want to get this perfect.”