Portside Takeaways sits on George Street in Port Chalmers, and it covers three takeaway cravings at once: proper fish and chips, a full hamburger board, and an extensive Chinese kitchen. That makes it the kind of shop where one order can satisfy the chip-lover, the burger fan and the fried-rice devotee at the same table.
The fryer is at the heart of things, turning out battered Hoki, large sole fillets and battered blue cod alongside the classics — hotdogs, sausages, spring rolls, wontons, squid rings, potato cakes, pineapple rings and doughnuts. The shop's own top sellers are exactly what you'd expect from a beloved local takeaway: chips, wontons, Hoki, hotdogs, squid rings and onion rings.
Beyond the fryer, the Chinese menu is unusually broad for a suburban takeaway: fried rice, chow mein and fried noodles in many variations, sweet and sour and lemon dishes, foo young eggs, wok dishes with cashews, black bean, satay and hot Szechuan sauces, dumplings, crispy chicken on rice and an all-in-one Dinner Box.
Ordering is easy online, with pickup slots starting from 11:00 AM and delivery available to Port Chalmers and the surrounding harbour-side bays. Secure online payments are accepted by Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, and the ordering site works in both English and Chinese.
Port Chalmers has its share of places to eat, but when the whole household wants something different for dinner, Portside Takeaways on George Street has a way of solving the problem. From one shop, this harbour-side takeaway turns out three menus at once: proper fish and chips, a full line-up of hamburgers, and an extensive Chinese kitchen — so a single order can cover the chip-lover, the burger fan and the fried-rice devotee at the same table.
Like any good New Zealand takeaway, the deep-fryer is where Portside earns its keep. The cabinet runs from battered Hoki — the fish most orders are built around — to large sole fillets and battered blue cod for those after something richer. Around the fish sit all the classics: hotdogs, plain and battered sausages, meat and vege spring rolls, wontons, squid rings, potato cakes, hash browns, pineapple rings, corn on the cob, plus crumbed scallops and mussels when a seafood mood strikes. There is even a sweet side, with doughnuts, jam and chocolate donuts coming out of the fryer.
The shop's own top sellers tell the story: chips, wontons, Hoki, hotdogs, squid rings and onion rings — simple food, done the way regulars expect.
The hamburger board is one of the bigger you will find at a suburban takeaway, and it is built on fresh meat beef patties. Start at a plain, cheese, pineapple, tomato or onion burger and work up through egg, bacon, steak, double-meat and Hawaiian versions. The Deluxe stacks egg, bacon, cheese and pineapple into one bun. There are off-patty options too — a fish burger with no meat patty, a chicken burger on a chicken patty, and a vegetarian burger for non-meat eaters.
Where Portside genuinely stretches beyond the typical fish-and-chip shop is its Chinese menu. Fried rice comes in chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, combination and vegetable versions, with nasi goreng, chicken curry fried rice and steak tomato on rice alongside. Chow mein and fried noodles follow the same pattern, including Singapore fried noodles and bami goreng.
Then there are the saucy mains: sweet and sour pork, fish, chicken and wontons; lemon fish and lemon chicken; foo young eggs in six varieties; and wok dishes pairing chicken, pork or beef with cashew nuts, mushrooms, pineapple, vegetables, black bean sauce or a hot Szechuan sauce, plus ginger beef and satay on rice. Dumplings (meat or vegetarian) and crispy chicken — plain, Korean, satay or honey — round out the newer additions. For an easy all-in-one meal, the Dinner Box packs two wontons, two dumplings and sweet and sour pork on rice, while crispy chicken on rice comes in four sauce styles.
Portside runs online ordering through its website, where you can pre-order and choose a pickup time — pickup orders start from 11:00 AM. Payments are taken securely online, with Visa, Mastercard and PayPal accepted, and the ordering site works in both English and Chinese. If you would rather not drive into Port Chalmers, delivery is available for a flat $10 fee across Broad Bay, Careys Bay, Company Bay, Portobello, Roseneath, Saint Leonards, Sawyers Bay and Port Chalmers itself.
Opening hours vary, so the live status on the online ordering page is the best guide before you head out. The menu flags gluten-free, vegetarian, sugar-free and dairy-free items, and vegetarians are genuinely catered for with vege burgers, vegetarian patties, vege spring rolls, vegetable fried rice, noodles and chow mein, and vegetarian dumplings. Extras like additional meat, fried rice, noodles, curry, chilli or cashew nuts let you bulk up any dish, and the Szechuan dishes are marked hot for a reason. Whether you are after a scoop of chips and a hotdog, a stacked Deluxe burger, or a container of sweet and sour pork with fried rice, Portside Takeaways covers the whole takeaway spectrum from one George Street counter.