![Zomato]( "Recensione")
We've visited here twice in recent weeks and plan to go again. Note that the menu Zomato has, and indeed the menu on the restaurant's own website, is no longer very accurate.
Setting is lovely, historical building in its own small garden, with the always lovely Christchurch Botanic Gardens next door. Wheelchair access is round the back and you'll need to get them to move the crockery cart which blocks the hallway to the dining room. There are outdoor seating areas -- open and covered -- which don't have this problem. It looked as if the only accessible toilet was in the ladies' (gents' is upstairs).
On our first visit, for a lazy lunch, we shared the lamb cutlet tapas and the chargrilled market fish main. This was the perfect amount of food for one small and one average eater. The lamb was very tender but rather bland, with the only real flavouring the olive oil drizzle. The fish and accompaniments were excellent. Chocolate mousse and Bailey's dessert wonderful, cappuccino average.
Our second visit was for a cosy dinner in front of the gas fire on a chilly early winter's night. Three of us this time. I had the beef fillet with Pedro Ximenez reduction. This came with dauphinoise potatoes, portobello mushroom, broccoli, roast cherry tomatoes, and some sort of vegetable crisps on top. The steak was magnificently tender, and cooked exactly as requested. I loved this dish! Mum had the braised lamb, which was delicious and melt-in-the-mouth tender. Our guest had the duck with pear, which disappeared rapidly. All in all, a great set of mains. For dessert I had the fruit salad with mango sorbet, which capped my meal off perfectly. Mum had the cheesecake with quince paste -- nicely presented, and no complaints. Guest had the almond torte with ice cream and barely refrained from licking his plate afterwards.
Will definitely return. I want to try the braised lamb myself. And the venison. And...
ETA: Returned. Had the beef fillet again, got them to swap the dauphinoise for gourmet potatoes, much more to my taste. Guest had the venison. Happy campers.
ETA: Went back (September). There have been some slight tweaks to the menu (and the menu on the restaurant's website is now uptodate). So I gave the lamb tapas another go. It's now lamb loin chops rather than cutlets, so a cheaper cut of meat that doesn't work out as tender, but in terms of flavour I was delighted. Could taste the chargrilling, and there was a hint of herbs too. Much improved. We also revisited the Bailey's dark chocolate mousse. This seemed less overwhelmingly boozy than last time, and it had cream on top for contrast. Massive improvement. Can also recommend the vegetarian tapas tasting selection--the only bit we didn't care for was the patatas bravas (deep-fried potato wedges that tasted like nothing, with a sort of capsicum sauce), but they are happy to swap things around The mushroom and Parmesan croquetas are fantastic. I've nudged this review up to a 5-star on the back of recent revisits. It would be difficult not to have a good time here.
Had coffee here, fast service but you will have to pay inside after eating. Not quite sure if this is their practice here in Christchurch....
This was a lovely place to stop and have something small to eat. The waiters and waitresses were so accommodating and friendly. The price was alright for the tapas although I didn’t see the size of the mains they seemed a little dear. We had the king prawns, chicken and chorizo croquettes and fresh bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Overlooking the garden with such fresh food was really beautiful.
This place is beautiful, the building itself is gorgeous & its nestled amongst gardens along side the Avon river with a lovely outdoor seating area. I dined her for lunch with a friend & they had a $29.50pp set menu which we decided to order.
The set menu was shared tapas & came with Chorizo, calamari, mushrooms, lamb cutlets & croquettes as well as a salad & bread. This was perfect for me as I love to nibble & try different dishes. All of the food was delicious & the flavours complemented each other well.
The service was good we were greeted when we arrived & looked after throughout our visit. I would recommend visiting if you're in Christchurch.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Finally after walking pass the curator's house many times when we visited the garden, we finally entered the restaurant. We had dinner here for our friend's reception dinner after the wedding, but the menu we got is pretty much the same to the standard menu so I believe the food is the same.
The curator's house is modified from a normal house so the space inside is not like a standard restaurant. It is a bit hard to move when it is full but nice atmosphere inside. The service is really good that is really satisfied and nothing to complain.
We got Asado de Cordero - Lamb Shoulder and Solomillo de Buey - Fillet of Angus Beef for our main. The lamb shoulder is super tender and soft, the meat would just fall off the bones and they are flavourful and delicious. The Angus beef is nice and tasty as well, not sure what they grilled with but a strong wood ember cooked flavor perfects it. The portion is decent as well. Both my wife and I felt full after the main.
The dessert we got Decadent Chocolate cake and Crema Catalana. The chocolate cake is okay, really rich chocolate flavour for people who love chocolate. The Crema Catalana is a house specialty. It is interesting, it looks like Crème brûlée especially with the caramelized sugar coating at the top, however it tasted completely different to it. The cream is really nice with smooth slushy like texture. It has strong cinnamon taste so if you don't like cinnamon this is definitely not your first choice. I have never tried something like this before but I enjoyed it, all the people at our table like it as well.
A really nice place with nice service and nice food. The price is a bit high if only for normal dinner, but for special occasions this totally worth it.
I was here from an invitation to a wedding reception, thanks to my generous friends I could have this fancy meal experience for the 1st time. (And it's free! Hahaha..) I don't usually dare to dine here because it is pricey to me, but since they have beautifully cooked lamb shoulder I guess I will come back again for a special occasion♡ Nice atmosphere, I really enjoyed their seafood bisque as an entrée too :)
Alison Keiller MacDuff
+5
Would very much like to record complete satisfaction with this charming restaurant ;recently had a very large function upstairs at The Curators House ;the food was just wonderful, service superb , not a thing to criticise. Highly recommend .
My partner and I had a lovely experience for dinner tonight. I booked early and request a quiet table. We ended up with the "honeymoon table" in a semi private room with a beautiful view of the gardens. The service was excellent all night, we had a selection of tapas the larger share plate, pigs trotters, prawns, lamb cutlets. It was alot of food for 2 people. Ut was all very nicely presented and came out at a reasonable time. The food wasn't amazing but it was nice. It was rather pricey for what the food was but overall we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and will definitely be back
Enjoyed dinner with family there on a Sunday evening next to the open fire by the bar. The staff were helpful and always on hand.
The food was ok. We had tapas of chorizo, calamari, whitebait (the only dish I would say was good) and croquettes.
The setting is picturesque, a mock Tudor house by the river, slightly set back from the road.
Great view, good beer and calamaris... Nice atmosphere on a summer afternoon. We did not get to try their proper food menu but the only thing I guess goes against a perfect score is the price.... A bit in the expensive side and also the fact that I did not get to try proper food here....though the menu looked really enticing!
What a lovely find! This is a charming eatery located in the Botanical Gardens. The food was fabulous, we had a Tapas sharing plate, the calamari was light and not greasy and everything else was very fresh with a beautiful preparation. My husband enjoyed the seafood casserole and my catch of the day was cooked perfectly. The restaurant building is quaint and surrounded by lovely gardens. The staff was very friendly and attentive.
So delightful to spend our few remaining hours left in Christchurch with lunch at the Curators House Restaurant. Very charming and hospitable hosts, who chatted away and looked after us superbly.
Such a great way to relax and spend the early afternoon before heading for the airport...
Came here for dinner - when we walked in we had some super friendly ladies seated us.
We started off out, but then it was cold and asked to go in - the tall dude there informed us us they were "full" even though we booked lucky for us the ladies knew what was going on and we had a great dinner
We ordered the shareable tapas and enjoyed every crumb of it. Each dish was perfection and they complimented each other. Our server, an English gentleman, was not only an attentive server, but had good recommendations for things to do in the area.
If you don't base your experience off of 5 star service, definitely impressed with the service received. Wish I could remember the gentleman's name, couple of tweaks and he would be more than capable of 5 star service.
The food was generous and flavourful. Went for a work function dinner and no complaints from any of our staff. Would gladly return and will continue to recommend guests to visit.
![4]( "Recensione")
Boutique yet interestingly Spanish influenced place, great for sitting around the outside (if it wasn’t raining cats and dogs) and enjoying some fresh light lunch or afternoon tea with the pleasing view of their gorgeous garden.
The food is quite surprising with a strong Spanish touch, we got the recommended tapas tasting and the house specialty paella, the tapas are nice, but I was expecting something a little more vege-cheese oriented, and less fried stuff, but they tasted pretty good nonetheless. The paella, which would be perfect if the bottom was more appropriately charred, is still the best we have had in NZ so far, nicely balanced seasoning with strong hint of saffron, the rice is perfectly cooked to Al dente, the seafood are fresh and properly cooked and goes great with the rice, we found the mayo based sauce a little unnecessary but it’s generally great.
The desserts are just alright, the almond tart with sherry is a great dish, but the Creme brûlée is a little too runny and too sweet for our liking.
Also, their house made sangrias are a must try, so refreshing!
Had a splendid evening here!
We had the last reservation of the night and were still treated with incredible service.
The food was immaculate, fresh and well designed. My partner and I shared a variety of their tapas and I am so glad we got to taste so many of their wonderfully cultivated menu items.
To top the entire thing off, the indoor fireplaces kept a great comfort over the dinner table and the stunningly manicured garden was perfect to finish our bottle of wine.
Thank you Curator team - we had a wonderful anniversary dinner with you.
Nice place. Food is good. Pricing is not too bad for the location in town. One portion of the main dish is enough to be satisfied with the meal. Ordered chicken and lamb shoulder. Both very nicely cooked with right amount of herbs and tasted very good. Lamb was very soft and tender. Gravy for it is spot on.
Chicken comes with beans in sort of tomato sauce. That combination is great. Garden salad as a side dish was a must for both as I'm a salad person.
Kids menu very minimal with good pricing.
Very nice authentic environment with great Spanish accent. Place is quiet and peaceful.
We enjoyed our meal there and definitely can recommend to visit. One star off for waiting time and higher that usual places of the same level pricing.
Overall very pleasant experience.
We went on a Saturday afternoon just after lunch for some nibbles and drinks. It was a bright sunny day so we sat outside and enjoyed the view around us. The staff were lovely. We had a traditional sangria each, and the tasting platter; which was shared between two. Would go back again.
While most of the meals delivered to our table looked good and tasty, my own choice of main, the seafood casserole fell miserably short on taste and substance. More of a $43 entree than a main and the seafood was of low quality imo. But we had a good time none the less.
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