To moon and back
Part craft beer haven, part food-lover’s playground, this lovely local is where muddy paw prints are just as welcome as serious conversations about stout.
This winter, the menu, the malt, and the mingling at Moon Under Water are delivering comfort, community, and seriously good flavour in equal measure.
The newly renovated outdoor area has doubled the pub’s previous exterior capacity, creating a warm, weatherproof space, while inside, chef Kalle and owner (and resident beer enthusiast) Matt continue to blur the line between pub classics and a bona fide food destination, where exceptional produce, clever cooking, and good hospitality sit comfortably alongside a cracking pint.
Winter signals the return of wild game to the menu. Think rich goat shoulder, delicate venison carpaccio, wallaby, and hearty wild game and ale pies served with hot-pot-style mashed potato, using locally sourced meat from Premium Game. Pair it with a velvety Roisin Dubh Dry Irish Stout, and suddenly this chilly season starts looking rather toasty. For the stout obsessives, clear your calendar. The annual Stout Challenge returns on 11 July, alongside fellow craft beer fans, Punky Brewster.
In collaboration with local legends Spicy Boys, Moon has developed its own smoked pineapple hot sauce. Sitting at a respectable 7/10 on the heat scale, it’s sweet, smoky, and sneakily finds its place across the menu, including the Pineapple Cluck burger, cauliflower bites, chicken wings, and the Freak Out pizza.
Local producers continue to take centre stage, with one of the latest additions behind the bar, Canterbury-made Mead from Undisturbed. A great reminder that the craft beverage scene in Canterbury stretches well beyond beer alone.
Add in daily beer rotations, a return to the McClure’s Toastie Challenge, and finalist nods in the 2026 New Zealand Hospo Awards for Best Bar and Best Local, and Moon Under Water continues proving it’s much more than just a place for a pint.
You’ll find Moon Under Water at 152 Somerfield Street, on the corner. It’s hard to miss!