To celebrate my 39th birthday, I found this restaurant called Orleans here in Christchurch, New…read moreZealand. I did enjoy cajun and creole soul food from the USA, so it was a perfect dining option. Plus, it was a couple of blocks from the hotel.
Turning 39 years overseas was interesting, since the time zone difference in the USA was a day earlier, so it allowed me to celebrate twice. With that said, I arrived here at the Orleans restaurant and bar around 8pm on a brisk Monday evening in mid September 2018. I thought initially that the restaurant itself was closed, since there was construction going on the opposite side of the street, not realizing that the restaurant was on the other side. To my relief, I was okay and entered the restaurant. I almost had cut my losses and tried to find somewhere else in walking distance, but thankful that I had found the restaurant. During my visit here to the Orleans restaurant, it was typically Monday night in the city. I guess I came in when the dinner rush was largely over and found a group of people finishing up and leaving, letting me having the entire restaurant and bar to myself. The ambiance here was very casual and basically what you'd find in a bar setting.
The overall experience here at Orleans restaurant and bar was nice and quiet. Kind of like the casual attitude of the place and didn't like the loud noises when coming to such places. Maybe I'm getting old and like quiet places. Either way, Orleans was nice and cozy. I dig the decor and the service was nice, friendly, and fast, even for a place that was slowing down for the night. They told me they were closing at 9pm, but the yelp page said till 12 midnight. Probably need to change it sooner or later. With that said, celebrating a birthday here with southern comfort food was nice and definitely one to remember. While I was dining alone, it was nice and pleasant. Orleans restaurant and bar is located at 89 Litchfield Street in the heart of downtown Christchurch, New Zealand. They offer live music, but during the night I was there, there was no live music. Probably on the weekends or something. They accept major credit cards, usually Visa, which are usually a great thing for us tourist folk who live on the plastic.
Not sure about parking, although street parking is your best bet. I'm not from Christchurch, but I walked it here during my holiday in mid September 2018. Hotel was nearby and I had a craving for New Orleans type of cuisine. I'm sure Christchurch's public transportation can get you here too. There's always uber, which is nice. I ended up spending an hour here, enjoying my meal and soaking up the fact that I am not 38 anymore. It's kind of disappointing, but that's life. For my meal, I ended up getting a po boy sandwich, which is basically standard for any southern style delight. Along with that, i ordered some curly fries, which ended up being some sort of regular fries curled up and spiced up to taste differently from your Burger King type fries. I finished it up with an order of sweet ice tea. I should have gotten liquor, but I figured I'll celebrate with that later on. The po boy itself was good and tasteful. It was delicious and harmoniously hit the spot after a long day of travel from Sydney, Australia. The fries were surprisingly epic and the sweet tea was interesting. With the restaurant closing earlier than I thought, I opted to get dessert elsewhere.
Prices here were okay. Their menu was surprisingly and shockingly limited, but I guess that's how it is sometimes. Although the food ordered and the ambiance was pretty good, I thought for an place that served Cajun / Creole USA cuisine should have more items. 3.5 stars for the overall experience. 4.0 stars for the ambiance and the food. 3.5 stars for the service.
Support local!
C+
