Strawberry Fare — Restaurant in Christchurch

First of all, ignore my bad English. We just had lunch there, now we have the worst experience in Christchurch restaurant. To be honest, desserts are very nice, the only problem is the main dish beef. We ordered medium beef, but when the dish came out, it was medium well, the worse thing was the beef fillet tasted like it was frozed, then defrozen and cooked. I think anyone as a chef, we can tell the texture difference easily between a fresh beef fillet get cooked and a frozen fillet get defrozen and then cooked. We gave the feedback to the waitress, she went back to the kitchen and back, told us the beef fillet was wagyu beef fillet, that was why the texture like that. We had wagyu beef in Japanese restaurants lots of times in the past 5 years, and we never had one wagyu beef taste like that. When the manager came and talked with us, we talked about the beef dish. She said the dish was cooked by a sous vide machine, that is why the texture is soft and the dish is very popular. when we asked why the waitress told us the beef is wagyu beef, the manager told us she doesn't know what is wagyu beef and the waitress did not know what kind of the beef fillet was as well. We did feel it is so wierd , why the waitress went back kitchen, and told us it was wagyu beef after she coimg back, just because the manager said the waitress from Germany? why the manager said she even does not know what is wagyu beef before? Yes we got 50% price off from first table, but we do not want to be fooled as we paid for our food. I do not want say this, but Asian faces might be the point, we can feel the differences between other Kiwis and us, I want to protect our rights, and show you, we are not easygoing and easy to be fooled, at least I am a chef, and I know what a beef fillet should be taste like, even it was cooked by a sous vide machine. At the end,I suggest those people who like order beef in this restaurant to try to cook beef fillet at home, one beef fillet fresh, and one beef fillet frozen first, then defrozen before cooking, you can tell...

Something feels different here lately — I suspect there’s been a change in ownership. As a local living just 200 metres away, I’ve been coming here for years and it was always a reliable spot. Unfortunately, over the past few months, it’s noticeably gone downhill.

The food is still okay, but it no longer stands out — even the desserts, which were once a highlight, now feel more focused on quantity than quality. Service has also lost its warmth. The two older ladies who often serve have come across as cold and, at times, a little abrasive. Meanwhile, the younger staff, while well-meaning, can feel inexperienced — often trying to emulate the style of a fine dining waiter without the formal training to back it up. It’s not their fault, but it does make the service feel a bit forced and awkward at times.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that the wait staff often don’t take notes when taking orders. I suspect this is intended to come across as polished or professional, but in practice, it can feel a little affected — especially when small details get missed. On one visit, a whole starter never even made it to the table because it was simply forgotten.

Small things — like forgetting the cream with my long black more than once, needing reminders, or missing opportunities to offer more drinks — all add up. To be fair, they do still handle complaints respectfully, and it’s not that they’re rude. It just feels flat and lacklustre now, missing the spirit and character that once made it special.

The desserts are still decent value, and I would still go back — but mainly out of convenience and familiarity with the menu. It’s no longer a place I would go out of my way for, as I — and many others — once would have five or ten years ago. What was once the local gem has unfortunately faded into just another...

We were in Christchurch for our daughter's birthday and our anniversary, and after a recommendation she chose Strawberry Fare for dinner. FIrstly I have to point out that the deserts were absolutely amazing - between us we had the tiramisu, sticky date pudding, creme brulee, berry pillows and chef's special. All were absolutely wonderful.

Unfortunately, that was really the only highlight about the evening. The restaurant was exceedingly busy and appeared badly understaffed. Our server was friendly enough but seemed flustered and wasn't attentive - in the hour or so between getting a shared platter and the mains, we were not offered any more drinks or water, and it took quite a long time for our plates to be removed - in the end we flagged down another server who sorted that out. When we went to pay we could see he was genuinely pleased that we had finally left.

The mains were also disappointing, and potentially also pointed to issues with staffing in the kitchen. Two of us had the confit duck leg - one seemed undercooked, one was a bit over, both came with what appeared to be slightly "old" tasting potatoes, and not the thyme-roasted potatoes we were expecting. Another of our party had the beef fillet, ordered rare but was almost bleu, and the same "old" tasting potatoes. The mushroom soup has a really odd texture. The highlight was one of our party who had the risotto which was quite nice - maybe a fraction over but still nice.

Overall Strawberry Fare just seemed to struggle a bit tonight - amazing deserts but bad/slow service and the mains just weren't great. A bit disappointing. Rating three stars because the deserts were amazing and I'm always suspicious of the motivations of people who give one and two...