Christchurch will have a new destination for food, drinks, and revelry when Rambler opens at Drifter Christchurch in the coming days.
Open from 7am until the early hours, Rambler is a place for both travellers and locals to get lively, with dining, drinking and tunes seven days a week. Rambler will open its doors on Thursday, 12th of September.
“Rambler is the final element of Drifter Christchurch to open, and what an opening it is. It’s not lost on us that Rambler and our hotel Drifter sit where many times were had in what was Minx Bar and the vibrant area of Sol Square. We’re excited to welcome back so many locals who have loved the area in the past, and to also welcome travellers who are staying with us at Drifter. We hope it becomes a true melting pot for the people of Christchurch and for visitors, and that the Rambler party regularly carries on well into the early hours,” said CEO Luke Morgan.
Housed in one of Christchurch's great heritage buildings and spanning its ground floor, Rambler fronts onto Lichfield St with huge industrial-style windows, a long L-shaped bar, lounge and table spaces and nooks for drinking and dining, and a DJ booth.
Like the rest of Drifter, the space has been designed by Auckland-based design studio CTRL Space. It has blended industrial fixtures with soft custom furnishings, which surround the bar centrepiece. A huge canvas mural by Mexico-based artist Beni Single (his works also feature throughout the hotel upstairs) dominates the space behind the bar, with film photography of the Canterbury region also dotted throughout the space.
Maximus Perry from 5th Street Restaurant in Christchurch has been brought on to deliver the Rambler menu concept for Drifter. The restaurant will offer breakfast, all-day bites, a locally driven drinks list, and a roster of live local DJs and musicians who’ll play late into the night.
Perry’s food menu at Rambler has been created with snacking, sharing and drinking in mind, and has made the most of the Canterbury region’s epic produce and producers including the likes of Grizzly bread and pastries, and Bones pickles.
Breakfast from 7am will offer an assortment of pasties, eggs and sides, granola, toasts and toasties. The cinnamon toast with blueberries, Chantilly cream and toasted coconut, and triple cheese toastie with cheddar, Swiss cheese, parmesan and caramelised onion are sure to become menu favourites.
From 11am, there’s stracciatella and bacon agrodolce and crispy caper, roasted butternut pumpkin with hummus and pumpkin seed, beef croquettes with charred onion and red wine jus, then there’s fried chicken with ginger honey glaze and garlic mayonnaise, and a crostini with warm smoked salmon, pickles and buffalo labneh. Spiced olives, toasted breads, roasted garlic butter and olive tapenade, and a cos salad with Caesar dressing and pangritata are also available.
Moving through to more substantial dishes, there’s a lamb smash burger with American cheese and pickles, and a chicken katsu sandwich with sesame slaw and togarashi. Both are served with fries.
There’s also a late-night menu from 10pm, where you can order that epic triple cheese toastie from breakfast, plus olives and fries, with rosemary and parmesan fries and fries kasundi with garlic mayo both available.
There’s a tight list of cocktails, including spritz’s and highballs, a Rambler gimlet with lemon sherbet and rosemary, negronis, Tommy’s margaritas, espresso martinis and a salted caramel old fashioned. There are some great no-booze options too, including a rose and elderflower fizz.
Beer leans local Christchurch, including Brew Moon pale ale and brews from Three Boys, and wine is very much New Zealand-focused, with a by-the-glass and bottle list from Canterbury, Marlborough, Hawkes Bay and Central Otago.
Rambler is the latest space to open at Drifter Christchurch, a 95-room hybrid hotel with a capacity for 372 guests that opened in June. The Drifter concept offers both shared and private accommodation, and a roster of social experiences designed to bring guests together. Music is a huge part of that, so the arrival of Rambler is a very welcome addition to the Drifter Christchurch offering.
Rambler at Drifter Christchurch is located at 96 Litchfield St and is open seven days a week from 7am until the early hours of the morning. Select bookings are taken for dining, but walk-ins are very much always encouraged. No bookings required for drinks.
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