Little High Eatery is Christchurch's coolest and most unique space to eat out — a modern marketplace where eleven different local, family-run businesses share one roof and every diner in the group can find something they love. Since 2017 it has been the easiest dining choice for groups with different tastes: one person craves crispy fried chicken, another wants fresh sushi rolls or a bowl of pho, someone else is after stone-baked wood-fired pizza, tacos, pad thai or a warm cookie with soft serve — and everyone can order from a different kitchen, then meet at the same table. There's plenty of shared indoor and outdoor seating, a lively atmosphere, and a drinks list of more than 200 options to pair with the international eats, with Happy Hour from 4–6pm daily offering 20% off selected beverages. Little High is fully on-licensed — alcoholic drinks are to be consumed onsite only, and please leave outside food and drinks at home. Doors are open 11am to 10pm, seven days a week, closing only on 25 December and 1 January; all other public holidays run as usual. For large groups and events, there's a space to hire — just email [email protected].
On St Asaph Street, on the edge of Christchurch's central city, sits what its founders call — with some justification — the city's coolest and most unique space to eat out. Little High Eatery opened in 2017 with a simple but ambitious idea: instead of committing to a single cuisine, bring eleven of the city's local, family-run food businesses together under one roof and let diners roam between them. Nearly a decade on, it has become the answer to the question every group eventually asks — where can we all go and each get exactly what we feel like?
The concept works because nobody has to compromise. One person orders crispy fried chicken, another a bowl of ramen, someone else a margarita and tacos, and you all still sit down together. It's the easiest dining choice in Christchurch for groups with different tastes, and there's genuinely nothing else like it in the city.
The line-up reads like a world tour. Boom Boom Chicken pairs crispy fried chicken and wings with a dedicated gin bar and craft gin cocktails. Sushi Soldier rolls fresh sushi and ladles out ramen. Bacon Brothers stacks gourmet burgers with craft beer on the side, while Noodle Monk handles the Thai end of things with its much-loved pad thai and spicy noodle dishes. Eightgrains covers Chinese and Sichuan-leaning territory with dumplings and bao buns, and Mimi's brings Vietnamese comfort in the form of phở and bánh mì.
Keep wandering and the tour continues: Caribe Latin Kitchen serves tacos, burritos and margaritas, Base Woodfired Pizza turns out stone-baked pizzas with thickshakes for the kids, El Fogon Grill works the grill, and Indo Lanka rounds out the roster of family-run kitchens. When a sugar hit is in order, Dougie and Cream has warm cookies and soft serve waiting.
What makes it all work is the setting. This is no sterile mall food court — it's a modern marketplace with plenty of shared indoor and outdoor seating, a lively hum, and the happy sense that everyone at your table is technically eating somewhere slightly different.
Pairing all that food is a list of more than 200 drinks, and Happy Hour makes it even easier to linger: from 4–6pm daily, selected beverages are 20% off. Little High holds an on-license, so alcoholic drinks are consumed onsite only — and in the same spirit, please don't bring outside food or drinks in. With eleven kitchens and one well-stocked bar, you won't need them.
Little High is also a place where the calendar matters. Its Around the World celebration, running from 3 August to 20 September, is a seven-week journey through the cultures and traditions that make the food court so unique — travelling from China and Japan to Korea, Italy, America, South America, India and Sri Lanka, with a new theme each week.
Each destination brings exclusive dishes and limited-time specials from the kitchens, plus free live cultural performances every Thursday from 6pm–8pm — think Lion Dance and Mariachi performances, Thai Boxing and more. There are even prizes up for grabs as the journey wraps up.
Little High Eatery is open 11am to 10pm, seven days a week, at 255 St Asaph Street in central Christchurch. The only days it closes are Christmas Day (25 December) and New Year's Day (1 January); all other public holidays run as usual.
Planning something bigger? There's a space for large groups and events — email [email protected] to arrange a hire. Whether it's a quick solo bowl of ramen, a birthday dinner where nobody has to settle, or a Thursday night of free performances during Around the World, Little High delivers the rarest thing in group dining: a venue everyone agrees on.