Russley Fish Supply is a classic Kiwi fish and chip shop on Cutts Rd in Christchurch's Russley, serving battered fish, scoops of hot chips and made-to-order burgers for pickup and delivery. Rated 4.1 on its online ordering platform, it is the kind of neighbourhood takeaway where the top sellers are exactly what you would hope for: a piece of fried fish, a full scoop of chips, a hot dog and potato fritters by the piece.
The menu runs far broader than the name suggests. The fried section stretches from wedges, kumara chips and onion rings to battered mussels, squid rings, scallops, wontons and fish bites, and takes in an unusually deep line-up of patties — meat, steak, chicken, corn, mussel, bacon and corn, and paua — plus spring rolls, curry rolls, chicken kebabs and fried sweets from jam donuts to a deep-fried Moro bar. The burger board covers every combination from plain and cheese through beetroot, egg and chow chow to the towering Giant and Monster builds.
Bigger appetites are looked after with meals like the Fisherman's Basket, Mix Grill and the bacon, egg, sausage and chips plate, while the specials board lifts the tone with crumbed hoki and gurnard or blue cod fillets, crumbed or battered. Everything can be pre-ordered online with secure Visa, Mastercard or PayPal payment, for pickup at the shop or delivery — fees apply — across a long list of Christchurch suburbs. Hours run in split shifts most days, with lunch from 11:30am and dinner from 4:30pm; Friday opens straight through from 11:30am to 8:30pm.
Russley Fish Supply is a neighbourhood takeaway on Cutts Rd in Christchurch's Russley, doing the two things New Zealand judges a chip shop on: fish and chips, and burgers. There is nothing fussy about the formula — hot food, fried to a golden finish, handed over the counter or delivered to the door. What sets the place apart is the sheer width of the menu, which reaches well past the basics into patties, fritters, kebabs, donuts and even a deep-fried Moro bar.
Fish and chips are the heart of the operation, and the top-sellers list confirms it: battered Fish, a full Scoop of Chips, Hot Dogs, Potato Fritters and Chicken Nuggets by the piece. Half scoops of chips keep solo diners happy, while French fries, wedges and bags of kumara chips cover the alternatives.
The real depth is in the patties. Alongside meat, steak and chicken patties you will find mussel patties, paua patties, corn patties and bacon and corn patties — and, for the curious, a fried lasagne topper. The seafood side runs from battered mussels, squid rings and battered scallops to seafood sticks, fish bites, wontons and gurnard, a prized local catch. Add spring rolls, curry rolls, mini vege spring rolls by the dozen, corn nuggets by the dozen, chicken kebabs, onion rings, chicken nibbles and big hot dogs, and you have a fried menu that can absorb almost any craving.
There are sweets, too: plain, chocolate and jam donuts, a black forest donut, and the gloriously over-the-top deep fried Moro bar.
The burger board starts simple — a Plain Burger — then adds one topping at a time: cheese, egg, tomato, beetroot, pineapple, mushroom, chow chow or bacon. From there the builds grow: fish, chicken and cheese, vegetarian and Hawaiian burgers, a steak and egg burger for the hearty, and finally the Giant and the Monster for anyone who arrived truly hungry. Lighter eaters are looked after as well, since individual pieces of wontons, onion rings or a single fritter make it easy to build anything from a small snack to a family spread.
For a full plate, the Meals section pairs hot chips with bacon, sausage or steak and egg, plus a combined bacon, egg and sausage feast. The Fisherman's Basket gathers the seafood favourites into one order, and the Mix Grill is the kitchen's most substantial plate.
The Specials step things up for fish lovers: crumbed fish and crumbed hoki, then gurnard fillets — crumbed or battered — and blue cod fillets available both ways. Blue cod sits at the top of the list, the kind of order that turns a weekday takeaway into a treat night.
Russley Fish Supply runs split hours on most days. Lunch service runs 11:30am to 1:30pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, with dinner from 4:30pm — until 7:30pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 8pm on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Friday is the long day, opening 11:30am and running straight through to 8:30pm with no afternoon gap, while Sunday and Monday are dinner-only affairs.
Ordering happens online, with secure payments by Visa, Mastercard or PayPal. You can pre-order for a set pickup time or choose delivery — fees apply — across a long list of Christchurch suburbs stretching from Fendalton, Riccarton and Burnside through to Hornby, Halswell, the central city and out to Prebbleton.
Whether it is a Friday-night fish feast, a basket of squid rings and wedges to share, or a Monster Burger that demands both hands, Russley Fish Supply keeps the neighbourhood takeaway tradition going one order at a time.