Good pizza is genuinely hard to find in New Zealand — European-style food in general can be hit or miss here, so when a place gets it right, it’s worth a special trip. These are my personal top three, ranked by what matters most to me: fresh dough and quality ingredients over hype.
1. Dalante – Artisan Mediterranean Bakery, Lincoln
My pick for the best pizza, full stop. Dalante is technically a bakery first — it’s small, tucked into a shopping centre in Lincoln about 25 minutes from central Christchurch, and the menu is short. None of that matters once you taste the dough. Everything is baked fresh on site daily, and the wood-fired pizza is the freshest, highest-quality pie I’ve had anywhere in Canterbury. It’s out of the way and the space is tiny, but it’s worth the drive for the quality alone.
- Address: Shop 4, 4 Eastfield Drive, Rosemerryn Shopping Centre, Lincoln
- Hours: Wed-Sat 11am-7pm, Sun 11am-3pm, closed Mon-Tue (pizza served from around 12:30pm)
- Also try: the falafel and the fresh sourdough bread
2. Arbour Woodfired Pizza and Bar, Lyttelton
My second pick, and a very close one. Arbour has fresh, well-made dough, a genuinely great drinks list, and one of the best atmospheres of any restaurant near Christchurch — it’s set inside a converted, glasshouse-style building with a bar built from an old Lyttelton fishing boat. The salads are excellent too, which is rare for a pizza place. Almost everything on the menu is locally sourced.
- Address: 17 Oxford Street, Lyttelton
- Hours: Mon-Thu 5pm-9pm, Fri-Sun 12pm-3pm and 5pm-9pm
- Book ahead — it’s small and popular, especially on weekends
3. Bomba Pizza Napoletana, Lyttelton
Also in Lyttelton, just down the road from Arbour. Bomba does proper Neapolitan-style pizza — Italian ’00’ flour, dough fermented for over 30 hours, hand-stretched and cooked in a wood-fired oven. It’s a similar quality tier to Arbour, just a different style: a softer, more traditional Neapolitan crust rather than Arbour’s thinner, crispier base. They make their own gelato too, which is a good way to finish.
- Address: 13 London Street, Lyttelton
- Hours: generally Wed-Sun, afternoon and evening (hours shift seasonally, worth checking ahead)
- Tip: on Saturday mornings they sell $5 pizza slices at the Lyttelton Farmers Market, 9am-1pm
Why these three
Good European-style food is genuinely rare in New Zealand, so when a place nails fresh dough and quality ingredients, it stands out. All three of these do their own thing well — Dalante on pure ingredient quality, Arbour on atmosphere and drinks, Bomba on Neapolitan technique — but they’re all miles ahead of the average pizza place you’ll find on a South Island trip.
Campervan tip
Lyttelton is a 15-minute drive over the hill from central Christchurch, so Arbour and Bomba pair easily with a Lyttelton day out — walk the harbour, grab a coffee, and stay for pizza. Lincoln is about 25 minutes south of the city, so Dalante works well on your way in or out of Christchurch if you’re heading toward Akaroa or Banks Peninsula.
