Christchurch eats straight off the Canterbury Plains: Riccarton Bush growers, Akaroa king salmon, Waipara riesling and Banks Peninsula cheese. The post-quake rebuild put it all inside container bars, restored laneways and food halls you can walk between in ten minutes.
Saturday-only market (9am-12pm) on the lawns of Riccarton House beside the kahikatea bush remnant. Around 60 Canterbury growers: Barry's Bay cheese, Waipara stone fruit, hot Hungarian langos, Lyttelton coffee roasters. Cash and card, most stalls NZ$5-15.
Eight independent kitchens under one restored roof in the SALT District: Bao Down dumplings, Pizza Kitchen wood-fired, Hakatu ramen, Grillhouse burgers and Dough gelato. Order at each counter, share a communal table. Open daily 8am-late, mains NZ$16-26.
Coffee institution inside the 1930s former post office, roasting its own beans downstairs. Famous for sliders delivered by pneumatic tube at 140kph and taps built from repurposed sewing machines. Flat white NZ$5.50, slider set NZ$14, open 7am-late daily.
Survivor pub east of the centre, 20 rotating taps of South Island craft — Three Boys, Eagle Brewing, Emerson's — plus its own Four Avenues brews. Handpull real ale, pork pies and Canterbury cheeseboards. Pints around NZ$11, open from 3pm Tue-Sun.
Saturday harbour market on London Street (10am-1pm) with Banks Peninsula smoked fish, Akaroa salmon pastrami, sourdough from Grizzly Baked Goods and harakeke honey. The Coffee Company next door roasts on-site; brunch plates NZ$18-24.
Bistro in the Arts Centre precinct doing Akaroa king salmon cured with horopito, Bluff oysters in season (March-August, around NZ$5 each) and Canterbury lamb rump. Long lunch menu until 3pm, mains NZ$34-42, glasses of Waipara riesling from NZ$13.
Organic, biodynamic winery 50 minutes north on SH1, known for skin-contact riesling, chenin blanc and pinot noir grown on limestone. Rammed-earth cellar door with valley views; tastings NZ$15 (waived with purchase), shared plates from the wood oven NZ$18-32.
Chef's-counter restaurant on Oxford Terrace where 12 seats face the pass. Small plates built on South Island produce — kawakawa, Canterbury beef, Kaikōura crayfish, foraged sea greens — with a 10-course tasting menu around NZ$130 and matched wines NZ$95.
Wood-fired sourdough bakery milling its own Canterbury-grown grain, opening 7:30am Wed-Sun until sold out. Rye loaves, cardamom buns, sausage rolls and cheese scones NZ$6-9, filter coffee NZ$5. Standing room and a bench on the street only.
Two-storey covered market on the Avon, open 7 days, with 40-plus traders: Canterbury butchers, a whole-fish counter, Korean fried chicken, Turkish gozleme, dumplings and a mezzanine bar. Street-food plates NZ$12-22, produce stalls until 6pm.
The 1932 Spanish Mission pedestrian strip is now a run of tiny food doors: Rollickin' Gelato with liquid-nitrogen flavours, Caffeine Laboratory, Fires Kitchen and cocktail hole-in-the-wall Suzy's. Gelato NZ$7.50, snack plates NZ$14-20.
Post-quake drinking culture at its rawest: Smash Palace is a beer garden built around a green bus with gourmet burgers and Canterbury taps, while The Welder courtyard nearby stacks a distillery, natural-wine bar and kombucha brewer around a garden.