Beach Bar

Sumner

 22/05/2013

Love this place. This bar/cafe has never worked in the past and now it does. Decor fabulous and well designed, food beautiful and i have tried several different meals as have been several times plus very affordable, and the wine selection although not extensive has some good options eg The Doctors Riesling is my pick

Duo Dining Room & Bar

Christchurch Central

 22/05/2013

We had a group lunch at Duo on the 17th May for 9 people. Before we even went to the restaurant to eat I found the staff very friendly and obliging. We had one guest with certain dietary requirements and upon notifying Duo they promptly offered an alternative option. No fuss = Fantastic! All our guests absolutely loved the food, I have never had across the board positive feedback from a group, as always its hard to please everyone but in this case Duo did just that. The portion sizes of food and drink are by far the best value I have seen in Christchurch for some time and this is a massive plus. The standard of service is also definitely worth a mention. All our guests on the day are well versed is dining out and everyone felt that the attentive but yet not over the top service was exceptional. We will all be back.

Curry Time Indian Restaurant

Redwood

 21/05/2013

This Café Restaurant for customer service is one of the best .I visited this place because of our son gave us a voucher . The meal was perfect in all respects and I would definitely return and advise anyone visiting Christchurch to have a meal at this establishment

Indian Fendalton

Fendalton

 21/05/2013

Went here on Saturday night and loved it! THe food was great, very authentic. The naans are huge so listen to the wait staff when they say you wont need a whole naan each! The menu has so much choice I couldn’t believe it too which is great if you are fussy, or in the mood for something specific. We had onion bhajis to start and they are well worth the money. You get 4 big bhajis for $6 and they are indeed big and very tasty. Everyone I was with loved their meals and said they would definitely return. The only complaint I would say is that the restaurant is very small so when people come in to pick up or order takeaway, they squeeze between you and the person at the next table which gets annoying after 4 times of having to pull your chair in! And it is cold in winter when the door opens as the place is small so the cold fills the whole room! Other than that we all loved it and would definitely return!

One Good Horse

Parklands

 20/05/2013

I went with my family for a Birthday lunch on Sunday. All family members enjoyed the experience and the food was exceptional. I have health issues with gluten and my needs were met by the caring staff helping me make choices that my diet required. Thank you

KebabishNZ Restaurant & Takeaway

Burnside

 18/05/2013

We felt like having a good Indian Curry on a cold winters night and that is exactly what we got from KebabishNZ. I had the Butter Chicken and my husband had the Karahi Chicken and both meals were very tasty. Best Indian we have had in Christchurch. There was also a generous amount on Naan bread which we also enjoyed. Highly recommend as a good takeaway.

Duo Dining Room & Bar

Christchurch Central

 14/05/2013

I was looking forward to trying a new inner city restaurant for my birthday dinner. Duo was in a good location and the menu looked interesting so I made a booking. The staff were lovely greeting us promptly and allowing us to choose where we wanted to sit. We ordered drinks and I was pleasantly surprised to see my glass of Chardonnay was well above the standard glass size, great start. My husband and I ordered a flat bread and chickpea purée to start. I’m sure the flat bread was a supermarket bought pita heated in a microwave and the chickpea purée was as bland as wallpaper paste. The mains were not much better. My husband ordered the pork belly and I had the duck leg with peanut sauce. Both were tough and had that reheated flavour. Mine was accompanied with a mushy salad of lettuce and pear with a reheated potato cake. Both looked so un-appetising and dated. Desert was nothing special either. I’m annoyed because we paid for this sub-standard experience. I think Christchurch patrons deserve better, especially in the inner city where restaurant choices are still few and far between. I wish I had gone with my gut and stayed away but I really wanted to be wrong about this place. However, like I said the staff were friendly and obliging, the drinks were generous and the location is great, but, sadly, the food is just not that good.

Curry Time Indian Restaurant

Redwood

 14/05/2013

Usually Curry Time is fantastic and haven’t been able to fault them, however after being a local here for some time and raving to friends and family we decided to go out to dinner for Mother’s Day. It was a busy night and takeaways seemed to take priority which meant we had huge delays on our entrees and meals. There was only 1 chef working and when our meals finally arrived they had been slightly mixed up. My Parents ordered the Tandoori Chicken and Mixed Grill both came out on a plate and were bordering on cold (these are meant to be served on a hot plate) When my father questioned this the manager told us they didn’t have any hot plates available so would give us a discount but wouldn’t be able to do anything further about it. The rest of us ordered curries which were also a large disappointment to what we are used to. They too were bordering on cold and were not in the least spicy. The Manager did give us a small discount for not serving two of the dishes on a hot plate and when we advised that we had been slightly disappointed she said the usual chef was away. Usually we have raved about this restaurant but after our last meal here we are hesitant to return again.

One Good Horse

Parklands

 12/05/2013

Our family group of 9 went to One Good Horse for lunch today – Mother’s Day. It was our first visit. What a treat! The fitout is exceptional. The service and food could not be faulted. The menu is clever as it caters for all tastes, including children. We will be back again as soon as possible. Hats off to whoever put it all together – it is a winner!

St Germain Restaurant

Merivale

 11/05/2013

We booked St Germain for our wedding reception and from the very first planning stages they went out of their way to make our day a very special occasion. Nothing was too much trouble. They let us in early whenever we wanted to check anything out. They offered complimentary tastings. They were amazing. Communication was excellent. On the day the service was impeccable, the food was outstanding and the matching wines were to die for. We would definitely recommend them as a venue for a reception or just a special meal. Merci beaucoup Vincent. Incroyable !!

Caesars Family Restaurant

Belfast

 11/05/2013

We went here for lunch as it was advertised as a family restaurant, had a kids area and we could use our entertainment card voucher (25% total bill). It was packed so we thought that it must be a great place. The food we ordered was 2x tots meals for our 3 & 4 year olds, a lambs fry and chicken filo. The meals came out reasonably quickly, but the presentation was disgusting. The tots meals came out with 2 sausages that had been dipped in a batter which was all falling off the sausage, the stick was a skewer and it was served on a bed of soggy undercooked chips. My children hardly touched it – and I don’t blame them, I tried a bit of the hotdog and it was disgusting, not the nice mini hotdog we expected. They normally would gobble up this kind of meal at any other restaurant. The lambs fry looks like some congealed mess and my partner said it was the worst they’ve ever had at a restaurant. It looked like hospital food from the seventies. The chicken filo came with chips (soggy – not cooked long enough) and a salad. Apart from the salad, the meal was completely deep-fried and looked like it hadn’t been drained, the amount of oil left on our plate was appalling. I could only eat half. The children had an ice cream cone each which came out with our coffee. The ice creams and coffee were tasty. When our friendly waitress brought us the bill I checked and saw we were billed for 2 full priced children’s meals at $11.90 each instead of 2 tots meals $5.90 each. When we politely queried this at the till, the female owner was exceptionally rude – the worst person to have at the front of house in a restaurant – and told us that we were wrong and had ordered the over 5′s menu. I pointed to the item on the menu we had ordered and she called over the 2nd waitress who had served our dessert/coffee and spoke rudely to her. I told her it wasn’t this girl, but another and she very loudly and rudely said that she has owned this place for 6 years, while she was looking up the name of the original waitress who took our order. She found out and said that she was a new waitress and this is why their business was losing money. My husband was upset by this time as it was extremely embarrassing for us, our children and the other patrons in the restaurant and was just going to pay the entire bill so we could get out of there. (We have also worked in hospitality and know that this is unacceptable – and the customer is always right, but had had enough by this stage.) She finally came around and corrected our bill and took off the entertainment card discount which was good as we were beginning to feel extremely intimidated by her. Unfortunately, she left her niceties too late and we will not return ever while under this management. Word of mouth goes a long way in Christchurch too….

Speight’s Ale House Tower Junction

Riccarton

 09/05/2013

6 of us dined there last night. The venue was ok although a bit croded, but the meal!! I orded lamb rump, as did someone else in our group. It was so tough I could literally not cut it with my knife. The two lamb rump meals served to our table were presented totally differently, so much so that it would be difficult to say they were both meant to be the same meal. Mine came sitting on a bed ofmushrooms. The other one didn’t have a single mushroom. The potato layer was quite good. I’ve been there before and the meal was ok, but after this time, I wouldn’t go back again

Beach Bar

Sumner

 07/05/2013

Very disappointed with our meal. We both ordered the lamb and it was overcooked and the blue cheese with mash was incredibly strong to the point where it just didn’t taste right. The meals are very small even for me, and I’m a light eater. Too pricey for what you receive also. On the plus side, the staff are lovely and the service was very good. It’s such a great unique location, but sadly we won’t be returning. We’ve heard even the locals won’t go there and I can now understand why. A real pity as the setting is just divine.

Rotherhams of Riccarton

Riccarton

 07/05/2013

Our group from Shape NZ Ltd dined at Rotherhams on Saturday 4th May to celebrate a special member of staff, Judith vanderKley, who has worked as our PA for 20 years, Wow!!! The food was fantastic and the service impeccable. Thank you Cindy and Martin Weiss for a very enjoyable evening.

Flames Restaurant

Mt Pleasant

 05/05/2013

Did not enjoy our meal at flames at all. Entree platter average, not much variety & hardly as described on menu, mains (slow cooked steak & seafood fettuccine) were tasteless, desserts average. Most of all I didn’t like being squeezed in so close to fellow diners when half the restaurant was empty, not exactly the making for great conversation when you are damn near sitting on a strangers knee!

The Brickworks

Huntsbury

 03/05/2013

Went there last night excited and ready for some great food. After ordering twice cooked pork belly and Marsala duck, our order was at our table within 10 minutes! Both meals looked unfresh and when tasted, lacked flavour. My duck was warm and not hot. We called the waitress over and asked if the food had been reheated in the microwave. We were assured it had not. After discussing with the manager he told us the portions were previously cooked, then heated up when ordered. Yuck! We would be prepared to wait for freshly cooked food. We sent both meals back and ordered the burgers. When asked how we wanted them cooked, we said ‘medium’. 20 minutes later they came out. The bun was toasted in the middle but appeared doughy on the outside, with the bun showing lumps of flour on top. Both meat portions were rare and my wife’s was so chewy with Grissel she could not eat it. The chips were also fatty. I ate my meat but left most of the bun. We complained to management again who apologised and said they could send us vouchers. No way. We were then offered a jar of sweets. How embarrassing. While we had no issue with the wait staff, the food was a total disappointment and fell far short of expectations. Guests don’t mind waiting for freshly cooked food guys. We will never visit this establishment again.

Beach Bar

Sumner

 30/04/2013

went in on Sunday for lunch waited to be seated took ages then got asked what we wanted and if we wanted a table rudely got shown what tables could have then told about some other group coming at 1pm it was only 1130am. we decided to walk out rude and very unfriendly will not be back again shame Christchurch business don’t valve customers given the state of the city.

Flames Restaurant

Mt Pleasant

 27/04/2013

Brilliant food, exceptional service and unbelievably kind to children. Lovely ambience and really went the extra mile for vegetarians. a great place to celebrate. We loved the soup and mains, which left little room for dessert. Thank you: we will return

Rotherhams of Riccarton

Riccarton

 25/04/2013

First time coming here last month lucky to get a booking on the night I wanted on short notice thanks for that it was my birthday and was suppose to be going away but plans were cancelled but when I got a booking here I wasn’t disappointed about not going away anymore the soup potato and leek was the most clean refined most amazing soup I’ve had in my life loved every mouthful had the beef main amazing presentation and flavor to match partner had the pork and said was absolutely the best pork he had tried the dessert crème brûlée One word whole night was amazing the service was impeccable nothing like I’ve had before only thing bad I would have to say was it as a very full dining room and after tasting the food I’m not surprised why but was very noisy could hardly hear waitress at times saying this in pure hope that maybe this amazing place might expand to a bigger better space the atmosphere walking out of that divine restaurant to walk past young drunken teens in the bars on the way back to the car was not the best way to end the night other than that the most amazing dining experience in Christchurch ive had so far

One Good Horse

Parklands

 23/04/2013

Went to 1 Good Horse with a group of 4 ( all over 50). I picked the prawn twisters as a starter, followed by the pork hock. The prawn twisters were a great start to the meal. But then came the pork hock! In my view, everybody in the world should have the ability to try this . It was one of the best main course meals I have had. My best mate also had this and we were both salivating, looking at the plate. The meat fall off the bone and the taste was great! The interaction, looking at the open grill was also a great talking point. Will be back!!! Rob