Eating out in the Food Mecca that is Christchurch

I had been on the road for just over a week when I found myself on a plane headed for Christchurch. With no real notion of what to expect of New Zealand’s South Island I found myself in a little airport in Auckland viewing the first sunny day I’d seen in New Zealand, and waltzing through security with out so much as having to show an unnecessary plastic bag filled with liquids.

The relaxed atmosphere of New Zealand finally begins to make itself apparent as the man behind the Air New Zealand desk let us through – pleasantly ignoring the fact that our bags were over the stupidly small 20 Kg weight restriction.

My opinion of Auckland as my point of entry to New Zealand began to make me wonder if I would find the rest of the country different than I expected, and I made my way down to Christchurch and the south island with no expectations whatsoever.

Christchurch seems to be one of those strange places that everyone either loves or doesn’t care for at all. I have met – since my first arrival – some backpackers who weren’t keen on it, but I honestly can not fathom why.

From pretty much the moment I landed in the city, even just in the airport I felt more comfortable and more favourably disposed to New Zealand, the South Island, and the beautiful city of Christchurch.

Though I’m usually hesitant to say so – from the first day Christchurch began to rapidly climb up my ‘Favourite Cities in the World’ list. And though I prefer the more rural areas generally than cities, this one is a beautiful place – aptly called the Garden City, and a brilliant place to relax, wander around, or spent a nice weekend out. For those people who are backpacking across New Zealand, and will find that it’s much, much more costly than expected, Christchurch offers a nice bit of luxury. The expenses in Christchurch aren’t that much more than in any little town in the country, but there is a lot more to do and enjoy – and the quality of the entertainment and especially the food is something that you are pleased to give your money away for,

Quick Tips:

Though it’s really great for just walking around, and there are things to do in the cities night and weekend life (both in the bars and clubs at night or the markets during the day) probably the thing Christchurch is best for is eating. There are a staggering amount of really brilliant restaurants, cafes and bars to try in the city. If you are spending a few days – or even longer in the city I highly, highly recommend that you take full advantage of the restaurants and cafes, and allow enough budget to enjoy them. Because we arrived in Christchurch at the start of a working holiday in the country, we were lucky enough to be able to spend a little bit of money in the area while still thinking in terms of UK pounds, so the prices seemed quite reasonable.
I do recommend that you try to enjoy the city’s food, even on a budget, as it can be done if you are careful, and it is something the city really does well. It is worth mentioning that in restaurants in New Zealand, and Christchurch specifically that the menu prices differ from what they do in the states. A desert or starter will likely cost something comparable to the main course. (the average main for dinner is (NZ) Most deserts and starters seem to run between and . In a lot of places the lunches aren’t much cheaper – but given the sheer amount of restaurants in the city it isn’t difficult to find some that do offer good lunch deals – anything from - . And the benefit of that is that the portions in most of the restaurants here are very generous and will easily fill you up. On our stay we did a lot of big, wonderful lunches and then snacked in the evening. Don’t expect to find cheap meals though for any time of day, unless you eat at Subway (a wonderful saviour here in NZ for those on a budget, and everyone I’ve been to so far has been wonderful) or maybe McDonalds or Burger King. (the average burger from one of these is about - ; but you can get a Subway sub of the day for ,90 – easily the cheapest most filling meal you will get.) Avoid bars if you are on a budget as even a simple pint (or handle) of beer here can break the bank (about the same price as a lunch somewhere) Also – whether you are on a budget or not, there are lots of lovely walks, and wandering through the cities botanics is wonderful.

Best Way To Get Around:

Even though having a car is a pretty essential part of getting easily around New Zealand – that isn’t necessarily true of Christchurch. It may even be more beneficial to leave your car at home (or wait until you’ve left the city to get one) as the parking is ridiculously expensive and difficult to find, and the parking wardens in New Zealand are some of the worst I’ve ever come across. Parking regulations are extremely particular and odd and they LOVE giving parking tickets. Don’t think you can leave your car a few minutes past the meter, you will certainly return to find a parking ticket. And be sure – if you are driving, particularly in the cities – that you get a road regulations book and be very careful to follow it. So far we’ve managed to get a ticket in every city in New Zealand – after not having Ever received one in any country in the world, and living for 6 years in Edinburgh, Scotland – a terrible place for receiving parking tickets. (A good tip is to be certain you park in the same direction as every other car on the road – they ticket for not doing so, and they will do it with in seconds of parking.)
Carefully read all parking signs.

But while in Christchurch, a car is not necessary at all. It is a wonderful city to walk around, possibly even better than Edinburgh and very easy to find your way. The city is constructed in a very straightforward fashion where roads are concerned, and the city centre is easy to get around. A simple map of the city will get you anywhere you need to go.

But if you do need to get slightly out of the city, or need to get the bus in from the airport, they are very good, very relaxed and reasonably priced. Its also very easy to find where you need to go by bus – the drivers seem to be very helpful and knowledgable. I wouldn’t recommend taxis in the city, just because everything is so centrally located and the one time we tried to find one we were completely ignored by three separate drivers, which doesn’t speak well of them in my opinion.
And there is also the tram – which is a bit pricey, but a delightful way to see this beautiful city. I highly recommend that you try to see it in the autumn if you can (March – June) as it looks amazing with the changing leaves, and is much quieter and cheaper than during the summer months.

Its impossible to do a big restaurant review with out covering a great steak house – and as Christchurch has more than a couple of these to choose from it wasn’t easy making the decision on which one would be the lucky recipient of my review.
When I told some Kiwi friends of mine that I was headed to their home town of Christchurch, I was inundated with restaurant ideas of places I had to try, and as they know that as Texan a good steak the hallmark of a great restaurant, I had more than one person tell me that I had to go to ‘Mu.’

By the time we picked out the place for the big steak night, we were a bit hesitant to go spend too much, given how much we’d been spending on food since we arrived in the city. I’m sometimes hesitant of a steak place that looks too flash, as there is nothing worse than a steak that has been overdone. (Either in style or time) And Mu does have the look of a place that’s a bit trendy with its black exterior and moody purple lighting inside and around the bar.

I will admit that we had made another choice first – purely because of a lesser price and walked out and instead came to Mu (reviewed separately) We walked in to the well lit and beautiful room, so ready for a good steak after the 45 minute wait for the waitress to take our order at the other restaurant (St Peppers) that we didn’t hesitate to spend the money on the nicest looking steaks on the menu.
The service here was impeccable, and contrasted brilliantly with the worst service in Christchurch we got a Sgt Peppers. The host saw to us immediately and even though we came in with out a reservation late in the evening, he seated us with in a few minutes and apologized for the wait. The waiting area was leather and comfy and near the well stocked and laid back bar area,

The restaurant altogether has a very stylish feel to it, perfect for a night of a bit of dressing up, but not too flash that you’ll feel uncomfortable eating there.
The menu, too, was very impressive, but extremely simple and straightforward, in my opinion exactly what a good menu should be.

They have a good steak selection and the prices, though a bit more than a typical restaurant meal, are still reasonably priced (especially if you are coming from Britain and are still thinking in terms of pounds) A very large (500 kg) steak with cooked to mouth watering perfection along with delightful vegetables and a glass of house red wine came to approx $40 per person. (The average steak is around $30)

I am very picky where steak is concerned, and can not find a single thing to complain about the restaurant. The service was impeccable and was the perfect level of helpful and attentive with out being overbearing or interrupting the meal. The house wine was lovely and complemented the steak wonderfully – and as I have already mentioned the steaks were cooked to perfection. The T-bone was wonderful – and all served in very reasonable time.

It’s hard to choose a favourite dining experience from my time in Christchurch, but the evening spent at MU certainly made for the nicest night out I’ve had in New Zealand – and I could not recommend it highly enough.

Its impossible to do a big restaurant review with out covering a great steak house – and as Christchurch has more than a couple of these to choose from it wasn’t easy making the decision on which one would be the lucky recipient of my review.
When I told some Kiwi friends of mine that I was headed to their home town of Christchurch, I was inundated with restaurant ideas of places I had to try, and as they know that as Texan a good steak the hallmark of a great restaurant, I had more than one person tell me that I had to go to ‘Mu.’

By the time we picked out the place for the big steak night, we were a bit hesitant to go spend too much, given how much we’d been spending on food since we arrived in the city. I’m sometimes hesitant of a steak place that looks too flash, as there is nothing worse than a steak that has been overdone. (Either in style or time) And Mu does have the look of a place that’s a bit trendy with its black exterior and moody purple lighting inside and around the bar.

I will admit that we had made another choice first – purely because of a lesser price and walked out and instead came to Mu (reviewed separately) We walked in to the well lit and beautiful room, so ready for a good steak after the 45 minute wait for the waitress to take our order at the other restaurant (St Peppers) that we didn’t hesitate to spend the money on the nicest looking steaks on the menu.
The service here was impeccable, and contrasted brilliantly with the worst service in Christchurch we got a Sgt Peppers. The host saw to us immediately and even though we came in with out a reservation late in the evening, he seated us with in a few minutes and apologized for the wait. The waiting area was leather and comfy and near the well stocked and laid back bar area,

The restaurant altogether has a very stylish feel to it, perfect for a night of a bit of dressing up, but not too flash that you’ll feel uncomfortable eating there.
The menu, too, was very impressive, but extremely simple and straightforward, in my opinion exactly what a good menu should be.

They have a good steak selection and the prices, though a bit more than a typical restaurant meal, are still reasonably priced (especially if you are coming from Britain and are still thinking in terms of pounds) A very large (500 kg) steak with cooked to mouth watering perfection along with delightful vegetables and a glass of house red wine came to approx $40 per person. (The average steak is around $30)

I am very picky where steak is concerned, and can not find a single thing to complain about the restaurant. The service was impeccable and was the perfect level of helpful and attentive with out being overbearing or interrupting the meal. The house wine was lovely and complemented the steak wonderfully – and as I have already mentioned the steaks were cooked to perfection. The T-bone was wonderful – and all served in very reasonable time.

It’s hard to choose a favourite dining experience from my time in Christchurch, but the evening spent at MU certainly made for the nicest night out I’ve had in New Zealand – and I could not recommend it highly enough.

I generally don’t like giving really bad reviews, and try to avoid doing so (especially with restaurants) unless they are very deserved. It’s very easy to catch a place on a bad night, or to simply not be in the mood for the atmosphere and so get a bad impression of a place.

But where Christchurch is concerned, there are so, so many restaurants to choose from, and of the dozens I have now visited only one has been less than excellent; and it would be a great shame to waste an evening out on a bad choice when there are so many good ones to pick from instead.

It is also worth mentioning here that my experience in Sgt Peppers Steak House in Christchurch is the one and only time I have ever walked out of a restaurant and so worth reviewing as such.

There are several great steak houses to choose from in Christchurch, and if you are really in the mood for a good steak it may be tempting to opt for the slightly cheaper Sgt Peppers which claims to have the best steaks in the city. But I highly recommend that if it’s a good night out you are hoping to have, just beyond a good steak then you avoid the restaurant completely.

I will start by saying, to be fair; I haven’t had one of their supposedly famous steaks. It may be true that they are wonderful and worth putting up with the restaurant to have. But I am of the opinion that dining out is an experience that involves more than simply the food and even if they have magnificent steaks, in all other areas they are desperately lacking. And the prices are not that much cheaper, so even if the steaks are very good (which I have to admit I find hard to believe) you can certainly get a wonderful steak over at MU for a few dollars more.

We arrived at Sgt Peppers dressed for an evening out and even made reservations – hoping to get the best steak Christchurch had to offer. It didn’t start well as we had to walk up a stairway carpeted in old, stale smelling carpet up to a restaurant that we immediately realized looked like an old, ill kept burger joint. A few dingy pictures of Beetles albums was the only thing that made it stand out at all, and even the tables were like the kind you find in a road side diner, and not a nice one at that.

There were two other people in the restaurant when we arrived, and there were three girls on staff (in a kitchen that also resembled a truck stop diner) One of the other couples was finishing their meal, while the other group seemed to be waiting for their food.

I don’t like to judge a restaurant solely on its looks, especially a steak place as some of the best steaks I’ve ever had have come from back woods shacks that barely classified as restaurants. So I reserved judgement for the moment feeling a bit out of place so dressed up (and not that dressed up, mind) but began to feel more dubious when I saw that on the menu it said that if you ordered a larger steak allow 45 minutes for your order to cook. A worrying amount of time for something that should be cooked quickly.

After about 10 minutes one of the girls came over to bring us a menu (I honestly have no idea what they were waiting for as there was nothing else for them to do) and some water and mentioned to us there was a bar we could go order drinks from (though I never saw it.)
We then proceeded to wait a full 45 minutes for one of the three girls standing idly behind the counter to come over and take our order.

We sat getting more and more displeased with the entire ordeal and noticed finally that in the time we had been there (almost an hour still waiting for them to take our order) the other group which had ordered before we came in still had not received any food.

We stood up to leave and walked out past the girls at the counter, and none of them seemed to even notice that we were there, or had left.

As I said, I didn’t’ try the steak, but the service was too bad to warrant giving my money to, and I couldn’t in good conscious recommend it to another visitor to the city when there are so many other amazing dining options available.

It’s not easy to narrow down all the brilliant restaurants in the city of Christchurch, but one of the highlights of our valiant effort to taste as many as possible in a week was the Mexican restaurant, the Flying Burrito Brothers.
They don’t’ open until later in the afternoon, so you unfortunately can’t take advantage of a lunch menu, but they are worth while as an evening meal or a splash out if you are on a budget.

On the corner of the eclectic street of New Regent Street sits the easy to spot Burrito Brothers, with loads of atmosphere, and great places to sit outdoors or under cover on a nice day or warm evening.

I arrived just as the place opened at 5 pm and had the entire restaurant to myself for the first half an hour (yet another perk of arriving in the city in the off season of April) The service was average at best, and was easily the low point of the restaurant. (keep in mind that the service and restaurant industry in Christchurch is extremely competitive, and in most places far above average, making less than perfect service very noticeable. Even though it wasn’t the best service we had, it still would have rated high above anywhere in the UK or most of Europe.)

The décor was beautifully done, and was equally interesting and relaxing. There was just enough authenticity in the vibrant colours and chairs and hand made tables with out looking like a cheesy Mexican theme restaurant.

The food came out in a reasonable time, and was fairly reasonably priced. It is not the cheapest place you can eat in the city, but the quality and taste of the food along with the atmosphere makes the price very reasonable indeed for the over all experience.

The food itself was easily the best Mexican food I have had outside of the US. Though still differing a bit from world class Texas Tex-Mex, it comes the closest to any I have found, and every bite was relished with delight.

If you can afford it, I recommend getting a Sol beer to go along with the meal (though if you’re coming from the US, don’t expect to get free salsa and dip – it’s not something that is done outside of the US, and would be a disappointment if you were expecting it.) and its worth splashing out for one of their deserts, even if it is shared. The tequila lime pie is absolutely wonderful – and can easily be shared between two people.