An upscale, luxurious restaurant celebrating some Asian fusion ingredients and flavors. It's…read moreprobably a special occasions type of restaurant, though we viewed it more as a welcome meal on our first day off the plane in NZ. If you're having trouble determining what to get, their "Trust the King" tasting menu is a perfect choice. The "Royal" for 100 NZD nets you their best hits plus a dessert as a bonus. With the amount of courses you are given, this ended up being such an incredible value versus ordering all separately. After a final tally, it honestly felt like a highway robbery! Here's what our table received along with expected NZD: Small plate samplers (2): Natural oyster w/ nashi pear, Smoked salmon w/ spinach leaf, galangal, chili jam, and salmon roe Small Shared Plates (2): Wild Venison Carpaccio topped w/ nahm dtok, EVOO, and spicy sesame (32 NZD); Moong dal in mixed seed salad, avocado, and fresh lime (22 NZD) Larger Shared Plates (2): Marinated yellow fin tuna w/ chilli and mandarin, coconut salad (38 NZD); Crispy Pressed Half Duck in caramelized mandarin sauce (62 NZD) Dessert: Lemongrass panna cotta, lime granita, mint (18 NZD) It was a harmonic interplay between different Asian flavors, more Thai heavy than others, and even the local ingredients such as the raw venison entering the foray. They did ask if there was anything we didn't like before serving the meal to which I never thought to mention my aversion to overly spicy food (I was thinking of exotic foods I dislike). And, lo and behold, a lot of options were definitely on the spicier end such as the spicy sesame/ nahm dtok sauce which topped the carpaccio and abundance of red chili shavings in the marinated yellow fin tuna. On the bright side, it did require me slow down which enabled me to truly relish my food. Most everything was delicious even the duck with joyfully crispy skins and dipped in a sweet honey glace (though ever so slightly on dry side in the middle). King of Snake also houses the Monarch Cocktail Bar, to which I ordered a 'Paper Crane' (King of Snake Gin, apple soju, elderflower liquer, sake; 23 NZD) to pair with my meal. A buzzy, floral, and effervescent drink to really lend to the comforting meal.

Nicest Restaurant we've been to in a long while: upscale atmosphere, exceptionally nice ambiance…read morew:super helpful staff. We shared delicious plates and wine. would recommend the prawn dumplings, blue cod, tenderloin steak bites and curry pumpkin. We thought the curry pumpkin was the best!

So busy and sooooooo good. Everything was SO flavorful. The Dan Dan noodles were very good, the…read moredumpling sample was fun. I didn't like one of them but most were very good. I loved the pork and rice dish!!!!! Seriously I highly recommend.

Eightgrains is located in the Little High Eatery, which is a food hall with eight local eateries…read more We ordered a fried chicken bao, a fish bao, and two kinds of steamed dumplings. They all were great. As I mentioned in my Little High Eatery review, you'll need to grab a table to get seating. On weekend rainy days that could be an issue because some of the outside seating won't be available.

Fantastic pan-Malaysian cuisine. Good regular dishes like beef rendang and laksa with new items…read morelike a Dori donut with ginger lime ice cream. Dumplings were light and tasty. Laksa needed more flavour but the pak Chou with confit garlic was delicious, combined with the very friendly priced lemak ($8) i was very full and happy. Make a booking and beware the noise levels, very popular on a Saturday evening

We chose this restaurant as it was recommended and we were craving Asian towards the end of our NZ…read moretrip. It seems promising as the waiter attending to us was Korean. However, they weren't particularly friendly, and seemed curt at times. But the restaurant is very spacious and great for groups. Banchan in comparison to what I am used to is sorely lacking. The dishes we ordered were not bad, but I have had better versions in other Korean restaurants, even all the way in Lake Tekapo. Another thing I found a bit surprising was this restaurant serving both Japanese and Korean cuisine when the two are quite distinctively different. We did not try any Japanese food though so this review is based solely on the Korean dishes we had.

We we're excited to see a Korean restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet so we decided to try this…read moreplace out. First off, it seems like a happening place because it's open 24 hours and they allow you to BYO drinks so everyone was walking in with bottles of beer and wine! I noticed that all the wait staff was Korean so perhaps my expectations were a bit high. We ordered the lamb BBQ (since this is something I've never had at a Korean restaurant), the soon tofu soup, and the beef wraps. The lamb BBQ was the best thing we had, it had pretty good flavor. Unfortunately, the soon tofu soup was a disappointment, it was spicy but watery at the same time. Beef wraps were essentially bulgogi wrapped in rice paper. The banchan (side dishes) were a bit lackluster. I was glad to try a Korean restaurant in New Zealand, but unfortunately, my mum's Korean cooking is better. :)

Review of Lucas Shawarma inside Little High Eatery: I've been craving shawarma for months and…read moredecided to give this place a shot after reading reviews and scoping out the menu. First, let me say, Fabiano and Ali (hope I remembered and spelled their names correctly) were very friendly and answered all my questions. I'm pretty experienced when it comes to shawarma, but I've never had one quite like this. There were some odd (for this type of dish) toppings that came with it and I'm glad I didn't exclude any of them. I always try to have faith in a restaurant when they put their own spin on an item, and boy oh boy, am I glad I didn't doubt the build of this wrap. It was a very unique blend of flavors. I also ordered 3 pieces of falafel that were tasty with just the right amount of crunch. I'm now a fan. I will definitely be back. Thanks, fellas!

Great food and atmosphere! Beautiful day here in Christchurch. There's so many choices you…read morecan't go wrong

I recently went here for a meal with my family. The food was…read moreexcellent, the plates had plenty of food on them. Staff were friendly and very efficient. The price for 7 adults was really great. I can really recommend thus restaurant.

This is a very calm, nice South Asian restaurant. There's a good range of Thai, Vietnamese,…read moreChinese, Malaysian and Burmese food. I had lunch here with friends. I enjoyed a Thai Tom-Sam Prawn Salad which was beautifully made, fresh and colourful. My companions had a Massuman and Vietnamese Stir Fried Noodles. Everything was lovely, so delicious and enjoyable. Service is respectful and very professional. Meals don't take long to come. I'd definitely come back, thank you.

Never thought I would find so much foreign food in New Zealand. I don't really know what I was…read moreexpecting. I guess I assumed it would be burgers, fish and chips, seafood and lamb. With the occasional Chinese restaurant sprinkled in. Because they're in every country. But Thai? From New Zealand? And pretty much the entire crew are Kiwis?? No fruit isn't running this restaurant that's what they call themselves here. This place though.. It was good. Really good! The inside has an upscale look but you don't need to dress classy to eat here. They don't overdo the fact that they are an Asian restaurant. You know how some places can be.. Oooh let's put a tiger in that corner, and oh a Buddha in that corner, maybe a temple print wallpaper.. No no. This place keeps it simple. Staff was great. They don't work for tips in New Zealand but still cared about me just as much. Let's talk food!! The menu runs deep. Like 50 numbers deep. We ordered 3 items. 38-Black Pepper Stir Fry, 20-Pad Thai, 12-Tom Kar which is a soup. Everything had such great flavor. Lots of meat in our dishes to. 3 items and it was plenty for 3 of us. And they make sure to label the menu to let you know what is spicy, and extra spicy. So no surprises here! Oh they also have a small section for Vietnamese food. Shutout to my Viet friends. But.. We didn't order any of that. 5 stars for great food and service!

Had a recommendation to come here from our air bnb host and boy it didn't disappoint…read more The satay is amazing! The laksa has vegetables in it - odd but nice enough. They forgot our pork balls, then we reminded them, they brought them out but still it wasn't great... they were very plain balls with a sweet pineapple sauce... The pepper beef was nice but I would've enjoyed it more if it had more pepper. Overall though, this place is nice. Service is great - they check how the meal is going etc and cater to ANY allergies. Go there - you won't regret it.

Really had an excellent meal here, except for the Mongolian style lamb, which was a bit…read moreoverseasoned. Proprietor has been in NZ for almost 20 years now, and this place is conveniently inside the YMCA, for the guest who just doesn't want to cook tonight. :-)

Went here for dinner and got the dumplings and lamb dan dan noodles. Food was great and service was…read moregood as well. Would recommend it to others to try out as well.

We stumbled upon this place while walking through Christchurch late one evening, looking for some…read moredinner. Even though they were closing, they squeezed us in and we had the most amazing teriyaki chicken and steak dinner. Food was hot and fresh, the steak melted in your mouth, and the flavors were delightful! Wonderful service. I would recommend for a great dinner.

Shrimp and vegetable tempura were delicious! We also sampled the plum wines. I don't really like…read morewine but I definitely like the ones I sampled! Although the restaurant was always busy when we went, service was good. The turn around was quick. We stayed in Christchurch for 3 nights and we ate here twice for dinner.

We were lucky to get a last minute same day reservation for Kinji. Small, unassuming restaurant…read more Friendly service. Incredible food. Sashimi was very fresh. Umeshu was refreshing after a long day of driving. We left very happy.

Service was stellar at this establishment. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and made our…read morevisit very enjoyable. Based on atmosphere and service I'd give this place 5 stars. Based on food I'd say 3-4 stars. We ordered a salmon avocado roll which was delicious and I recommend ordering. I also ordered udon which was good but I don't fancy shiitake mushrooms which made the broth less desirable. The noodles are thinner than normal and the portion is pretty small so I'd recommend complimenting it with a roll. The fried tuna roll was my least favorite order because it was hard to chew and mostly rice. My favorite was the kfc chicken. It was hot, moist, and crispy and all it needed was a little salt. Overall, I thought this place was satisfying and enjoyed my experience here. If you're looking for excellent service, decent sushi, and decent prices I'd have a seat.