For date night or dance night, a classy cocktail or a crafty beer – you can’t go past these Christchurch establishments.
The 10 Best Bars in Christchurch
1. Bangalore Polo Club
Follow the alleyway off Oxford Tce to the small bar filled with leather banquettes, beautiful tiled floors and a roaring fire, and browse the two-page-long creative cocktail menu.
2. Boo Radley’s
You could be in Nawlins: candles light a well-stocked bar, huge pool table, there’s live music and the largest bourbon selection in New Zealand. Try their cocktails or grown-up “milkshakes”.
3. The Dirty Land
Killer cocktails, exceptional wines and imported beers in an ambience of moody lighting, heavy red curtains and exposed brickwork underneath a pressed tin ceiling.
4. Dux Central
A ridiculous number of beers (roughly 180, from $8 to $100) including the bar’s own label, other local boutique brews and some more well-known options. Wine or spirits too, if you must.
5. Fat Eddie’s
New Zealand’s favourite jazz club – home to different musicians every night – is one of many bars on riverside Oxford Tce.
6. Gin Gin
G&T, anyone? Fifteen different versions of the classic drink are created from a vast range of botanical delights sourced from distilleries from Christchurch to Japan and England.
7. O.G.B. and Parlour
Named for Old Government House, the epitome of style overlooks Cathedral Square with outdoor courtyard, table service and the best Negroni in town. Tucked behind a secret bookcase you’ll find Parlour, a newer and quieter cocktail lounge.
8. Red Light District
First find the drycleaning shop, then walk through it and into the tiny, dimly-lit speakeasy that specialises in premium cocktails. Each drink has been curated by expert mixologists.
9. Sawyer
Contemporary lounge with an enticing collection of fermented and distilled refreshments and creative cocktails, popular with the after-work crowd.
10. Smash Palace
The famous ‘bus that became a bar’ after the 2011 earthquakes is an icon of the city’s rebuild, though it’s now moved into a permanent home on High St.