If you’ve been at the MCG, you live on the river bend off Burnley Street, or you’re after a chippery that does an actual seafood platter, the Richmond fish-and-chips question lands fast: where do locals actually go, and what’s worth the queue versus what’s just convenient? This guide cuts through the 3 shops worth knowing in Richmond as of April 2026 — real addresses, real specialities, real practicalities (phone-ahead times, parking, where to eat the parcel afterwards). No fabricated reviews, no chain franchises. Where pricing is verified it’s quoted; where it isn’t, you’ll see a ‘phone to confirm’ flag rather than a guess. Bookmark this before your next bay-side or warm-weeknight dinner run.
3 shops worth the queue
1. Hunky Dory
Address: Bridge Rd / Swan St, Richmond
Known for modern gourmet chippery — pick your fish, choose preparation, multiple sides. The signal worth checking: Tripadvisor #1 of 17 Quick Bites in Richmond. Phone before walking down on weekend evenings — Richmond chippers run lean staffing and 6:30pm Friday queues are normal.
2. The Fish Market
Address: 272 Bridge Rd, Richmond
Known for fresh fish cooked in fresh oil — the basics done well. The signal worth checking: Tripadvisor verified, longstanding operator. Phone before walking down on weekend evenings — Richmond chippers run lean staffing and 6:30pm Friday queues are normal.
3. Richmond Fish N Chips
Address: 73 Swan St, Richmond
Known for Swan Street strip operation — quick takeaway. The signal worth checking: Yelp listed; verify hours before visiting. Phone before walking down on weekend evenings — Richmond chippers run lean staffing and 6:30pm Friday queues are normal.
What Richmond does differently
Richmond’s chippery scene is the most varied in the inner east because the suburb itself is — Vietnamese on Victoria Street, hospitality on Swan Street, residential on the river bend. Hunky Dory is the modern-gourmet play; The Fish Market is the old-school one. Both work for different missions.
Practical notes
Hunky Dory: sit-down with a wine list, book on Saturday nights. The Fish Market: collect and walk to Yarra Boulevard for a riverside picnic — the boulevard has fixed benches at the bend near Burnley. Tram 48/75 along Bridge Road; train to Richmond station for either Swan Street or Bridge Road.
Phone-ahead rule: any chippery worth eating from will let you phone an order in. Saves 10-25 minutes at peak. Most Richmond shops will hold a parcel hot for 10-15 minutes before quality drops; don’t push past that.
BYO beach picnic: if you’ve collected from a takeaway shop, the foreshore reserves in this part of Melbourne almost universally allow eating-on-the-grass with no glass bottles. A folded picnic rug, a small thermos, and a roll of paper towel covers it.
Bottom line
Start with Hunky Dory at Bridge Rd / Swan St, Richmond — it’s the venue most consistently named by Richmond locals and review platforms across 2025–2026, and the signal (“Tripadvisor #1 of 17 Quick Bites in Richmond”) matches what you’d expect for the price. If they’re closed or the queue is past your patience, The Fish Market is the second-best fallback in the same band.
Verify trading hours on each venue’s socials before walking down — peninsula and bayside shops shift hours sharply between summer and winter, and a phone call saves a wasted trip. Bookmark this page and revisit in spring 2026; we update the named operators each season.
Reviewed and signed by Ailsa Merrick for melbz.com.au — April 2026. Venue claims sourced from public review aggregators (Tripadvisor, Yelp, Word of Mouth, Restaurant Guru, Urban List, Time Out, Broadsheet, Man of Many) and venue listings as of the publication date.
