Eat all you like resturaunts in Christchurch (NZ)
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The people of Christchurch, like many others in the world, enjoy eating.
Around the city are a number of different resturaunts, each with their own uniqe style and menu, but the smorgasboard (eat-all-you-like) resturaunts are the most impressive of these. The two main venues are The Hoon Hay '88 (so named because they boast 88 seperate dishes) and Valentines. Both these resturaunts offer a large selection of dishes, where Valentines has more selection, but the '88 has more variety. Both resturaunts offer the smorgasboard at comparable prices, so one might wonder how to choose...
Of course you could go to one for breakfast and the other for tea (with a roman style lunch) but this can also prove costly, as most people cannot afford to eat out every day. Lets start with the appearance of each resturaunt:
Appearance
Upon arrival to the Hoon Hay '88, (you must park around the back of the building, which is quite handy) you actually enter through the enterance to the Working Mens Club,
but then turn left and go up a flight of carpeted stairs. At the top of the doorway is a set of double doors, which take you into the main body of the resturaunt, past the bar. You will then be accosted by a member of staff, who will seat you near the food, which is placed on a heated counter.
Valentines on the other hand, is quite different in appearence, less of the local pub, but more commecial. The doors from the small carpark open straight onto the main desk, where the staff will show you to your table. The inside is quite well presented, with ballons strung everywhere. If it is a birthday meal, there will be cake provided, along with a baloon with the name of the birthday person written on it. The food is mostly cold, but there is a large heated counter with roasts and the like on it.
The All Important Food
The food selection is large at either of these two resturaunts, with the '88 having more traditional dishes from most cultures, but Valentines caters for everyone, with a bigger selection. There is one problem however, the desert in the '88 is also placed on the hot counter, which can cause some items to melt near the end of the evening. Food preference is mainly up to your personal tastes, although I pesonally favor Valantines, as it has more desert. (My smorgasboard philosophy has always been one starter and the rest pudding courses...) All that is really left is to tell you where they are!
Locations
Both the Hoon Hay '88 and Valentines are reasnably easy to find : The Hoon Hay '88 is cunningly hidden in the suburb of Hoon Hay, off Tankerville road (bottom left of the map) and Valentines is on Moorhouse avenue (Middle of the map) in the center of the city. Both are easily accessible with a short walk from the citys bus syetem.
And the rest...
What else is there to say? Both resturaunts are almost equally matched, but my preference is still Valentines.
Marks -
Hoon Hay '88 - 7/10- Valentines - 8/10
There is another '88 to the north of the city, and another Valentines also to the north, but this researcher has yet to investigate those. I will however, do so.
