Neat Places: New and neat spots to visit in the city

Wednesday, 23 May 2018

From pizza and pop-up dinners to brunch cocktails and banoffee pie, Christchurch's new and neat spots provide plenty of reasons to get out and try something new.

**Miro

176 Oxford Tce, Christchurch Central**

Alligator offers a range of simple toppings or you can design your own.

Open for breakfast, lunch and brunch seven days a week, Miro is a welcome addition to the landscape of Christchurch eateries and is a refreshing fusion of cafe and restaurant – there's no cabinet and no order-at-the-counter service. Instead, enjoy a friendly and attentive restaurant-style approach to service and a menu that will make another visit compulsory.

Riccarton's Alligator Pizza offers delicious Neapolitan style pizza whole or by the slice.

The food at 5th Street is made with love and is designed to work for whatever the format of your evening.

Starting with breakfast cocktails (!) such as the Cereal Killer made with bourbon, cereal infused milk, vanilla syrup and bitters, the menu moves through to smoothies and bowls, favourites such as the Miro full breakfast, eggs benedict and Croque Madame and then onto an enticing range of options 'from the charcoal grill' with sides and desserts that may induce severe food envy.

5th Street specialises in evening dining and is open seven days a week.

Sydenham's Southside Social offers daytime dining and fun pop-up events in a cool open-plan space.

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**Alligator Pizza

122 Riccarton Rd, Riccarton**

Perfectly cooked giant, chewy, crusty Neapolitan-style pizzas by the slice or whole. Little more needs to be said about Riccarton's Alligator Pizza to persuade you to race out and try one.

With a range of simple toppings to choose from and the option to design your own slices or whole pizzas with regular toppings (olives, peppers, anchovies) or gourmet toppings (buffalo mozzarella, artichoke hearts) a visit to Alligator is bound to be satisfying.

**5th Street

5 Elgin St, Sydenham**

Brainchild of the team behind the much-loved Sydenham cafe Hello Sunday, 5th Street specialises in memorable evening dining, which it offers seven days a week, making the 'where shall we meet for dinner?!' question extremely easy to answer.

The food is made with love and is designed to work for whatever the format of your evening – there's delicious small plates like smoked brisket wontons, medium plates such as clams with seaweed butter and chilli and stir fried greens on coconut rice as well as larger plates such as szechuan deep fried chicken or pan fried hapuka with gremolata and borlotti beans. And to finish, a selection of outrageously tasty dishes like banoffee and peanut butter pie and sweet potato pie with vanilla almond cream. These gems are dotted through a generous yet refined menu, which is ever evolving to move with the seasons. Alongside the restaurant menu, 5th Street offers a bar menu brimming with snacks designed to match perfectly with a couple of tipples.

**Southside Social

50 Wordsworth St, Sydenham**

Once a cooking school, Southside Social has been transformed by owners Nikki Collins and Toby Eaton into a slick and stylish venue with an impressive open kitchen and plenty of seating options whether you're after a quick coffee (Unknown Chapter), a tasty lunch, a creative cocktail (on tap!) or a beautiful meal with a glass of wine. There are bound to be some very exciting things happening in this Sydenham spot so make sure you keep an eye on social media to see what future fun is planned.