A former jail, completely and wonderfully reimagined as very comfortable and large eatery with lots…read moreof light, super clean Danish design, huge front courtyard, glass porch and classy bar. We enjoyed Sunday afternoon music, appetizers and desserts. Staff was friendly, moderately attentive, food well made and presented well. Recommend!

Of all the resturants we ate at during our 2 weeks in New Zealand. This was our favorite. The…read morefragrant chicken.salad was amazing. And the fish of the day was exceptional. We had the tarts for dessert and they were perfection. Will definitely eat here again when we're back in 2027.

Super chill place with a nice upstairs bar area. We were planning to go to a few places in the…read morearea but ended up closing the night here. The bartenders were playing requests that day, asking everyone who came in to name a song on top of their mind. Drinks were strong and tasty - had the Commie Mule with the freshly crushed ginger (first choice was Dr. Orders - but no can't do as rosemary was out of stock). The beer flight was good as well as you get to try all 5 beers that they have on tap. Highly recommend on coming here.

The Institution is a small craft cocktail and beer bar. The staff is friendly and generous. There…read moreare 5 local beers on tap with a selection of bottles behind the bar. They'll let you try all their beers on tap before purchase. I enjoyed all of them. The cocktail I had was also great. They have a cheese platter which is also amazing. The bar seems to attract interesting people. Both times I went, I ended up in fascinating conversations with people I met at the bar.

One of the best brewpubs I have been to in the world. Whatever else we may want to say about the…read moreEnglish, they understand the science of crafting a good pub, or at least they used to. Wooden tables and floors with a comfy interior that beckons you to sit, drink, think, and talk in a convivial mode. The twisted hop has all of this as well as great food and beer. They brew their own beer, or rather Jim brews it, and they specialize in English style "real ales" although they have other varieties of beer and wine as well. Real ales are ales that are cask conditioned, that is, they continue to ferment in the cask. They are also dispensed with a hand pump instead of a C02 tap. This makes them delicate and amazingly flavourful in a way that typical lagers and "bright" ales are not. The beers at the Twisted Hop are great and you will want to give yourself some time there since you will want to try them all, maybe more than once. The food, despite The Twisted Hop's English DNA, is really good as well. They have Scotch eggs (ask, or maybe don't ask, what is in them), excellent chips and fish, and everything else looked good too. If you live in Christchurch, you should be reading this while seated at the Twisted Hop. For those traveling to Christchurch, this should be on your list of stops.

We visited The Twisted Hop on the 4th of July. They were promoting a 4th of July celebration event…read morethat evening and we decided to check it out. The first small victory was the private parking the back. Though there aren't many spaces, it was nice not to have to fight street parking. We entered through the back patio door which leads onto a covered, cozy patio great for enjoying a beer with a friend on a warm day. The restaurant inside is dark and rustic, but the bar is aglow with the colorful chalkboard promoting the beers on tap that day. We spent some time with the bartender discussing the beers available and he helped us find the perfect fit for our palates (pilsner for me!). We sat at a four top table near the wall of books at the front where you can buy a book for a donation that benefits the Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund. I can get behind that! There is a spot for a stage and a counter full of board games. Awesome. For dinner, we stuck to the American-theme menu and ordered tacos and wings. They were delicious, but the tacos were definitely my favorite. Next time I would like to try something off of their real menu, which looked wholly filing and belly-warming. Do you have a favorite brew? They take special requests and will do their best to stock it for you! Definitely recommend this a top bar to spend the afternoon or the evening imbibing craft brews and devouring delicious snacks.

I love Strange and Co for the nice eclectic indoor atmosphere and the lovely patio. There are…read morehanging lights above your head and fire places by your table if you are dining outside. This is a great place to get drinks or a bite to eat. I've ordered bloody Mary's, Mojitos, dirty martini's, and rum runners as well as some items from the food menu such as the curly fries and shrimp on a stick. I enjoyed everything that I've ordered here, and the bartender who made my drinks was very nice and accommodating.

Super tasty food. Price is right as well. Beer selection could be better but can't complain too…read moremuch! Would definitely be a regular here.

Still avoiding Asian food due to going to there later this month, I decided on Western food for…read moredinner. The food seemed reasonably priced and was less than a ten minute walk from my hotel, so why not? FYI this will be the last business on your left as you walk through the parking lot. Anytime Fitness is on the right, and this business is currently next door to a brewery (who might be moving, so do not count on that if you are reading this months from now). You walk in and order at the counter. I decided on appetizers of onion rings, fish goujons, garden salad, and a mai tai. Here are my thoughts: Onion rings: I really liked the consistency of the batter. It is very crunchy, but there is no flavor. You are really going to need to try to salt and pepper the food, and this is coming from someone who cooks with very little of either (per my dad's opinion). Fish goujons: This is the same batter as the onion rings, so this is where I get my "have experienced better" rating. I do not recommend using the same batter for each. The batter for onion rings needs to be more light and airy compared to fish when battering. The fish was also pretty bland, so when you add a bland batter, the appetizer is even more bland. I only ate 3 pieces because the food was not good. Seasonal salad: I ordered no dressing, as I had learned from a previous restaurant that a random salad dressing will be assigned if you do not specify. There was something strangely spicy in this salad - jalapenos? As a Texan that is what they tasted like, but culturally I was confused because we do not put jalapenos in salads. Mai tai - This was pretty good. I could have used a large portion, but otherwise delicious. I can see if you want to come here and just have that without the food. One thing I noticed is that Christchurch apparently does not have a no-smoking ordinance within X number of meters. Even though there was a plastic covering around the patio since it was cold, there were cracks within the covered awning. The smoke can penetrate through these cracks, so be aware that just because you are "inside" an awning does not mean you are immune to the smoke. If you have asthma or allergies, keep this in mind as 3 of the employees were smoking at the table closest to the door. I think I will pass next time!

I have been in Christchurch now for three days and have found a new home. With a large variety of…read moredelicious beer and outstanding food... it begs the question... why go anywhere else?

I love this place. I live nearby and it is a total asset to the neighbourhood - I use it both as a…read morecasual place to drop in when I don't feel like cooking, and also to take friends from out of town to show off the amazing tannery. The wine and cocktail list is refined but comprehensive, and the tapas are awesome - delicious, sophisticated, ranging from light (pickled vegetables with fresh herbs, or pil pil prawns with garlic confit) and fresh to sticky, fried yumminess (Yorkshire puds, braised beef cheek croquettes). The decor is also beautiful and original and if you're lucky there will be a piano player in the house, giving it a luxey, retro lounge bar vibe.

I'm glad we found this hidden gem. You walk up the stairs and this spacious and stylish restaurant…read moreawaits. We had the pork belly, seafood paella and lamb rack. Very impressed with all three. Especially the lamb rack which was perfectly cooked. For a dessert we shared the white chocolate mousse and this velvety goodness just melted in your mouth. This place is a must visit. We will definitely be back.

From the owner: With a loft feel the Camden Restaurant and Bar has a kitchen rich with experience offering…read moretraditional English favourites with a modern kiwi cooking style. With flavoursome dishes with locally sourced ingredients matched nicely with our great range of craft beers, exciting wines and delicious cocktails as well as amazing coffee all day. Expect to take your senses on a journey.

Honestly we didn't have many options. We had 3 other options and the main reason we ended up here…read morewas because the prices per meal were a bit lower. We didn't learn until we sat down and read the menu that the prices were only lower because this was a 'tapas' style restaurant. Whoops. So we ended up spending a lot of money on a little bit of food. But since the food was good I left it a good rating. The drinks looked amazing but we were hungry and tired and not in the mood to add a hangover to our morning. Apparently it is all about their alcoholic milkshakes but the sugar would have kept me up all night and it was a freezing cold night and we didn't have a car and the hotel was a far walk from town. We ended up sharing the deviled eggs app, the Venison balls, and the sliders. We ordered 2 beef sliders and one chicken slider and both were good. The beef was better so just order 3 of those. Afterwards we weren't full but also weren't still hungry. Probably would go to the other restaurants next time.

Best food and cocktails in town with a great ambiance, music, etc. We were lucky enough to have the…read moreregular music line up followed by a great live band. Try the fried chicken and sweet potato salad, best this side is the southern US. Adorable bartender who knows his craft with delightful cocktails such as "Atticus Finch" and the "Scarlett O'Hara". We tried everything on the menu and were not disappointed. Even a pool table for those interested. Cheers to Boo Radley's for their clever name and charm!

What can I say ... wow. Bourbons from Kentucky and gins from around NZ and the world. The…read morebartender could make just about any drink you could imagine. We sat outside and had a cocktail as we did laundry (laundry mat is just a block away). This is the best way to do laundry, lol. Sunny outside so the umbrellas helped keep of the UV11 sun as we enjoyed the constant breeze that day. Highly recommend and we also were able to learn about other speakeasies in the area. It's very close to the Novotel Hotel in reviewed earlier.

I was extremely disappointed by my recent visit to The Last Word. Although the space has plenty of…read moreseating, most of it is upstairs and was closed and unavailable when I visited. The whiskey menu is extensive at first glance, but it turned out to be outdated; my first three choices weren't available. To top it off, the bartender / waiter seemed so indifferent to my presence that I actually felt unwelcome. Overall, the experience fell far short of what it could have been.