Daphne's Restaurant is an authentic Chinese restaurant on Riccarton Road in Upper Riccarton, Christchurch, serving the local community since 2010. The kitchen's focus is on the finest fresh, seasonal ingredients — sourced locally and around New Zealand — cooked into a wide variety of genuine Chinese dishes and a memorable dining experience.
Lunch is a dim sum affair: served from 11am to 2:30pm, six days a week, it's the reason many regulars keep returning, with reviewers singling out the dumplings, the relaxed vibe and the value. Dinner runs from 5pm to 9:30pm with a fuller Wine & Dinner menu — entrees, soups, seafood, pork, beef, lamb and venison, chicken and duck, foo young and vegetables, rice and noodles, and dessert, alongside a wine list. Standout dishes include the poached sliced beef in hot chilli oil, deep fried spicy lamb sparerib, and rolled pork and cucumber with garlic dressing.
Set menus make group dining easy, and takeaway is available — order by phone or online through FoodHunter. Note the one dark day: Daphne's is open six days and closed Wednesdays.
On a busy stretch of Riccarton Road in Upper Riccarton, Daphne's Restaurant has been serving Christchurch authentic Chinese food since 2010. Established with the aim of offering the community a wide variety of genuine Chinese cuisine — and a memorable dining experience to go with it — the restaurant has grown into a firm neighbourhood favourite, with regulars who return again and again and reviews that read like love letters.
The kitchen's approach is simple: use only the finest fresh, seasonal ingredients, sourced locally and around New Zealand, and let them shine in classic Chinese cooking. That philosophy, the team says, is reflected in the success Daphne's has enjoyed over more than a decade of service. The menu is broad and confident, spanning entrees, soups, seafood, pork, beef, lamb and venison, chicken and duck, foo young and vegetables, rice and noodles, and dessert, with a wine list alongside.
Lunch runs from 11am to 2:30pm, six days a week, and dim sum is served for the whole service. It's the drawcard for many: one reviewer who has come for dim sum multiple times describes a chill vibe, awesome dumplings and a great price. If dumplings and small plates are your thing, the lunch hours are the ones to circle.
Value is part of the appeal. Diners describe food that comes out fresh and fast from the kitchen, generous enough that none of them went home hungry — and some leave with vouchers for their next visit, a small loyalty touch that keeps people coming back.
From 5pm to 9:30pm, the kitchen switches to the fuller Wine & Dinner menu. The range is deliberately wide: entrees and soups to start, then seafood, pork, beef, lamb and venison, chicken and duck, foo young and vegetable dishes, and rice and noodles, with dessert if you have saved room.
A few dishes do the talking on the homepage: poached sliced beef in hot chilli oil, all tender slices and warming spice; deep fried spicy lamb sparerib, crispy and punchy; and rolled pork and cucumber with garlic dressing, a fresher, garlicky counterpoint. Together they give a good sense of the kitchen's range — chilli heat, fried crunch and bright, fresh starters all living on the same menu.
Feeding a table? Daphne's offers a set menu alongside the à la carte lunch and dinner menus, an easy way to order for a group without agonising over every dish. If you would rather eat at home, there is a downloadable takeaway menu, online ordering through FoodHunter, and phone orders on 033-488-988 — the phone number sits front and centre on the site, so ringing ahead is clearly welcomed.
One thing to remember: Daphne's is open six days and closed on Wednesdays. Plan the mid-week craving accordingly — Thursday lunch is right there.
You will find the restaurant at 398 Riccarton Road, Upper Riccarton, Christchurch 8041. Questions can go to the team by phone or email, and the restaurant keeps a presence on Facebook and TripAdvisor, where the dim sum praise continues.
Whether it is a long dim sum lunch, a set-menu feast with friends or a quick takeaway on the way home, Daphne's keeps its promise straightforward: authentic Chinese cuisine made with fresh, seasonal New Zealand ingredients, in a room where you are welcome to linger. As the team puts it — join them for an authentic taste of Chinese cuisine.