Places to eat in Christchurch

Head to our Christchurch restaurants page to find out more about the best eateries in town.

A cute seaside town, it’ll come as no surprise that Christchurch is littered with cafés and coffee shops.

Part of the Saxon Square shopping centre, Cuckoos Coffee Bar is a family-run coffee bar that’s known for its excellent breakfasts (including their vegan and vegetarian options), their homemade cakes and their leftfield, but brilliant, menu specials – banoffee toasty, anyone?

With a prime location on High Street, Coast Coffee is one of the most popular cafés in Christchurch serving up a range of breakfast options, sandwiches, baguettes, salads and soups and, the star attraction, their Welsh rarebit served with real-ale chutney.

Just up the road towards our Christchurch West hotel, you’ll find The Coffee Pot, a small but very friendly and welcoming café that prides itself on its first-rate service and homemade menu. Highlights include their toasted tea cakes and homemade cakes, while their freshly-brewed coffee is served from 8am Monday to Saturday.

With a name like Cheese & Alfies, you know that this café/bistro is going to be fun and funky and so it proves. Grab one of their banana and peanut butter smoothies, pick up the fully loaded burger made with rarebit cheese and end on one of their four pancake dishes. Fully licensed and handily located near the Red House Museum and the Thomas Tripp pub, the bistro is open until 9pm between Wednesday and Saturday nights.

If you’d like to make your afternoon tea a bit of an event, the Fleur-de-Lis Tea Rooms is the perfect place to visit. Order the afternoon tea and you’ll be presented with a three-tiered tray full of finger sandwiches, cakes and fresh-from-the-oven scones laden with cream and jam. Located just down from Saxon Square, the café is a 10-minute walk from our Christchurch West hotel, which we roughly equate to an extra scone, so definitely worth the walk!

Opposite the Highcliffe car park, The Paddle Café Bar and Eatery is a short walk from our Highcliffe hotel. Opened in 2013, the café is the perfect place to refuel after a hard day on the beach – choose from a wide range of coffees, loose-leaf teas, fresh juices and freshly baked cakes. Food-wise, their breakfast menu is served until 11.45am during the week and until 2pm on Sundays when their brunch and lunch menu kicks in – sticky pulled pork flatbread for us, please!

A town institution, the Christchurch Farmers’ Market takes over High Street and Saxon Square every Monday with over 50 stalls selling a diverse range of goods and local produce. Running from 9am-4pm, you’ll be able to pick up everything from farm-fresh fruit and vegetables, jewellery, vintage clothes, fresh fish, plants, flowers, arts and crafts and more.

Held in the middle weekend of May, the two-day Festival Street Market & Village is a finger-licking celebration of food and drink from around the region held on the Christchurch Quay. With over 100 stalls selling everything from craft beer to artisan bread, the market is a great place to pick up a tasty bargain, while there are also a host of cooking displays, demonstrations, celebrity chefs and even a beer festival to whet your whistle.