Riverside Market

Someone from this business manages this listing.

#1 of 2 Speciality Food Markets in Christchurch$$ - $$$, Speciality Food Market, International, Vegetarian friendly

+64 27 770 5599+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Mon

9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Tue

8:00 am - 6:00 pm

Wed

9:00 am - 6:00 pm

Thu

8:00 am - 9:00 pm

Fri

9:00 am - 9:00 pm

Sat

8:00 am - 9:00 pm

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What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

257 reviews

#1 of 2 Speciality Food Markets in Christchurch

Travellers' Choice 2024

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Details

Someone from this business manages this listing.

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CUISINES

International

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options

Meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

features

Location and contact

78 Cashel Street 96 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch 8011 New Zealand

+64 27 770 5599

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Is this restaurant good for dinner?

Yes

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About

7 day a week Fresh Food and Produce Market. Over 20 different ready to eat food offerings and 40 stalls selling everything including; butcher, bakery, fishmonger, fruit and veggies, cakes, cured meats, cookies, ice creams, coffee, juices, craft beer, italian deli and more...its amazing!

CUISINES

International

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options

Meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

FEATURES

Delivery, Takeout, Outdoor Seating, Seating, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Wine and Beer, Mastercard, Visa, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Non-smoking restaurants, Gift Cards Available

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4.5

257 reviews

Excellent

194

Very good

Average

Poor

Terrible

AraleMelbourne

Melbourne427 contributions

A bustling Market

Jun 2022 • none

I love the decor in this market. It is so neat and charming. Staff at the individual stalls are all friendly and gives the impression that they are really happy. We were lucky to have been there on the Matariki Festival and was spoilt by the performance of a Maori singing and dancing group. This market is full of fresh produce stalls as well as international cuisines. You can go back several times to try out different eateries. Parking is an issue. Even though there is a paid parking area on premises, it is quite limited and the parking spaces are narrow. Parking is also not cheap. $3.90 per hour. We spent approximately 2.5 hours there.

Written 24 June 2022

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Janet M

Cordova821 contributions

Must Visit In Christchurch

Feb 2024 • couples

We enjoyed our visit to Riverside Market (Sun open 10:00am to 5:00pm). It was very busy and there was a lot of activity and events near the market. We stopped in at Canterbury Brewery Collective and had some beer. Then we ordered lunch at Buon Appetito (Italian) and sat at the outside picnic tables to enjoy the special music.

Written 17 July 2024

County-Hunter

Tacoma3736 contributions

Foodie Heaven!

Jul 2023 • couples

My wife and I liked the Riverside market so much that we visited each day during our three day visit to Christchurch. We were staying in a hotel in the CBD so it was within easy walking distance. We enjoyed browsing the different food stalls and chatting with the proprietors. We even got some free samples which led to us purchasing several items. We only ate one meal here but would buy pastries and take them back to our hotel for either a late night snack or breakfast the next morning. The market was clean and had an upscale feel to it, but prices were very reasonable. Great place to get some lunch as it dies down considerably after 2pm during the week.

Written 8 July 2023

Tiffany Ĺ

New Zealand12 contributions

Christchurch Adventures

Jun 2024 • couples

The Malaysian food stall did not offer an authentic taste to me. Not up to my expectations. Laksa soup needs rich flavours and the noodles weren’t a good match for laksa soup. Beef rendeng wasn’t juicy and tender. Although the owner, chef and servers were really nice to accommodate your preferences, the food just requires more flavour and texture. Hope this helps.

Written 16 June 2024

cowgirlNZ

345 contributions

Not for me

Jun 2024 • couples

After reading plenty of hype about the markets here we decided to while away a few hours when in Christchurch recently. Wow, it only took about 10 mins to get round. It was a Wednesday, maybe they are better at the weekend. We found there to be poorly stocked food specialty stores, and an over-supply of food outlets most of which were empty. Communal food hall style eating areas downstairs were all in use (not necessarily by people who had bought food either) so had to climb the stairs to the upper level - couldn't readily see an elevator and I have mobility issues. Both up and downstairs eating areas were not overly clean, and the toilets downstairs were outright dirty. It didn't feel particularly safe either, I kept a good grip on my bag, saw a car in the outdoor ground level car park with smashed window and this was in the middle of the day. Overall take-out was generally down at heel, less than clean and poor selection of goods. I wouldn't bother visiting again, there are better markets.

Written 28 July 2024

Kris Inglis

Hi CowgirlNZ, (sorry but I didn't see your real name!), My name is Kris Inglis and I'm an owner of Riverside Market. Thanks for visiting us in June. Its a shame you had a bad experience as we pride ourselves on providing amazing food, a vibrant atmosphere as well as a clean and safe environment. Over the past 5 years we have never had a poor review quite like yours as you will see from the 200+ reviews we have had. We usually have 4 or 5 star ratings so we are naturally dissapointed when someone has a negative experience like you obviously did. I do notice you have given 5 star ratings to many small boutique restaurants and cafes, which is fair enough and may be more your preference. However, I do feel like we need to point out that we are often rated as the number 1 destination with tourists as the place they want to visit before they come to Christchurch, and rated the number 1 experience they had after they have left. The next time you visit I would love to show you around. We can access via the public elevator we have in the building so you don't need to manage the internal stairs. I can also show you the 40+ food offerings we have ranging from pizza, pasta, pies, burgers, bagels and fish and chips to international food such as Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Indonesian, Greek, Italian, German, Spanish etc, or perhaps you would prefer an ice cream, pavlova, cake or doughnut? If its a drink your after we could chat at any one our many specialist drinks stalls that include; coffee, hot chocolate, smoothies, craft beer, glass of gin or whisky, or a Mischief wine...we have it all !!! We have a dedicated team of cleaners that we employ directly who are hard working and very diligent. We have very regular bathroom cleaning rosters and keep the general cleanliness to a super high standard. We recycle all the rubbish by hand sorting in our rubbish room, in this respect we are the market leaders in the city. Hopefully yours was a one off incident, but we will check our systems to make sure we are keeping everything to a high standard and regularly monitored. Yes the market is often busy and bustling with people and activity which makes for great energy and vibrancy. We rarely have issues with crime in the market and the police station is literally across the road. The broken window of a car in the next door carpark could of been for a number of reasons, hopefully you went across the road and reported it to the police? Christchurch has been through a turbulent, challenging 12 years since the earthquakes. We pride ourselves on creating Riverside Market in the heart of the city as a cool, vibrant, postive place for all the people of Canterbury to enjoy, we hope your next experience is better than your last and wish you well on your future travels and reviews. Feel free to send me a message or call in and see me when you are next in town. Kind regards, Kris

Written 10 September 2024

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

John L

Havelock North103 contributions

'A Foodies Paradise'

Jan 2023 • none

We wandered around the Riverside Mall, enticed by the numerous Fast food outlets, Freshly prepared food that would suit Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegetarian et all. Over Food food outlets to many to list...Enjoyed The Charing Cross Cheesery, Bellbird Bread, Pretty Good Pizza, Pricing is mid-range and service, we found to be prompt, friendly and genuinely pleased to see you! A definite place to visit when in Christchurch!

Written 10 January 2023

Katyles

141 contributions

Lots to do!

Dec 2024 • friends

We came to Riverside Market with the intention of shopping and spent about 30 minutes actually shopping (because needed items were found quickly, could spend plenty of time shopping if popping into different places). We then walked around for a bit just seeing what was available. We spent time at the arcade, did an escape room, did some people watching and ended our day with dinner in the concourse. There are lots and lots of food options and plenty to see and do, this is a good place to go with visitors to Christchurch or with groups with different tastes.

Written 1 January 2025

Ben B

Minneapolis26 contributions

Perfect spot to find a casual meal in Christchurch.

Mar 2024 • couples

Great collection of fun restaurants under one roof. Love the variety and the quality of the food offerings. My wife and I ate 3 meals at the market during our recent visit to Christchurch and were pleased with all of them. I especially enjoyed Slurp —a ramen shop while my wife preferred salad shop that had great beetroot and mixed green salads. There is a bustling atmosphere and positive energy in the building.

Written 11 March 2024

whimsicalbuyer

Singapore214 contributions

Lots of food stalls and parking tips

Dec 2022 • family

We came to Riverside Market twice in our 15 day trip to South Island, NZ. We were a big group of 7 people just looking for lunch and good food. First off, there is an open air car park just next to Riverside Market which is convenient. However, as you can imagine, carpark spaces are in demand. A better bet will be the multi-storey carpark just next to this open air one. If you drive into the open air carpark to no success, it is very easy just to turn out and straight into the multi-storey carpark besides it. It is ticketed, so pay at the automated machines when you are ready to leave. Our big group of 7 found seats easily upstairs on the 2nd floor of the market where there are individual (smallish) restaurants compared to the numerous food stalls on the ground floor.

Written 9 June 2023

C M

Auckland Central858 contributions

Great food hall

Oct 2024 • couples

This is such s nice place to visit in Christchurch. A number of food shops and lots of eateries to choose from with some including seating to have your food and others more of a hole in the wall for takeaways. It's always buzzing and so many great food choices, from pizza to dosa, to Thai and Argentinian. You definitely won't suffer here.

Written 19 October 2024

Dee G

33 contributions

Amazing food!

Jul 2022 • family

AMAZING markets to grab fresh local produce (cheeses, wine, craft beers, condiments) . And so much choice for a meal. You can grab food from any stall and eat anywhere in the markets. Family of 4 (2 adults and a 12 and 14 yr old) we all grabbed a meal from different vendors and all pur food was cooked fresh and was really good. Absolute must if visiting Christchurch.

Written 3 July 2022

Crayeater

Hamilton128 contributions

It's only improved over the years

Feb 2024 • family

It's 3 years since my first visit, and 5 star review, and I think the market has improved even more since that first happy visit. The food and variety were up to the old standard but I thought the ambiance and people working there were more welcoming. We enjoyed dinner on an upstairs balcony with each of the 4 of us ordering from a different venue. So many fresh and exciting options to choose from.

Written 4 March 2024

Lauren C

15 contributions

Foodies Heaven

Jan 2023 • none

We wandered through the markets and found so many different options for us to eat. - almost too many options! We decided on the Mac Attack at the Loaded Hashbrown stall and it was amazing! We also treated ourselves to a fresh lemonade, a coffee and. a gluten free cake. So many different options to pick from and nice spots around outside that you can sit and eat what you have bought. We were even lucky to sit and listen to someone singing and playing music.

Written 30 January 2023

caddy3

51 contributions

Wonderful time at Riverside Market

Jan 2025 • couples

We had a fantastic time in the market. We had a wonderful bottle of Pinot Gris at Mischief, although I think what ever wine you picked would be delicious. The owner is so helpful and friendly. Sweet revenge has some seriously delicious cakes. The Canterbury brewers collective are really friendly and will help you pick drinks to suit your taste. Lots of wonderful places to get different food. Definitely recommend.

Written 29 January 2025

Itravel0ne

Kota Kinabalu2473 contributions

A must visit

Oct 2023 • family

With its diverse range of stalls, you find everything from fresh produce and artisanal foods to unique crafts, clothing, and gifts. It’s an excellent place to find local, handmade, and gourmet products. It also boasts a fantastic selection of eateries and food stalls, making it a culinary hotspot. You can enjoy a variety of international cuisines, cafes, and food vendors. A must visit while in Christchurch.