Hi

Yah your still open, great coffee…miss the yummy cakes..orange almond…and that devine carrot cake with apricots and walnuts!!

Hello , I love coming to this café, I love the carrot and chocolate cake!! Divine.
I ‘m home here in New Zealand for a short holiday from Europe.
I have been sad to read some sad things in the press which I believe to be untrue.
I bring my 2 young children here and there are highchairs, childrens menu, fluffys, and even a toy box and the café itself is located metres from a play ground.
The building is older but has a pleasant feel and the tables have nice flowers upon them. Surely after the earthquake we would be fighting to keep our historic buildings.
There is going to be new café complex built in the next year or two leaving the exsisting café empty. I remember us kiwis as being polite, positive and friendly reading peoples nasty comments in the paper or online are awful and I hope it doesn’t paint us kiwis as whingey people.
I love the chicken sandwich too!! Thanks I’ll be back next time I’m home.

Wow – previous comments made about the cafe couldn’t be further from the truth!! I booked a table for my Birthday lunch – everything was confirmed via E-mail, which was fantastic. Got to the Gardens to find that every man and his dog was out on that day – wonderful weather. Our table was situated inside and we had space to move around, especially with the 3 kiddies and high chair that had to be accommodated. Lunch orders were placed and paid for, food arrived and it was wonderful, I had the Chicken, Bacon & Avocado open sandwich (without the avocado, because I don’t like it). It was yummy!!! The kids had chicken nuggets and chips and were then treated to an iced chocolate. Dessert!!!! OMG the Belgium Chocolate cake…….. it was to die for!! For the two hours that we were there, a queue was always formed, not by lack of staff etc, but by the number of people that were visiting that day. Thanks to the staff for making my birthday wonderful!!!

I would rate this business a score of zero if only MenuMania allowed its users to rate lower than one star!

My family and I have been to this cafe several times whilst visiting the gardens only to be appalled at the state of the cabinet and the blatant lack of service on the part of the staff.

After much questioning (the less than enthusiastic staff member chose to reply in grunts only), we were finally able to conclude from her mumbles that the kitchen was closed and that we would instead have to opt for something that was already in the cabinet.

What little food there was looked as though it would soon grow legs and try to escape, so we decided to skip the food and stick to bottled drinks and a coffee.

Considering that it was not very busy (I myself spotted what appeared to be numerous tourists entering the building and leaving again moments later), you would at least expect the tables to be clean – they weren’t.

When our coffee finally arrived, the waitress curtly asked us, “Is that it?”, before storming back inside.

Overall I find the low standard to be very disappointing, considering the fantastic location.

What a shame that some tourists will come to Christchurch and only dine at places such as these – The botanical gardens Cafe truly gives our city a bad name!

What a poor excuse for a cafe. Considering that this is a prime tourist spot and a beautiful location, I would have expected something of a high standard. The food looked as if it had been sitting there for quite a while,(not surprising as it did not look at all appetising!) and so we opted for a bowl of fries..we figured you can’t go far wrong with fries.. only to find that kitchen was closed. This was around 3ish in the middle of summer, and there were still hundreds of people around. I can’t understand why a tourist hotspot should be so under par when there are so many good cafes around which the average tourist will probably never get to see.
Oh, and not to mention the drink my daughter bought.. a bottle of coke, no offer of a glass or straw and they didn’t open it either. We had to go back to ask them to open it with their bottle opener. SAD

hi, i come to this cafe at least once a fortnight for the last 2 years, the food in the cabinet is always delicious and the cakes and slices are top quality home made and delicious. The food on the menu is delicious and well presented and the coffee is fab. I come here with my young children and the staff are always friendly and helpful ,thank you. I dont know what the other comments are based on but im a fan.

Sorry, but have to back-up the first 3 comments. Great location…what a shame about the rest.

Very friendly, Great food , very yummy goats cheese tart!!!

Shame about those other comments , dont know what there talking about, probably used to fast food??!!!

We were visiting ChCh last week and had afternoon coffee and cake with friends. Cakes were of poor quality and coffee not good. A shame in such a lovely setting

The food was poor, very ordinary.
The fly in the food cabinet was very off putting and the staff were very slow at doing anything about it. Then had excuses about the fact that it was getting near summer and the flies were attracted to the food etc. I was told that a spray thing had been requested but had not come and it was hoped that it would soon. I do too as there won’t be any customers soon. Word does get around. It is such a nice area to have a cafe. All my group were very disappointed with the food and the lack of welcome from the staff, dead pan faces no smiles. We were disappointed as we have had some good experiences there.