Our Story · 我們的故事
蓬萊小館
A family restaurant,
since December 1991.
First opened on Armagh Street, now custom-designed and based on Riccarton Road, Christchurch.
The founder
Master Jiang
江展峰 · 江師父
Jiang Zhan Feng — Master Jiang, as he was known — was the main chef and a founding member of Joyful Chinese Family Restaurant, having moved to the seasonal city of Christchurch from Guangzhou, Mainland China.
In December 1991, Joyful first opened on Armagh Street. For over 30 years we have continued to grow into a larger, family-sized restaurant, now custom-designed and based on Riccarton Road, Christchurch.
Along the way
-
1991
Armagh Street
Joyful Restaurant first opens on Armagh Street, in December.
-
2023
A new menu
Redesigned to include regular diners’ requests.
-
Today
Riccarton Road
A larger, family-sized restaurant, now custom-designed.
“We need good ingredients and good portions of dishes for our customers.”
We still appreciate his philosophy. He hoped that every customer would have a great time dining at Joyful, and we have chosen to continue his mission.
For the whole family
Intimate dinners,
fabulous banquets.
The family focus has increased to accommodate multi-generational celebrations — often including grandparents, parents, children and extended family members — for weddings, birthdays, feasts and festivals, and any other reason to celebrate over a meal. The restaurant’s design allows you to enjoy intimate dinners, or fun-filled, fabulous banquets, according to your needs.
Plan a function →The menu
From Peking Duck
to stew soups.
The menu has continued to grow to include international favourites such as Northern China’s Peking Duck, and Southern China’s famous stew soups. In 2023, we redesigned the menu to include regular diners’ requests, because some of them have followed us here from our first two locations.
View the menu →The painting on our wall
Along the River During
the Qingming Festival.
清明上河圖
We welcome you from the depths of our hearts, and express our welcome not only through our friendly and skillful staff, but also through our choices of furnishings, pictures and other decor. Master Jiang specifically chose the replica of the huge scroll painting. It captures the daily life of people from the Song period at their capital, Bianjing — known today as Kaifeng — in Henan.
The scroll portrays shoppers, fashions, merchants, various modes of transport, foreigners traveling for business or pleasure, and custom-designed buildings. In the middle of the painting, you can even see people dining in Chinese restaurants with their family and friends — as people still do today, here, and around the world.
Across centuries, and across cultures, and across oceans, we can still see the common aspects of our daily lives and understand our shared humanity. Our differences create many interesting things to learn about and enjoy, and our similarities bring us closer together, as one human family.
Old friends and
new, welcome.
Whether you are our long-time friends/family — or we are meeting each other for the first time — we welcome you to our Joyful Chinese Family Restaurant.