Best Restaurants for Afternoon Tea in Christchurch

Visited for the first time today, although myself and hubby have visited a number of ivys in the past and the new Bournemouth brasserie lived up to the high expectations of the Ivy. We were greeted with very friendly, welcoming and accommodating staff that honestly could not do enough for us. The decor is absolutely stunning and the service from start to finish was impeccable, we felt like royalty!! Most importantly the food was stunning. It was served to us in a very timely manner, well presented, hot and it was extremely delicious. We have already booked for Valentine’s weekend as we were totally blown away by the whole dining experience. Thank you and merry Christmas to all the wonderful hardworking staff at the Ivy that really did go above and beyond to make our experience a fantastic one.

Delicious cream tea. Friendly staff. Made to feel very welcome. Lovely views from the drawing room. Decorated very nicely for Christmas. Will definitely return.

We had an area booked for drinks for my cousin’s 50th birthday. They let me bring a huge ballon etc that they set up for our arrival. I don’t live in the area but if I did, I’d definitely drink there, it’s my kind of place! Brilliant music, good atmosphere, enjoyed it. Drinks weren’t overly cheap but they aren’t anywhere are they?! Really good night.

All very nice apart from some items were missing from the menu - decided to go with the lamb linguine - to be fair it sounded a strange option and in reality it was! Iti turned out to be substitute spaghetti Bolognese with pulled lamb in it - can’t say I enjoyed it that much although the staff seem pleased with their new menu options…

Overall we really enjoyed our meal, I would say it was fair value and good quality. Our server Geraldine was polite, friendly and attentive throughout, the food was nice, we did have to wait a considerable time for desert, not sure why exactly, it was only a cheesecake, but seemed to take far longer than the main meal. The setting was lovely, Art Deco vibe with a relaxing ambiance, it was quiet due to the time of day (early meal due to an evening engagement) but this suited us, I would definitely go back and would recommend a meal here.