Hong Kong Tastes Takeaways on Seaview Road in New Brighton, Christchurch, covers both sides of the Kiwi takeaway tradition on one menu. The Hong Kong-style kitchen turns out fried rice, curry dishes, egg fu young and classics built on sweet and sour, black bean, satay, oyster and lemon sauces, with wonton, dumpling and noodle soups alongside. The fish-and-chip side of the counter fries hoki, gurnard and snapper with chips, plus everything from spring rolls, hot dogs and potato fritters to paua fritters, scallops, oysters and deep-fried Moro bars.
Burgers and grills - steak, eggs and chips, chicken and chips, a loaded King Burger - bridge the two, while family set menus serving two to five people and special packs at every size make group orders easy. Milkshakes and thickshakes cover drinks, and a half-and-half option lets you split any dish two ways.
Ordering is available online, with pickup and delivery (not contactless). It's a neighbourhood spot built for easy weeknight dinners, Friday fish and chips and feeds for the whole family.
On Seaview Road in New Brighton, Christchurch, Hong Kong Tastes Takeaways serves a menu that could only come from a neighbourhood shop with its feet in two worlds. One half of the board is Hong Kong-style Chinese takeaway - fried rice, sweet and sour, egg fu young, wonton soup and dishes built around black bean, satay, oyster and lemon sauces. The other half is the great New Zealand corner-shop tradition: fish and chips, burgers, hot dogs, potato fritters and doughnuts, all fried to order.
The deep-fried side of the menu runs long. Fish comes in three classic varieties - hoki, gurnard and snapper - alongside chips and kumara chips, wedges, spring rolls, curry rolls, battered sausages and hot dogs. The fritter selection runs deep too: potato, corn, mussel and paua fritters, the last a genuinely Kiwi delicacy. Seafood stretches to scallops, oysters, squid rings, crab sticks and prawn twisters, there is fried chicken by the whole, half or quarter, and a deep-fried Moro bar for anyone with a sweet tooth.
The burger list covers all the classics - ham, egg, cheese, fish, chicken, mushroom, bacon and steak, plus combinations like bacon and egg or steak and egg, with a loaded King Burger at the top. The grill adds heartier plates: steak, sausages or oysters with eggs and chips, or chicken with chips by the half or quarter.
Then there is the Hong Kong side of the menu, a greatest-hits list of Chinese takeaway favourites. Fried rice comes in vegetable, chicken, beef, roast pork, shrimp and combination versions, and the same lineup carries through the curries with rice, egg fu young, and plates built on black bean, satay and oyster sauces - with sweet and sour, lemon sauce, and cashew nuts with pineapple offering their own takes. Soups include wonton, dumpling and wonton noodle bowls served with eight won tons or dumplings, plus chicken and sweet corn, and steak and mushroom. Honey chicken, boiled dumplings by the dozen, pork buns and cucumber salad round things out, while nasi goreng and bami goreng add an Indonesian accent.
Sweet and sour is the benchmark dish at any Chinese takeaway, and here you can have it with battered pork, won tons, chicken, fish or mussels. Can't pick between two sauces? The half-and-half option gives you half of one dish and half of another in a single order.
The set menus take the guesswork out of group dinners. Set Menu #1 serves two to three people with sweet and sour pork, beef black bean sauce and combination fried rice. Set Menu #2 steps up to three or four with sweet and sour won ton, roast pork with oyster sauce, chicken chow mein and combination fried rice, and Set Menu #3 feeds four to five across five dishes including chicken and cashew nuts and beef chow mein.
For bigger spreads there are special packs at every size, from a solo snack pack - spring roll, sausage, fish and chips - up to an extra-large pack of ten fish, spring rolls, hot dogs, potato fritters and two scoops of chips. Named combos such as the Snack Attack Pack and the Classic Kiwi Combo bundle in a 330ml drink, and share packs of chicken nibbles, onion rings, prawn twisters, nuggets, squid rings, potato fritters or won tons keep a grazing table happy.
Ordering is set up for convenience: order online and choose pickup or delivery, noting that delivery is not contactless. Milkshakes and thickshakes cover the drinks, and sides of tomato, tartare, mayo, garlic butter or sweet and sour sauce are there if you like your chips properly dressed.
Hong Kong Tastes Takeaways is the sort of place that becomes a weekly ritual - fish and chips on a Friday, sweet and sour with fried rice midweek, a big special pack when the whole family turns up. For New Brighton locals it puts both of takeaway culture's greatest hits on one menu, cooked to order and packed for the trip home.