EARL — Restaurant in Christchurch

We visited this place for the first time on the weekend. First impression of the restaurant was clean and bright. Nice open kitchen. Wine list is small but my husband had nice red wine. We ordered chicken parfait as entree, presentation was great. Tastes great as well especially cherry sauce was perfect compliment to fatty parfait. Downsize was portion of chicken parfait was way too much compared to how much crackers we were given. We broke those crackers in tiny pieces to put large amount of parfait on it, otherwise crackers will run out very quickly which happened. We had to eat parfait by itself which is quite rich so we couldn't finish it. It would've been better if just few slices of baguette or something come with it as well as crackers to enjoy, or simply just few more crackers or slightly smaller portion of parfait on the plate to have better portion balance. Then we ordered Stake and fish for our main. Stake looked great, classic modern. Nice jus and cooked perfectly, nothing to fault. My fish was kingfish. Cooked perfectly again, nice char crispy skin, moist meat. Taste and the balance of flavor was good, nice bit of acidity in the soup. I must say though i was bit disappointed about presentation and an portion of my meal for $30 lunch. Photo was my meal after i cut the fish but i haven't eaten anything yet. When I looked at all dishes in review photos and also my husband's or people next to us, they all looked good portion( next table had salad and lamb which had big amount of cucumber salad with beautiful presentation and different elements). My fish had beans and soup, all quite soft, no other texture on the plate which was ok at the begging but hard to continue to eat till the end. To be honest, brownish soup with just a piece of fish on top with bit of chervil sitting in the soup wasn't appealing at all. Flavor was good so i still enjoyed it but i would not order it again. Service person was nice, however, would have been better if she communicated with us throughout our dining. Good amount of parfait was still on the plate and we were contemplating if we should finish it or not, then service person came said "did you finish it" and without actually us saying yes or no, she just took a plate and gone. Bit surprised for the service for this type of restaurant, as this is not a cafe. It would've been nice if she came to our table couple of times to check how we enjoy the meal rather than just bring a food and take it away. So overall, flavor of the meal were very good, timing of service was good, inside decor was nice, but we felt some meal and service didn't quite much to the price for lunch. Will we visit here again, maybe. Will we recommend this place to our friends,, maybe. I probably should try chef's choice as reviews are good for that....

When was the last time you had complimentary sparkling water at dinner? A small but surprising detail that made me smile. Maybe I just need to get out more.

My partner and I have lived in Christchurch central for a year and a half and walked past Earl frequently with always an ever delayed plan to book in for dinner; until we saw it appear on First table. 50% off? You bet! For context if you’re the one who needs to get out more; First Table is a booking service for helping restaurants secure early evening reservation times in exchange for 50% off the food price. In Earl’s case, they also require the purchase of 1 minimum drink per person with exclusions on specials for this offer).

Walking into Earl you’re drawn in by the sweeping curves of the entryway to a pleasant and calm atmosphere. Sitting down at the clean marble table we enjoyed the mentioned sparkling water and a decent selection of gin and tonics. Sadly they didn’t offer ginger for a garnish as it’s a great option for Roku gin, but we’ll see if the waiter really does “steal that idea”. A botanist + cucumber did the job just fine instead.

We chose the melon and prosciutto to accompany the warm house focaccia bread without disappointment, and after a great chat our mains swiftly arrived. I chose the Ribye steak which was juicy, flavour packed, and very filling. My partner went for the market fish (being grouper that night) with a great experience as well.

We tapped out after splitting one of the best lemon tarts I’ve ever had with a crunchy caramelised top and creme chantilly.

In total it came out to be around $90 (which for us was well worth it). However, we did get a shock when the bill initially came to $162 before the discount was applied. We both agreed, it would have been a little much for the experience we received as the mains portions were on the small size. *Even in the opinion of a kiwi not just the American!

A great place we’d recommend for a first table booking. However, you’ll need to decide for yourself if the full price...

Three of us went for the $49 set lunch menu today. We all chose the steak and lemon tart. We were served one each of the hors d'oeuvres, delicious. My mussel was a bit crispy on the outside on my first bite but the rest of it was great. The others had no problems so I won't mark that down. The steak exceeded our expectations. It was medium rare, juicy, tender and full of flavour. The sauce was great and the roast potatoes were lovely and crispy on the outside and soft in the middle. The lemon tart was really nice. The pastry was soft and the lemon curd was not too sweet. I had an yuzu mocktail and my friends had wine. It was nice to see some nice non alcoholic drinks in the menu and there was a good range of alcoholic drinks to choose from. The mocktails weren't cheap but I knew the price before I went so I'm not complaining. We all felt full once we'd finished, wouldn't have needed any more. There is free parking after 5.00 pm but I found a metered car park on the corner of Manchester Street for $4 per hour and about a minute's walk to the cafe. The others took a bus and walked a few minutes from the bus interchange. Easy access, excellent value for money. Highly recommended by all three of us. This week's set menu below. Forgot to take photos.

SET MENU 3 courses – $49 Changes weekly Includes two small hors d’oeuvres, choice of main and a dessert ** Sesame cheese cracker, truffle crème fraiche, pickled shallots ** Fried mussel spring onion emulsion, chili crisp ** Butcher’s Steak, flatiron, roast potato, red pepper, caper, lemon, olive oil ** Market Fish, butternut pumpkin, charred broccolini, scallop xo ** Lemon tart **...