Grabbing a bite or quick drink before the Christchurch Spring Fashion Festival, which kicks off tonight? The humming hospo city has plenty to offer for every occasion, as local foodie influencer Katrina Too explains.<\/p>\n
\n From tomato strawberry gelato to unbeatable pub grub and Michelin star eats, the Christchurch dining scene
\n is \u201clevelling up\u201d, says Katrina Too, also known as @chcheats._w.kat.\n <\/p>\n
Having moved to Christchurch about eight years ago from Hong Kong, the 24-year-old content creator found her deep-rooted love of food served her well in a place brimming with new ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing from Hong Kong, food is definitely a part of me. Growing up, [I was] going to so many different restaurants, [and] my parents are big foodies because, like all Chinese people, we just love food.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Too, part of why she got into food influencing was to help champion local hospitality and flip the perception that it was a \u201cboring\u201d hospitality destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then, eight years ago, they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, Christchurch has nothing to do\u2019. I just wanted to start this account and document all the good stuff, all the good restaurants, and tell people that Christchurch isn\u2019t that boring.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katrina Too is a Christchurch-based food influencer.<\/p>\n
And, in her words, it\u2019s \u201cblooming right now\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the Christchurch culinary scene, this year especially, has levelled up so much in terms of having variety. You\u2019ve got dessert options, you\u2019ve got smoked meat, you\u2019ve got takeaway options, and it\u2019s just literally walking distance to so much good food,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think there\u2019s a new, younger generation of people opening different places, so it\u2019s really good to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n
We asked Too what her go-to picks were for all occasions, from quick bites to date nights and family-friendly meals.<\/p>\n
For Breakfast Or Brunch<\/p>\n
Miro, 176 Oxford Tce, CBD, and Child Sister, 277 Manchester St, CBD<\/p>\n
Enjoy the best brunch in Christchurch at Miro. Photo \/ Miro<\/p>\n
Miro is inside a heritage building, so it\u2019s super nice. I love the [classic] eggs benny or the eggs benny with the beef cheek hash. <\/p>\n
Child Sister is also a classic that I love. They serve Korean fusion brunch. I really like their Kimchi fried rice and honey butter waffles.<\/p>\n
Korean fusion fare at Child Sister. Photo \/ Child Sister<\/p>\n
Miro really suits work and meetings, but I would say Child Sister is very family-friendly because there\u2019s also the Margaret Mahy playground next door.<\/p>\n
For Lunch<\/p>\n
Riverside Market, 96 Oxford Tce, CBD<\/p>\n
Rollicious, 270 Saint Asaph St, CBD<\/p>\n
Saka Sushi, 404 Innes Rd, St Albans<\/p>\n
Riverside Market. Photo \/ Grant Bradley<\/p>\n
Riverside is an institute for all the different cuisines you can find there. You can even have beer. Downstairs, it\u2019s more casual, with casual lunch spots that you can takeaway, but upstairs, you get more sit-down meals that you can have with your workmates. Riverside\u2019s just a hub for lunch. <\/p>\n
I tend to try new things from Riverside because there are so many, but I really like the pizzas upstairs from Kaiser Brew. <\/p>\n
Banh Mi from Rollicious really hits the spot. Photo \/ Katrina Too<\/p>\n
We also have Rollicious, and then Saka Sushi, which is a premium sushi takeaway spot. From Rollicious, I would get the crispy pork Banh Mi. <\/p>\n
Saka Sushi would be some premium salmon sushi or salmon Tokyo, which has crispy prawn in the middle with salmon on top of it, and then they torch it up. <\/p>\n
At Riverside, the vibe is more family-friendly and touristy because everyone who comes to Christchurch will always go to Riverside. Rollicious and Saka Sushi are good takeaway spots.<\/p>\n
For Dinner<\/p>\n
Texas Grill, 5\/120 Hereford St, CBD<\/p>\n
Odeon, 165 Gloucester St, CBD<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a big meat eater, so I love Texas Grill, which serves American low-and-slow smoked meat. That\u2019s in the CBD, very close to all the popular spots. They have decent portions for a good price, and their Flintstone steak is the best.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s Odeon, which is a fancier Michelin Bib Gourmand location. I love ordering the beef short rib, it\u2019s so tender and so good.<\/p>\n
Michelin-recognised Odeon is great for a classy night out.<\/p>\n
Odeon\u2019s quite fancy, and great for date night. Texas Grill is more family-friendly and more chill. You can go with your mates and just have some meat.<\/p>\n
To Grab A Drink<\/p>\n
Cellar Door, 1 Hereford St, CBD<\/p>\n
Mayor of Ale, 22 Riccarton Rd, Riccarton<\/p>\n
Cellar Door is great for groups. Photo \/ Cellar Door<\/p>\n
Cellar Door in the Arts Centre is a great wine bar to chill with friends. You can even sit outside if it\u2019s a sunny day. A lot of people do hen dos over there with the girls. It\u2019s very wine-focused. Any wine flight there is good, but you need to get their chips because they are triple-cooked and such a good pairing with the wine. The owner is so nice, so whatever questions you have about the wine, he\u2019s got you. <\/p>\n
Mayor of Ale is a good place on Riccarton Rd for drinks and pub food. It\u2019s not too noisy, but they\u2019ve also got big screens for sporting events, and it\u2019s a great place to hang out with mates. <\/p>\n
To Indulge In A Sweet Treat<\/p>\n
Material Gelato, 159 Manchester St, CBD<\/p>\n
Sweet Soul Patisserie, 1\/79 Cashel St, CBD<\/p>\n
I love Rollickin Gelato\u2019s Yogi Bear (yoghurt gelato with caramel and dark chocolate), but for a new option, Material Gelato just opened, and they focus on high-quality gelato. They have really interesting flavours like tomato strawberry and white truffle, so it\u2019s super innovative.<\/p>\n
Sweet Soul Patisserie is also great and opens till late. It\u2019s really nice for a cup of tea and a sit-down with one of the many amazing desserts. There\u2019s a different one every month, so it\u2019s hard to pick a favourite. Sweet Soul is more of a sit-down venue, whereas Material is a good grab-and-go.<\/p>\n
More neighbourhood dining guides<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grabbing a bite or quick drink before the Christchurch Spring Fashion Festival, which kicks off tonight? The humming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3225,9218,3390,26630,4487,2199,36979,15416,156,14768,37119,1438,5131,83891,30602,36600,282366,78,8235,9929,117863,440,111,139,69,27257,13692,22399,1562,16156,6921,223,61,5911,5977],"class_list":["post-631311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-according","tag-before","tag-best","tag-bite","tag-christchurch","tag-city","tag-drink","tag-eat","tag-entertainment","tag-every","tag-explains","tag-fashion","tag-festival","tag-foodie","tag-grabbing","tag-hospo","tag-humming","tag-in","tag-influencer","tag-katrina","tag-kicks","tag-local","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-occasion","tag-offer","tag-places","tag-plenty","tag-quick","tag-spring","tag-the","tag-to","tag-tonight","tag-which"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}