That time again and I’m listing

Is it the end of the year again? If anyone finds 2019 can you let me know. I’d like to grab it by the scruff of its neck and have a word about all the things I was meaning to achieve. The year-end is a time for half-wit columnists to start writing lists of the best and worst of this and that. Silly hacks. So without further ado, I offer my annual roundup of Christchurch’s best hospitality offerings.

Riverside Market

Oxford Tce

What a gamble. They built it. We came. Riverside Market hasn’t been open long but it’s proved to be a sensation. A unique mix of something for locals and tourists alike, the place has been so full since it opened that it can, at times, feel like it’s struggling with its own success.

It looks great, the tenants are perfectly curated, the location has all the same advantages as the Terrace and I’m sure over the Christmas season the development will continue to motor along at maximum revs. Well done to the ambitious developers for taking a gamble.

Earl

128 Lichfield St

Earl takes good bistro dining and does it right. Unpretentious, fresh, local and with staff so friendly I’d like to steal them all. Plus with all those lovely soft furnishings you can actually hear your conversation.

Earl is worth a visit if you like good food and wine served by people who care. Earl sits a bit lonely on a stretch of street that was promised a stadium way back when we believed the Rebuild Gods. I’m sure it’ll survive long enough to be the old boy on the block by the time the cash-sucking stadium is finally opened.

Grater Goods

105 Orbell St, Sydenham

This one’s a secret so don’t tell everyone. Down on Orbell St in Sydenham, a revolution is brewing. Someone is doing food so pure, clean and on trend that the rest of us hacks knocking out burgers and neo-americana food have been caught with our pants down.

Flip Grater and her partner, Youssef, have made a perfect little deli and bar that somehow reminds me of everything I miss about the old Christchurch.

I’ve often complained that all the new buildings in the city mean we won’t get those weird, interesting offerings that can only come from cheap rent. Maybe those spaces exist in Sydenham?

There’s not a sign of a dead animal on site. The bacon is fakeon and the chicken burger is soy. Pop in and have a squizz at what the future looks like. Cassels And Sons Milk Stout

The best of hospo doesn’t have to be physical location. There are also a heap of cool products being created in this city.

Cassels and Sons Milk Stout was voted the best goddamn beer in the world in 2019. How’s that? A Christchurch beer taking on the world and winning. It’s like the Ivan Mauger of beers. It was rated higher than Guinness.

Who says Wellington gets to be the craft beer capital of New Zealand? Not the Cassels, that’s for sure.

For what it’s worth, I believe Cassels Milk Stout will go on to become the most iconic Christchurch beer.

So there it is, folks. A few places to check out over the season. Make sure you don’t drink and drive and my advice for the wet season is the same as ever: listen to the bar staff, they’re not trying to ruin your party, they’re just trying to make sure you get home in one piece.

Cheers.