A walkway slips through beside the Woolworths in Ostend and comes out on Putiki Road, where a small kiosk has built a serious reputation for fish and chips, the best on the island and, for plenty of eaters, the best they've had anywhere from England to Melbourne. It opens five days a week from midday and shuts Tuesday and Wednesday, so build your island day around that.
The fish changes with whatever is fresh that morning, gurnard and snapper and gemfish, and you choose how it's cooked: a light, crisp batter that eats closer to tempura than a heavy beer crust, a herb-flecked crumb, or straight on the grill. Chips are thick cut and properly crunchy, and there's a row of salts and vinegars to shake over them, the pickled onion one worth seeking out. Beyond the classic scoop you've got a fish burger on toasted brioche, a fish pie for two, seafood chowder, salmon spring rolls and a seafood grazing box that needs ordering ahead.
It's a takeaway with a terrace to sit at, tucked into a quiet residential street a short walk from the Ostend market and the bus, so ring your order through, because the phone runs hot and the fryer queue can stretch.
Written from 118 Google reviews, every one we could get, on 12 November 2026. Rated 5.0 from 104 Google reviews.
The 3 Fishes has a 5 from 118 reviews, and people keep saying the same thing: this is the best fish and chips many have eaten, with several going as far as best in New Zealand and a few further still, England to Vancouver included. Fresh fish cooked to order and a genuinely warm welcome do the rest.
Order the seafood box, loaded with oysters, mussels, prawns, raw fish, smoked fish, salmon and slaw, and ring ahead for it. The fish comes battered, crumbed or grilled, with gurnard and gemfish the standouts, the batter light and crisp and the crumb well spiced. Add mushy peas, homemade curry sauce and the brioche fish burger.
The owner is half the reason you come back, talking you through the fish he has in that day and how each one takes to batter or crumb, and he's been known to bump a walk-in order up the queue when the phones are hot. Even a 40 minute wait comes with straight talk and good humour. Ring ahead and it's ready on the dot.
It's a small kiosk off the main road in Ostend, down a walkway beside the supermarket, with a terrace out front to eat on while it's hot. The street is quiet and residential, the sort of spot where a neighbourhood duck wanders past, and it's an easy walk from the Ostend market and the bus.
Portions are generous enough that two pieces of fish and chips comfortably feed two, and the prices are gentle for Waiheke. You're paying for fresh fish and hand-made sides rather than something out of a freezer. The family special and the seafood box feed a crowd without hurting.
It's a great lunch stop on an island day, and the short walk from the Ostend market makes it an easy part of a Saturday. Families come with kids, cyclists pull in, and couples have marked an anniversary over the seafood box. Think relaxed takeaway dinner rather than a restaurant night.
The big one is timing, because this place gets busy and a walk-in at peak hour can mean a 45 minute wait, so ring your order through. What's available depends on the day, so an early call is safer, and the doors are shut Tuesday and Wednesday.
Every fact on this page was checked on 8 November 2026 against Google, The 3 Fishes's own website and 118 of its Google reviews. The photo is from the eatout library, not taken here, and no venue pays to be listed or ranked. Something out of date? Tell us
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