St Asaph Street Kitchen & Stray Dog Bar

Back in November, W and I visited the newly opened St Asaph Street Kitchen & Stray Dog Bar.  The new restaurant/bar was opened by the old Le Cafe crowd.  Le Cafe was a cafe inside the old Art Centre building, well liked by locals and tourists.  After the February 2011 earthquakes, Le Cafe had to close its doors.  So the people behind Le Cafe decided to reopen another restaurant.  St Asaph Street Kitchen & Stray Dog Bar is located in the Christchurch CBD on St Asaph Street, a block from C1 Espresso. 

As the name suggests, the place is part restaurant and part bar.  There's plenty of tables inside and outside of the cafe for dining.  With the bar, there's big selection of wine and international beer.

I was looking forward to brunch, but unfortunately the breakfast is only served till 12pm.  Oh well, I guess I need to get up earlier next time!  So we ordered lunch from the All Day Menu.  There were choices of sandwiches (with option of fries, for extra $3.50), soup, small plates (entree size dishes), and mains.  There's quite a good selection of dishes, with the classics and a few Asian-fusion dishes.  The mains ranged from $16.50 to $26.50, which seem to be a bit pricey for lunch, but reasonable for dinner.

After some thought, W decided on the Pork and fennel meatballs with spaghetti and red sauce ($18.50).  It was nicely presented, and a decent portion with lots of parmesan on top.  The pork and fennel meatballs were very nice and well seasoned.  W enjoyed the dish, and actually had trouble finishing it.

I had the pan seared salmon fillet on cold soba noodles with wasabi and dipping sauce ($21).  I was curious to see how the soba noodles would taste, as even the Japanese restaurants in Christchurch don't usually serve this.  The dish was nicely presented on a sushi mate.  The waitress told me to dip the soba noodles in the broth little bit at a time.  I thought it was nice they explain the dish, as it can be unfamiliar for many diners.  Optional wasabi was cleverly stuck to the side of the bowl.  The cold soba noodles were quite nice, and went well with the slightly sweet dipping sauce.  But the highlight of the dish was actually the pan seared salmon fillet.  This was perfectly cooked, with crispy skin and soft succulent meat.  Delicious!

W and I used to enjoy the dessert at Le Cafe, and was therefore keen to try the desserts here.  There were a few choices on the menu, although not as much as Le Cafe, and probably not as adventurous.  But the ones on offer were good classics such as creme brulee and tiramisu.  We decided to share the lemon tart with raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream ($12).  Well presented, and we were impressed with the large strawberry (this was before the strawberry season).  The lemon tart was quite tasty, zesty and creamy, with a nice base.  A good end to our meal.

We also ordered coffees to go with our dessert.  I had a flat white.  It was slightly bitter to start with, but improved after a few sips.  It went well with the dessert.

We had a good lunch at the new St Asaph Street Kitchen.  It was not like the old Le Cafe, but still serving nice food, and the staff were friendly.  Our lunch was perhaps a bit pricey, but they were nice portions.  The prices for the breakfast and sandwiches were reasonable.  It would be a nice place to catch up with a group of people, on weekends or at night.  The Stray Dog Bar offers a good selection of beers and wines.

St Asaph Street Kitchen & Stray Dog Bar is open from 7am till late 7 days.

St Asaph Street Kitchen & Stray Dog Bar

236 St Asaph Street

Christchurch

(03) 366 7722

http://stasaphstreetkitchen.co.nz/