It was difficult to get a table in this restaurant - that's usually a good sign.

Four of us arrived at 27 Steps just after 7.30 for dinner midweek. We were five minutes late. We entered the restaurant from the street and a sign informed us the restaurant was upstairs. All four of us agreed it was 25 steps to the restaurant!

The restaurant is long and thin and was absolutely packed out. The very pleasant young man showed us to our table at one end of the restaurant by the window. The tables are quite close together but not so close as to be impersonal. We were offered water and told the waiter would be with us shortly.

The waiter arrived and explained the specials and offered a wine list. He was attentive and professional and friendly too. The friendliness was real and he had the perfect balance of professionalism mixed with charm. We ordered a bottle of red and white. When the wine arrived, the waiter immediately offered white wine glasses too as the table was set with red. An attentive touch. We declined, being happy to use the glasses for both. Whilst we perused the menu we enjoyed the complimentary bread - totally delicuous and we had to excercise restraint not to ask for more.

All four of us chose the special entree dish of scallops. The portion was generous and they were served with a cauliflower puree and crispy bacon. Stunningly delicious. For my main course I chose the Tai Tapu venison tenderloin, fondant celeriac puree, pickled red cabbage, currants & pine nuts, juniper & star anise jus. The venison was cooked to perfection and was so tender a knife wasn't actually needed. One guest chose chargrilled Canterbury beef fillet, bone marrow crust, Akaroa black pudding, bacon & leek champ, shallot, garlic and red wine jus. He was going to lick the plate clean had I not given him a 'don't you dare' glance. Friend three picked a special of lamb rack - she raved about the dish and the forth guest echoed my comments about the venison.

Vegetables appropriate to the mains were included in the price and were delicious and plentiful too.

Three of us succumbed to dessert - all three choices delicious.

The wine list was good with prices to suit most budgets.

27 (or possibly 25) Steps is now in my top 5 Christchurch restaurants and I'm longing to return!

Very good service and delicious creative food right in the centre of Christchurch. I highly appreciated that there were a few vegetarian options in the menu, as it not usually the case. Loved the roasted broccoli with halumi, caramelised leek and pine nuts, as well as the blue cheese risotto with baby spinach and fried brussels sprouts as main course. The dessert was a difficult choice, but I finally had the chocolate ganache with orange oil and spiced hazelnut - and I did not regret it! All were just perfect.

The service from every member of this team was outstanding!! I have never been in a restaurant with such genuine good service. And then on top of that was the incredible food. The best soup I have eaten. Would recommend this restaurant to everyone I know.

This is fabulous little restaurant with a great vibe and amazing food. All 3 courses were cooked to perfection and nicely presented and they have a good range of craft beers and good wines. The service was excellent and the food was served really quickly considering they were full. Will definitely go back when we're in Christchurch again

Great service from the staff at Twenty Seven Steps.. thanks for assisting us to get a table even though we didn't make reservations on a Saturday night.
My hubby and I enjoyed the soup of the day and fish main for me and pork chop for him.