dux dine

just got home from a wonderful meal at dux dine . we were greeted as soon as we walked in the door and taken straight to ourtable. the restaurant was warm and the atmosphere was alive . i was tipped from a friend of mine to order the calamari entree , followed by the groper with salsa verde on white bean mash , everything was perfect . my partner shared the calamari and had the papadelle pasta with clams , scampi , local fish , parmesan as her main .she described it as one of the best pastas she has had in years . the service was excellent and i could not fault anything apart from being to full for dessert . we will be back !!!

our visit this last saturday rewarded us with very good food. we had been previously last year and wasn't as impressed. maybe they were 'bedding in' the kitchen staff/wait staff when they opened. very good food and prompt service now.

fish is uniformly excellent. not the cheapest, but fish is fresh. good option of ordering 250ml wine when yourtablecan't decide on a bottle to share. better value than 150ml wine.

recommend what we had. we had the fried squid to start and seafood pasta main. cost for two with wine was $100. ($71 food and $29 for 2 x 250ml wine). filling, fresh and tasty.

on of my favourite restaurants in christchurch- hands down!! i always love coming to dux dine because i know that the drinks will be tasty and the food will be top notch. my go-to food choices are always the "red tofu curry" and the "margherita pizza" however the last time i went i ordered the "pasta of the day" which on the menu said salmon carbonara however the dish i got was actually cod carbonara- it was very tasty but i was still slightly disappointed as i was looking forward to eating some salmon. every person at thetableloved their food and we all had a really good dining experience in the semi-outdoor conservatory area of the restaurant, which is really pretty in the evening sunset! the only small problem here would be parking as although they do have their own carpark, there is sometimes not enough room and the roadworks on riccarton road make for a really inconvenient parking experience - @gastrogeeny

this was one of the worst dining experiences i have ever had. firstly, they hadn't arranged enough seating for ourtableof about 20 to sit and already had all the other tables booked so everyone was forced to cramp in uncomfortably and closely together. secondly, i couldn't afford both the main and dessert on the set menu for ourtablebecause i'm a student and have little money at the moment ($52 per person at the table) so i asked if i could just have a main.  the manager then refused, got pissed and told me no because "how were they suppose to make money" (despite having a wholetableof 20 people paying the full price),  he then made the suggestion that i ask everyone at mytableto "pitch in" to buy my dessert, which is not only incredibly embarrassing to do, but also made me feel worse for not being able to pay for my meal. i then eventually left the restaurant in tears told the manager i was leaving cause i really couldn't afford what they were asking. he  then responded with a blunt "that's cool" as i walked out. definitely would not recommend this restaurant to anyone that enjoys great customer service.

not quite the experience i had prepared myself for, but maybe it's my fault? i don't eat fish, but had rather hoped the vegetarian side of the mains would be a little more extensive. there were really only two items on the menu for me, spanakopita and aubergine, so i ordered the one with the least amount of mushrooms: spanakopita. i must say, it was quite tasty and i am not a big fan of spinach. definitely not a meal for someone counting calories, but the filling was delicious and the puff pastry was cooked perfectly. we tried the cauliflower and cheese balls as a starter, which were also delicious. my husband ordered the blue cod, which he enjoyed very much. 

i was a little disappointed as the reviews mentioned "ducks everywhere" and i only counted two. the decorations were more reminiscent of the olden days in christchurch with old tyme photographs and foggy mirrors on the walls. the atmosphere was more casual and group friendly and less romantic. not necessarily a bad thing, but again, not what i was expecting. we were initially placed at atablepractically touching the hostess stand and in direct line of the door. we quickly asked to be re-seated as many people coming through the door meant many drafts and noisy people listening in our quiet conversation. not much of a date night feel. we were re-seated in the corner next to a group of 10 (guess we weren't going to get that private date night atmosphere afterall) but we were much warmer and enjoyed the ambiance just as well. we were served by 3 different people throughout the meal. there was no consistency nor communication between the three. it didn't matter much as our food was served quickly, but it was hard to know who to flag down for a refill. overall, while i wouldn't recommend dux dine for a date night experience, i can see why this restaurant has survived over the years from the old student union to this casual, group dining experience. next time we'll remember to bring 8 friends.

only a tuesday night and it was very busy. always a good sign and proved to be true. a group of five we shared a range of entrees and all were very good. the squid was extremely good followed by the dumplings.

for mains we all had a range and the gurnard and blue cod dishes were excellent.

although the staff were a little slow to start with once the restaurant began to quieten a little they were very attentive. it was a very busy night with hardly atablefree.

we were seated outside but the evening was warm. all of us commented that we would be returning.

our family (three adults) reserved atableand dined recently on friday evening to celebrate a birthday. we used to patronize the dux in its former setting and this was our first visit to the new location. loved the ambience and the menu offers an excellent range of choices.
service on arrival was friendly and polite. however all soups chosen as entrees arrived in cold plates and were tasty but only lukewarm. drinks orders were fine. major problem occurred with main course; one person ordered halloumi fritters and two of us ordered the fish special. only one fish arrived. after a few minutes we queried this and were told the meal was definitely on its way. then two minutes later we were told there had been a mistake; only one fish special had actually been placed and the missing meal would be delivered as soon as possible. at this point a second drinks order was requested. in the meantime the food (on cold plates) was getting even colder so two of us dined while the birthday person watched us eat. his meal was delivered fifteen minutes later, (again on a cold plate) by a different waitperson, after we had finished eating. the second drinks order never turned up at all. when it was time to pay, the cashier initially wanted to charge for the drink that was not provided. she had been informed of the problem with the main courses, and a casual apology was offered, but the impression left was one of indifference. while the meals were enjoyable, the service we experienced appeared disjointed and not customer-focused. overall, a disappointing evening's dining.

really don't understand the poor reviews below - went to dux dine this evening, and it was the best meal ever! arrived at 8pm and without a booking managed to get a seat - usually this is a bad sign in chch, but the person who greeted us was friendly and gave us a good table.

while the waiters took a while to take our orders after handing over the menu, the entree was worth the wait. recommend the flat breads and spreads - soooo good! loved the option of a small or large glass of wine.

we both ordered fish dishes as mains and the were fantastic!!
no complaints about the meals, but they did takes ages to come out ...1.5hrs after we sat down. bit annoying, but the meals were so good we forgot about the wait straight away. meals looked small, but were deceiving! we shared one dessert - the chocolate mousse cake was fab, and the raspberry sorbet great!! yum.

very clean premises. i watched the waiter clean atablewhile i sat there and he did a brilliant job - sounds stupid but so many times i see a half arsed attempt, and it's no wonder everything ends up grubby. kitchen very clean too.

very good service. nice young bloke was very good. nice to be served correctly, and new napkins after each course. very good.

lovely atmosphere. lovely meal. thoroughly recommend. (and i usually complain about everything!!)

this is my third visit to the dux dine. on previous visits i was very happy with the food & service. the thought the decor and layout well done.
hostess and staff friendly and helpful.
on the down side, i felt that their policy on having to get your own water and take your orders up -if dinning outside, was odd. half of the veranda area was included in the dine in area and 1/2 the outside! we felt that the outside area was close enough to be serviced. it makes no difference to the number of patrons for staff to take orders from outside. as guests will leave an emptytablein side. maybe they need to increase staff levels? however there appeared to be plenty. (i have worked in this industry for many years on the floor & management)
my seafood chowder was nice but had been sitting prior to being brought out to the table. the soup had a skin on and was just hot! yes i could have sent it back and next time i will.
these are just little things that can be easily fixed and hope you think about our comments, with a positive approach. i would give the dux dine another go - if joining others but won't rush on my own accord.

great food great decor ....but... notableservice at lunch time....come on... you can't charge prices like that then expect people to queue up and pay in advance.
would be 4+ stars if you changed your outdated policy.

being an "old school" dux diner" i was waiting with baited breath for the dux dine to reopen its doors so i could once eat the wonderful aquatarien food that i fondly remember.
this beautiful old house now holds one of christchurch's iconic restaurants, every room is beautifully decorated and the garden would make many a gardener envious.

the group i was with ordered oysters, bread and dips, polenta chips and a range of salads and everything was washed down with the dux beers and everything was amazing!

the dux now dotableservice and the menus have beautiful old christchurch on them, many a tourist will be slipping it into there bags to take home i think.

well done team dux you must be very proud .