Review La Porchetta - Christchurch

Was craving for good pasta from a long time. Went to La Porchetta last week and it was awesome. The chicken pasta was great value for money and tasted purely authentic and delicious . Also tried the peri peri chicken pizza. It was also good. The staff was friendly and as it was my first time trying food from their, the manager helped me to pick the right food according to my preferences.

If you like Italian food, La Porchetta Riccarton is the ideal place. Go alone, with friends or family, but be sure to go and enjoy delicious and very well prepared dishes. The place is quite spacious, the staff who work there are very friendly and attentive and if you need suggestions they are readily available to help. I ordered a rib steak with mushroom sauce, accompanied by Italian salad and fries. The sauces were divine, the meat seasoning was perfect and the cooking point of the meat was just the way I like it. The only thing that I would suggest is having something to entertain the kids (paper and coloring pencils). I will definitely go back there and recommend it to my friends.

We weren't sure about going to this restaurant after reading some of the reviews, but wanted to give it a try. The staff was friendly and we received our food relatively fast. Food was good. But then it took a long time for them to clear the table and when we ordered dessert and coffee it took almost another 30 min to arrive. They mentioned they were understaffed at the end so not really the staff's fault.

This is our go to place for Italian cuisine. Lololong is amazing! He always has a smile on his face. Amazing service by Lolong!

Family dinner for my son's birthday Friday night, food was so good the service was great everyone was really friendly & polite I'll definitely be back again.

Great atmosphere. Tasty meal. Friendly staff. Tried their pizzas and pasta, which was yummy.

Nice and tidy place for having dinner. Excellent service, very friendly staff. Pizza was cooked to perfection and arrived in less than 10 minutes after ordering. Keep up the good work!

Wonderful authentic Italian restaurant, amazing service, very good portions, my wife and I got a pizza each and ended up taking half home in a takeaway box. A massive menu with so many fantastic options it was hard to make a choice.

Must visit Italian restaurant in Riccarton. If you are trying to impress your date or just ticking out your foodie list, this restaurant will give you the best Italian dish ever. Coming from a country that full of spices and people who love sweet kind of spaghetti, their version of Carbonara in La Porchetta greatly suites my taste. We order Italian salad with olives, Italian pizza, carbonara, tiramisu, arancini and panna cotta for experiencing the Italian kind of experience. The restaurant gave us powdered cheese and some peppers if we like to add more taste upon our food. It such a nice place to have a date

Absolute masterpiece of a place. One of my favourite restaurants in NZ, service and staff seem fantastic and the food is out of this world.

Great food, good service. Decent all round. Pasta was good, pizza was even better.

Great service. Excellent menu. So much to choose from. Great kids menu. Comfortable indoor and outdoor seating. Reasonably priced. Opposite Riccarton Mall, so plenty of parking. All wheelchair accessible.

I ordered this dish online in meal size. Options came up for extras like additional cheese at extra cost. I had assumed that like McDonalds, where you get the standard burger, but you can pay for extra lettuce or whatever, this would be the same but I opted not to order any extras. The result was the blandest $18.90 meal ever. Just the spaghetti with a dollop of meat sauce on it. No cheese or anything else associated with this dish. I haven't been so disappointed with a takeaway meal ever!

Walked pasted and looked good from outside! Service is slow and doesn’t seem they wanna help you at all! Had the prawn and zucchini risotto which was pretty average. Over done and tastes like nothing to be honest

“Reliable” is what comes to mind thinking of La Porchetta. My spaghetti pescatore was not the best in the world, or in this side of the world for that matter. But it’s flavours you know, decent pricing, quick service, generous helpings and respectable ambience. That’s date night right there.

Not the best restaurant in my opinion.The pizza was very average. Service was average. Definitely not returning. Some dishes are below average.

Had an enjoyable experience at La Porchetta, ordered a large Margherita Pizza. Flavourful and cheesy. Definitely will be returning. 15.90 for a large pizza isn't bad, especially when sharing and for the quality. Service was good and was seated quickly.

Phone order tonight & was told 15 - 20 minutes.  Arrived 15 minutes & pizza not even in the oven.  Restaurant not particularly busy but a complete shambles.  Finally got meal after 45 minutes.  Shame - have had some really good experiences with this restaurant.

amazing food and fantastic service but one of the kiwi chef shouts/curses so much I can hear it from my table. I know it was busy but it kills the vibe. aside from that, overall experience was excellent! hopefully, they can change his attitude!

La Porcheta is a Pizza place for the whole family, conveniently located nearby one of the better movie theater in Christchurch, if it weren't for the 15 to 20 minutes long ads and previews. But, I digress...The restaurant is reasonably priced and the service is relatively friendly. An ideal location if you are feeling hungry after that long movie or the kids are nagging you during your shopping at the mall.

We thought we'd try La Porchetta 4 years ago as a more filling option while out for the day with the kids and it's become a firm favourite. Unlike other reviews, we've never had a bad meal experience here and love going through the menu to try different items. Pizzas are fantastic, wouldn't dream of ordering from any of the chains - there's no comparison 😄

Disappointed with the low grade food for the price. Don't expect anything flash to say the least. It's an Italian diner which might suite young kids and that's being generous

We ordered Spaghetti Pescatore and there is wide selection of seafood in it. My favourite is the Fettuccine Pollo e Avocado. Has been there for a few times and I always order this pasta and its quite special. For the pizza, we gotten the Original Porchetta with tomato base, mozzarella, lean, Italian pork sausage, basil and olive oil. Yummy :)

La Porchetta is the best pizza place in Christchurch! Great food and polite service. The best pizzas are the simple ones - my favourite is Margherita. Would recommend for dinner with friends or family as it's easy to split the cost.

Italian diner-like restaurant <br/><br/> Dined here multiple times, menu has too many choices however my go to dish at Porchetta is the mushroom ravioli- off menu.<br/><br/>If you are not a big eater, i would suggest getting  the entrée size for any pasta.. the portions are incredible here!Would love to see some quality desserts, whenever I think its a good idea I am usually reminded how desserts here are a little bit too sweet <br/>Recommend for celebrations and birthdays

We had good relaxing time and service is okay and food is fine.  Portion of food is just enough. Staff can perhaps do it better with a little smile.  :-)

Good pizzas and pastas. Decent and quick service. Good prices. Don't expect high class. Just good hearty "Italian" fare. Take friends as the portions are generally large. Recommend at least one visit. Food 4/5, Price 3.5/5, Service 3.5/5, Ambience 3.5/5

I love La Porchettas! The pizzas are filling and delicious! Its a great place to eat out with friends. The first time I had come to La Porchettas to eat was last year for my 22nd birthday. I heard about La Porchettas through an acquaintance and I checked out the reviews to see what the place is like to eat. Despite the bad reviews I noticed on most of these review sites, I however loved going out to eat at La Porchettas. My favourite dessert was the Lemon and Lime Sorbet. I would love to know how to make this dessert.

Great place for pizza, good if feeding a crowd or a quick place to eat out for a family. Service could have been a little bit better but it is a very busy place!!

Great pizza at a great price, are there places with better ambience yes but for a quick family feed its worth the visit, just don't expect to much. They deliver on what they promise.

I've been there three times, and it hasn't been a good experience. First time, I ordered a lasagne, it was very dried compared to the others Porchettas in Auckland. Second time, I ordered a lasagne entre size with extra sauce, they charged me $1.50, it was ok, however in the others Porchettas don't charge for extra sauce. Two weeks later I came back (today), I ordered a lasagne entre size with extra sauce, the waitress said, sorry we don't do extra sauce any longer. I asked her to double check, and explained her I just wanted a spoon of bolognes sauce on bottom of my plate, and on top of it put the lasagne. She went to check, and when she came back she said that one spoon of bolognes was $3 dollars. <br/>How come? It costs double price in two weeks! Crazy! Very disappointed.

@gross never again I was burnt with hot water from the mussels and my main dish was un eatable. The service was horrible and made the hole night a bummer for everyone not just me and my uneatable food. DONT GO NOT WORTH IT

We enjoyed the food. Good food. Terrible, terrible, terrible service. Wont go back. We booked for 8, they gave us a table for 6. Said they would bring a table and add it on to our table, but took 20 minutes to do it, whiule our guests were standing by the table waiting. The took another 10 minutes for the chairs.<br/>The drinks waitress became angry with one of our party and yelled at her because she accidentilly stepped back into her. Rudest service i have ever had.

Average food which was eventually received with the worst customer service ever. <br/>Our food arrived 10 minutes apart- a part of four and one was served first and over 1/4 done by the time the rest of our food came. go next door to the fox and ferret or even coffee culture for better food and much better customer service

The best tomato soup ever! The staff are friendly and the pizzas are made with fresh ingredients in large size. Went back for lunch and repeat the wonderfull tomato soup.

A great place to eat if you're on a budget and feel like going somewhere casual and laid back. The food is decent, especially for what you pay. The pesto gnocchi is so nice that it overshadows pretty much everything else I've tried there. The service isn't always perfect however. We had to wait 15 minutes after being seated for someone to take our order, then a further 20 minutes for the food to arrive. Other gripes include receiving a bottle of water that was lukewarm and lacklustre desserts. In saying that, when the food is as cheap as it is there is no need to have super high expectations. La Porchetta is perfectly fine for what it is.

La Porchetta was a last minute choice as I walked past but was a pleasant surprise. Very busy for a Wednesday evening but service was excellent. I was surprised at the efficiency of the staff as drinks and food were kept flowing. I had the seafood platter and a salad ( so healthy!) and it arrived in good time and was very tasty. The scallops and fish were a bit over cooked but the squid rings and prawns were excellent. All the pizzas being served around me looked very nice. I will be ordering one next time.

La Porchetta was one of my favourite eateries around Christchurch. Its service has always been on the slow side, but the staff are usually friendly and the food is usually amazing.<br/><br/>However, our trip there last night was very disappointing. We had ordered a chicken satay pizza, a half-half mushroom and sweet chili pizza, a seafood platter to share between five people, and some drinks. Firstly, it took forever for a waitress to come take our order, in contrast to our previous visits when a waitress would continuously check up our table. We also noticed other diners were also annoyed at having to frantically wave at waitresses to try and get their attention to take their order. The usual friendliness was not there either. Drinks took about 20 minutes to come out, and the chocolate milkshake I had ordered was almost luke warm. <br/><br/>Then came the mains. First thing that we noticed was that the presentation of the seafood platter was disappointing. The prawns, scallops, fish, and chips were in a mess. Then we noticed that the fried squid rings were way overcooked with the batter colour being dark brown and was also way too salty. The prawns were undercooked. The only good thing about the platter was the italian-style salad that came with it. It was a big disappointment as the seafood platter used to be much more extravagant and was usually a highlight of the meal.<br/><br/>The worst part of the meal however was the half-half pizza, which came out cold. Usually it will be at the quality where the cheese would stretch for ages, but it was at the standard where you can press on the pizza and the cold oil would just ooze out. It was worse than the stuff you get at dominoes and pizza hut. The only saving grace from the night was the chicken satay pizza, which is perhaps the most consistently good pizza from that place. Overall, a highly disappointing night, and I doubt we will be returning there again.

Had a horrible experience here tonight. My Pesto Fettuccine tasted like school paste and that was the least of my worries. My friend ordered the grilled chicken which when arrived was so over-microwaved in the process of defrosting that it was like a big hunk of rubber. She barely touched the plate before politely alerting the waitress (who was lovely) who said she would tell the manager. The manager sent the chicken back to the table after about 10 minutes saying it was fine and that she could continue eating it. My friend said she did not want to eat it at which point the waitress took the meal away. No replacement meal was given. My friend waited hungry while watching me force down my gluey pasta. No condolences were offered by the manager when we went to pay. The manager gave her a measly discount for the $28 piece of rubber saying that she'd eaten over half her meal - which made me furious because she literally only ate a couple of forkfuls. What a cop out. It absolutely **did not** take her half a meal to discover that chicken was horrid. The manager said we could email head office if we were unhappy. We said we were unhappy, as my friend left starving and out of pocket - the manager had audacity to say if we didn't leave she would call security. We left humiliated and discovered when we got home that she had shortchanged us also. Completely useless would be putting it politely.

One of my favourite places to eat with friends the pasta and pizzas are SO GOOD. Water is always warm which is a lil annoying but wait staff very attentive! Love coming here, however I never order the desserts he one time I did YUCK Apple pie tasted it had been stored under the kitchen sink!

Such yummy food couldn't believe the size of my huge snitzel and was so cheap.loved it but some of the staff are family there and they certainly made that apparent by there unprofessional conversations sadly. But fantastic waitresses felt well looked after.

I love La Porchetta as a cheaper option for family dinners or even just a casual night out but I have to say the service at the Cranford St branch is alot friendlier.

What a place to celebrate a birthday or any other occasion, great menu always busy best to book first to avoid disappointment. The pasta dishes are delicious, the nice thing about this restaurant you can have a full meal or half, the drinks are colourful, wines are great. A nice way of spending a relaxing evening.

Last time we'll be visiting La Porchetta!<br/>The food was terrible. We went for lunch and ordered the crumbled beef schnitzel and the minestrone. <br/>The crumbed beef schnitzel was way over cooked..... More cooked cardboard than 'golden brown'. I suspect the meat was not fresh hence the extremely over cooked beef. The salad and chips were ok. <br/>The minestrone tasted like a can of tomato sauce, with raw verges chopped and sparsely mixed in, then nuked in the microwave for 5 min. Seriously it took 5 min before it was evenly remotely edible.<br/>All in all poor quality food. Will be looking else for lunch next time!<br/>That was the second disappointed meal..... There won't be a third.

My Partner and myself went to La Porchetta the other day and for once I was really disappointed. It wasn't that busy when we went in, but we got served promptly and got our drinks and starters within 10 minutes. Their garlic bread was delicious! However, we both ordered the "min" fishermans baskets, and we were both disappointed. I took a bit into one of my scallops, and water from it burst into my mouth, and mixed with tartare sauce it wasn't very nice! The calamari was average, prawns were great. I couldn't eat the fish however as it still had the skin on it - despite being deep fried which I could not understand. The steamed vegetable tasted like they had just been microwaved on high for 1 minute. The chips were great though! Overall, I wouldn't recommend seafood there, and I believe I've been put off seafood for life and my partner, a seafood fanatic, has been put off for at least a few weeks.

Had dinner there last night was very impressed with how fast we ordered and got our meals as we were in a large group, i had the Cesar salad with prawns and no anchovies, was beautiful and will definitely go again

Very disappointed with this restaurant. Our order was forgotten about, after pointing this out to the waiter it turned up after 1 hour. We demanded a discount but all they were willing to offer us was a small basket of chips at no cost. They certainly did not seem to worry about our complaint, so next time we will vote with our wallet.

We bought a pizza at the supermarket that tasted better and I only paid $5.00 for two pizzas. Your pizzas were tasteless, lacking in ingredients as advertised. I expect value for my hard earned money. How much profit do you want, 200% , I'm not here for you to rip me off. On my Meatlovers pizza I expect more than sausage meat and second rate ham and more than two meats as well it is mean't to be a Meat Lovers Pizza. As for the salmon pizza, at first I thought you had forgot the Salmon but a little bit was hiding under the cheese. Cheap but delious coupland pies are tastier than your efforts. Clean up your act or go out of business.

We ate here over the weekend. When we first arrived the place was fairly empty, only one or two tables occupied, so we were seated quickly and brought water and menus promptly then left to decide what we wanted.<br/>Waited a long time for the waitress to return, 15 minutes or so, then I ordered the Minestrone to start and Spaghetti Bolognese for my main, and my partner had chips to start and a pizza for a main.<br/>The minestrone was delicious, and my partner enjoyed his chips, however our mains were brought out about 3 minutes after our starters, so we were left watching our pizza and pasta get cold while we tried to rush our way through our starters, even though we had clearly stated that our first courses were to start, and not an accompaniment.<br/>The Pizza was good, but I didn't enjoy the pasta much, the sauce was far too spicy and the pasta itself had a really soft baby food like texture.<br/>However, you get what you pay for I guess, but I would have still liked a better quality meal, even for such a cheap price.

Fantastic food and fast service. Pizzas were delicious and the pasta dishes are just divine. <br/>Very busy restaurant and I can see why. Book early to make sure you get a table.<br/>Only downside was we asked for no Anchovies on a particular pizza and they still put them on but otherwise was a great dining experience and I will definitely be returning soon :-)

Insulted twice on the phone. After I got my main course, was only checked on once. I wanted to get desert and pay but had to wait over half an hour to get any service. I think the odds of me coming back is extremely slim. Just glad to get out of that place.

I was a bit apprehensive about dining here after reading these reviews, but I was really happy with my experience here. The wait staff were all lovely, and the service was very fast, we didn't have to wait long for our meals at all. Both the pastas and the pizzas we ordered were great (although the avocado pasta could use more than just one tiny slice of avocado!). We also got a great deal - two drinks, two meals and two movie tickets at the Hoyts across the road for $55! The prices are also very good. I will definitely be returning!

We were not impressed with our meals at all. The cannelloni was bland - it only really tasted like cheese. The spaghetti bolognese tasted like it was from a 'watties just eat' can, and it was COLD. It was clearly pre-made sauce that had been re-heated poorly. The side of vegetables were so 'lightly-cooked' that 'uncooked' would have been a better description, and they were covered in butter! People ordering a side of veges are probably interested in being a healthy eater! The service was spot on, but the food was below par. We have been several times, every time thinking a meal in the mall food court over the road would have been tastier. Unimpressed.

I like there Pizza specially the salmon one. Good service and do not have to wait long. Would go back

Every time I have been to La Porchetta I have come out disappointed but after last week I will never go back there again! I found a hair in my mushroom risotto (which was nothing more than just goo) and decided to tell the manager about it - he decides to mix the hair into the pasta and pretends not to see it! And then takes my dish out to the kitchen for 15Min's brings it back and tells me there is nothing in there even though me and my friends clearly saw it mixed in with the mushrooms, I did not get an apology nor even a discount on the meal - nothing. I guess I couldn't expect much when they couldn't even get something as simple as southern comfort on rocks right. Bad service, bad food &amp; bad management!

Was one of the worst meals we have ever experienced in CHCH. The restaurant is like a food hall for starters and must be one of the first Italian restaurants run by Asians. My husband's pasta dish was not enjoyable - chicken and mushroom penne and the sauce was yellow in colour and not creamy. I had steak and the seasonal vegetables were uncooked and cold. Had to ask for the chips to go with my main. We would rate it 1/10 for ambience, 2/10 for food and 1/10 for service

Reasonable price and the mushroom pasta I usually order is creamy and delicious. The meatlover pizza is a little average to be honest. The chips and the garlic bread is good too

Well - probably closer to 3.5 stars, but can't enter that ...<br/><br/>Definitely one of the better pizza's in Christchurch, good pizza and reasonable prices. Staff is normally friendly, however sometimes slightly disorganised. So far they managed however to fix whatever went wrong.<br/><br/>We like the place if we are in pizza mood and come back.

I had a terrible experience here. We had only just moved to Christchurch and thought it would be nice to go somewhere local to grab a quick tea....the que to get in was backed onto the street when we got there so assumed it was a good place to dine as it was so popular. Service was average, but food was particulary good and very cheap! To top off the night though the eftpos machine must have been down or something but the que at the counter of people wanting to pay and leave was swirled around half the resturaunt, after about 20-25 mins they decided to open up another till and my husband and i were asked to start the new line, as i stepped out and headed towards the counter a waitress paying no attention what so ever walked into me and spilt her tray of drinks all over me and the floor. I got no apology -just a grunt and a filthy stare! I was furious. The girl that had asked us to pay also said nothing even though she had seen the whole thing! I wasnt offered a serviette or anything to clean myself off with and then we were charged the full amount of our meal and sent off. NOT HAPPY!

This restaurant is supposed to be open 11am til late. I rang tonight which is a Friday night at 10.30pm after finishing work at 10.15pm and they were closed. What time is considered late on a Friday, if they close at 10pm they should show it on the website and also at the restaurant. Very disappointing, I spoke to someone over the phone and they couldnt understand that I mentioned Late they thought I said 8 ... come on buck up your ideas if you want ppl to use your business

Cheap but for the quality of the food it should be cheaper. I had a pasta that tasted like its from a can and my friend had pizza with no flavour.

Well about a fortnight ago a group of 7 of myself and friends went to dine here, the food was very tasty loved it but how ever didn't not love the service. for a start when a friend turned up before us and asked for a table for 5 the waitress didn't seem very happy they asked if it was going to be any trouble but she said no but then when i have called her to let her know there was going to be 2 more of us she told the waitress there was going to now be 7 of us dining she turned around and said that's going to be a problem for me .....( the attitude of this girl was just not nice),<br/><br/><br/>Any how we had to go make our own table to seat all of us together because the tables are all made up for 2-4 people.<br/>We all ordered our meals and drinks we were told that it shouldn't be to much of a wait should be about 20-25 Min's because of the 2 steak meals that were ordered we waited 30Min's and asked then ask where were our meals... she had no real answer really so we asked if we could have a fries we ordered while we wait for a main meals she said yes of course it will just be 10 Min's.......<br/><br/><br/>25-30 Min's came along and our meals came out but no fries and she didn't say that she was coming back with them we had to go and ask her and was then told the fries were forgotten,<br/> a Caesar salad was order with NO anchovies and it came out with anchovies,...... a steak was ordered rare- med that came out well-done asked for it to be done again and waited another steak to be cooked it took them 25 Min's to cook it and by that time most of us had finished eating so they didn't get to enjoy their meal with the rest of us.<br/><br/>As i said the food was VERY nice i loved my pizza and the fries did come out half way into our meal and were very nice<br/> BUT the service NEED EDS to be asses ed the waitresses didn't not smile and it did seem a bother to them that they were there taking orders.... if they really aren't that happy to be there then they should get something that they are happy doing instead of making costomers dining a nightmare.

Food was good. Cost us just over $80 for 5 adults, including drinks, even had about 4 slices of pizza left over to take home. Service was satisfactory, although could be better. Two of the meals were only lukewarm when brought out to us, although they were promptly removed, heated, and returned by the staff. Would go back next time I'm in the pizza mood.

For me it was awful experience. <br/><br/>went there with my mate yesterday around 5pm. <br/>only one table was there eating(not busy) but have to wait like 5 minutes to be seated..(wat was that.. only one table was dining there). ok i understand the wait. and the waitress they are not kind at all~!!!! OMG. <br/><br/>ok lets say i understand that. there was at least one girl was smiling. and then the food ~!!!OMG. we ordered the seafood pasta and the large size mexican pizza. <br/><br/>the Seafood pasta looks like no sauce like watery.. so we asked waitress to put more sauce.. yap. dat has been done nicely. but still the watery sauce.. ok..<br/><br/><br/> the pizza had SAlami on it.. I think (only my opinion) they are using the salami which is not that fresh.. taste smelly.. and smell...OMG...<br/><br/>Couldnt eat that.. so we ask for the take away box.. and the waitress gave me one.. but the inside of the box has grease in it..looks like has been used!@@!!!!<br/><br/>Ok........yap.that place is cheap... but you can find same price better place..<br/><br/>worst experience ever...

Great casual dinning. Ideal for the student budget. Caters well for both small and large groups, and takes bookings for any number of people. Excellent pizza and pasta's for under $20. La Porchetta Pizza Restaurant has been the starting venue for many girls nights out. However i would not recommend for young children due to the noise level. If you are looking for an energetic, fun filled evening then this restaurant is ideal.

Hi, <br/><br/>Well im completely blowen away and definetly satisfied by your service, adn will definetly be a long serving regular customer... your friendly staff and great hospitality is wonderful and i enjoyed the Cesear Salad and most definetly The Murray mud cake

The pizza at this place is delicious and the pasta is always surprising good. Prices are excellent. Desserts are very big and filling. Would recommend!