leinster road bistro

oh, man! i had my birthdaymealthere two years ago. it was very good dinning experience! i had tasty duck meal! i will have to say it is awesome! friendly service! i enjoyed its quiet environment!

the atmosphere in here is nice. our waiter was pretty helpful and friendly. we ordered a few entrees and the ciabatta bread was really nice. i orded the steak, chips and salad meal, and at $35 you would expect a decent piece of steak for this price, half of my steak was fat and gristle and couldn't eat it. was a let down, considering the rest of themealwas so nice.
the byo option is not advertised very well as i didn't know it was.
i would come back again but probably would rather try somewhere else new instead first.

i have to agree with the last review and i meant to post a review earlier.
i went to the restaurant in may with my sister. after booking in advance i was told by the waitress that my booking had been taken by someone else with the same surname - incredibly! also i was 10 mins early so this was not because i was late. i had given them my phone no to differentiate myself from others who shared the same surname, (as was later confirmed by the waitress, so it was a totally weird/lame excuse).
i was then offered a free drink and maybe dessert at the bar, where i waited for my sister (but not at that stage advised if there would be a table on offer at any point of the evening). she could have dealt with it a lot better than she did since they had screwed up.
my sister was less than impressed with this scenario when she arrived, but was determined to stay to make a point.
we both ordered fish and chips -mealwas ok but not a lot of effort presentation-wise despite the price.
dessert sounded exciting being cheesecake, but i think it is probably one of the worst and definitely the most expensive i have ever had anywhere. it tasted like rancid butter - that seemed to be it's main flavour in fact. the raspberry sorbet on the side was made of raspberry cordial no less.
this was my second (and last) time at the bistro. the drinks were free but not the dessert as it turned out.
just because business is booming due to slim-pickings because of the quake it seems some places think they can get away with any old service or food.
strongly recommend you do not go this establishment.

we went for an eveningmealat this new restaurant last night. the appearance and decor is immaculate, and the service is friendly.
the problem is that the place cannot quite decide what it is. is it a bistro? does it aspire to be a fine dining venue?

we had for starters crispy squid for my wife, and a seafood tortellini for me. my wife said her squid was ok, not very crisp, my seafood tortellini was a disappointment - the seafood was a fine mush contained within a far too dry pasta shell. it all floated in an over brandied sauce.

for mains my wife had a risotto which she was ok, but it had chili and sweetcorn in it, and it risotto really doesn't work with these ingredients. i had a venison pie, which was pretty overcooked and dried out, and the pastry was far too short - tough in other words. by contrast the chef is a master of veg with beautifully prepared mash with carrots vichy - a minor triumph.

the wine list as sold by the glass was catastrophic insofar as the reds were concerned. there was no aussie or italian red on offer by the glass, and all that was available to me was a nz syrah, which i couldn't finish because it was not pleasant at all.

standing brooding over the establishment was the proprietor, who made no attempt to engage with his clientele, and clearly bore on his visage the signs of stress of one who's investment might be fast going west.

we didn't stay for desserts and coffee, as we were not sufficiently confident that the team that had produced this mediocre repast could deliver a dessert to tickle our taste buds.

there are better eateries than this in christchurch, and at a lower cost with a better wine selection. will it still be there in a year's time? i have my doubts