Restaurants in Christchurch & Canterbury
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Two Fat Indians
Closed until further notice.
Drawing backpackers and locals alike, this polished twin-room eatery lives by the tagline 'The art of pint and curry'. The extensive menu pleases both carnivores and vegetarians, and includes palak kofta (spinach dumplings) and a reliable chicken tikka masala, all with matching beer recommendations.
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Caffe Roma
Closed until further notice.
Often voted Christchurch’s best spot for breakfast, a relaxed attitude at Caffe Roma means goodies such as salmon with hash browns are available until 3.30pm every day.
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Bodhi Tree
Closed until further notice.
Christchurch’s only Burmese restaurant is also one of the city’s best eateries. Don’t come expecting bold flavours from neighbouring Thailand, but look forward to subtle food crafted from exceptionally fresh ingredients. Standout dishes include the le pet thoke (pickled tea leaf salad) and the ciandi thoke (grilled eggplant). Meat and seafood also feature. Dishes are entrée-sized so drum up a group and sample lots of different flavours. Bookings are essential.
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Lotus Heart
Closed until further notice.
This organic, vegetarian eatery does curries, freshly squeezed juices and filled pita pockets. There’s another more central branch above the i-SITE in Cathedral Sq with longer opening hours, which operates as a more spacious restaurant with tasty veg pizzas and casseroles (mains $8 to $16).
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Sticky Fingers
Closed until further notice.
Carnivores can go crazy here on aged beef fillet, twice-cooked duck or on numerous pizzas and pastas. Follow your main course with 'Love Handles' (kiwi-fruit pavlova with hokey-pokey ice cream) for a slice of sweet kiwiana.
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Liquidity
Closed until further notice.
Liquidity’s eclectic and stylish decor mixing chandeliers and warm timber tones combines with a diverse and proudly local menu. Free-range chicken with Israeli couscous and prime Canterbury lamb are a cut above other players on ‘the Strip’. Later at night good cocktails and plenty of European beer on tap fuels Liquidity’s eventual metamorphosis into a bar. Eclectic beats kick off most nights from 10pm. The morning after it’s a good riverside option for brunch ($13 to $20).
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Poppies Cafe
The versatile Poppies is a classy addition to the Twizel dining scene. Lunch showcases lighter meals like Thai beef salad, and dinner is a slightly more formal experience with steak frites and venison escalope. Excellent pizzas ($17 to $24) occupy a tasty middle ground. Where possible, organic and locally sourced produce is used. You’ll find Poppies on the outskirts of town near the Mackenzie Country Inn.
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Astro Café
This tiny, glass-walled pavilion atop Mt John has insanely spectacular 360-degree views across the entire Mackenzie Basin. Quite possibly one of the best locations on the planet for a cafe, and the coffee and cake is pretty good, too. On our latest visit they’d branched out into fresh ham-off-the-bone sandwiches. After dark the cafe becomes the location for astrophotography with local photographer Fraser Gunn.
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Old Mountaineers Café, Bar & Restaurant
Cosy in winter, with mountain views from outside tables in summer, this place delivers top-notch burgers, pizza, pasta and salad and is a good-value alternative to the eateries at the Hermitage. Linger to study the old black-and-white pics and mountaineering memorabilia. You might still be there for happy hour – actually two hours – when it kicks off at 5pm. Paid wi-fi access is also available.
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Under the Red Verandah
This lovely old villa is always packed with regulars, especially on bustling weekend mornings. Weekdays are slightly less busy, but still a good time for lots of organic and gluten-free baking, and mains including grilled haloumi on ciabatta and wonderfully robust oaty pancakes. The on-site deli and gallery space are further reasons to make the flat 30-minute walk from town.
reviewed
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Tatsumi Kitchen & Pub
Closed until further notice.
Grab a table, or prop yourself at the bar with a handle of draught Asahi beer and choose from an almost-too-big selection of Japanese snacks and small plates. The sushi and sashimi is supremely fresh, and there’s a tad more innovation – soft shell crabs or fish carpaccio anyone? – than your usual Japanese eatery. Lunch specials ($15) are particularly good value.
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Le Bon Bolli
A French-leaning menu is served within this brassiere's inspired interior, with one room daubed with frescoes; upstairs is a more formal dining space (open for dinner, mains around NZ$32). The Caesar salad here is excellent, as is the crème brûlée (even if they do say so themselves). You can stop by just for bubbly or coffee on the terrace too.
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Chinwag
Closed until further notice.
Designer Thai food comes to Christchurch with subtle spins on the traditional Thai cookbook. Start the night with a heady Wild Thang cocktail and graduate to zingy, zesty dishes including green curry with prawns and baby corn. Bookings recommended. There is another branch dubbed Chinwag II ( [tel] 03-366 4544) at 131 Victoria St, with the same opening hours.
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Monster Yakitori
Classic cocktails and boutique Kiwi beers and wines provide the liquid sustenance for an extended bout of grazing and drinking at this quirky anime-themed yakitori bar. All the skewered goodies are grilled as you wait; one of the favourites here is the ebi bacon – prawns wrapped in bacon with plum wasabi. DJs kick in most Saturday nights from 10pm.
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Governor’s Bay Hotel
The Governor’s Bay Hotel serves tasty burgers, fish and chips, and more innovative meals of char-grilled tuna or curry prawn laksa. Enjoy a beer on the cool veranda dotted with memoirs of the hotel’s 140 years of history. Upstairs there is accommodation in simple but sunny rooms with shared bathrooms (doubles $100).
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C'est la Vie
C'est la Vie This popular and tiny eatery, about the size of a pétanque green, dishes up superior versions of Gallic goodies like canard (duck) and escargot (snails). When you're replete following your créme caramel, try and find room to scrawl your own glowing review on the walls.
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Laurels
The most common answer to ‘So, what’s the most romantic place in town?’, the Laurels works hard to showcase Waipara Valley wines and local produce including lamb and salmon. On cooler nights, beside the open fire is the place to be, while during summer, the action is alfresco in the delightful bricked courtyard.
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Pepe’s
With large booths and walls decorated with skiing paraphernalia, the rustic Pepe’s is a cosy little place with good pizza and pasta. Some of the names are a bit naff (Vinnie’s Venison or Spag Bol Bada Bing, anyone?), but the dishes are tasty, and later at night it becomes a good spot for a few quiet ones.
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Bully Hayes
Named after a well-travelled American buccaneer, the menu at this sunny spot kicks off with Akaroa salmon before touching down in New York for gourmet burgers, Italy for pasta, and a leisurely final stop in Spain for tapas. Monteith’s beers and a good local wine list make it a worthwhile place to linger.
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Brew Moon Garden Café & Brewery
The Brew Moon Garden Café & Brewery on SH75 in Amberley crafts four different beers; sample them all for $8.80. One of the favourites is the gloriously hoppy Hophead IPA. Gourmet pizzas ($20 to $25) and meals including Akaroa salmon and steak sandwiches are also available.
reviewed
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Indochine
Closed until further notice.
Indochine’s menu travels seamlessly from China to Thailand, and it’s usual for the mains to also feature a brave pan-Asian fusion focus. The successful experimentation continues on the cocktail list, which includes the mighty Indochine Mojito, blending vanilla-infused rum and palm sugar.
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Reflections
Grab an outdoor table with views to the lake – try and look past the minigolf course – then select from a decent menu that includes roasted venison or baked Mt Cook salmon. Lunchtime offerings are more casual (burgers and salads) and next door is the town’s pub for more nocturnal action.
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Mum’s
Closed until further notice.
No-nonsense food just like Mum used to make. That’s if you grew up in Seoul or Tokyo anyway. More than a few Japanese and Korean language students regularly co-opt Mum’s as their tasty home-away-from-home, and the sushi, sashimi and bowls of ramen noodles remain authentic.
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Ginger & Garlic
Timaru’s take on sophisticated food with a subtle Asian spin is showcased at this long-running local favourite. Standouts include calamari and prawn spring rolls, and honey-spice pork on sticky miso rice. The menu also includes dishes with a European and Middle Eastern influence.
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Lunes
Closed until further notice.
Just maybe the perfect Christchurch cafe: Lunes mixes cool jazz, a professorial approach to making coffee, and perfect midafternoon treats like baked New York cheesecake. Only open for six weeks during research, and is already easily one of the favourite caffeine haunts in town.
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