I was fortunate enough to be in Christchurch for a few days and decided to spend some time exploring the city. It had been about 18 months since my last visit, and it was great to see how much the place had evolved — new shops were popping up and a generally upbeat, positive vibe was in the air.

While wandering, I stumbled across The Cookie Trader. The place was buzzing, with a decent line of people outside. It was clearly popular, and it seemed to be due to social media and the demographic lining up — most people seemed to be walking away with at least half a dozen cookies.

I joined the queue, knowing I wasn’t going to order six — I really just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. That said, I ended up with two: the Strawberry Matcha and the NYC Chocolate Chip.

Cookies in hand, I headed over to Riverside Market to find a seat. I remembered Espresso Studio was nearby, so I grabbed a flat white before settling in upstairs.

First off, the coffee was great. I can see why people rave about Espresso Studio.

Now, back to the cookies. I was a bit hesitant at first, expecting them to be overly sweet, but they were better than I anticipated. The Strawberry Matcha was surprisingly good. Even though I’m not usually a fan of white chocolate, it actually worked well with the strawberry and matcha. That said, I would’ve liked a stronger matcha flavour — it was too subtle for a combo that should lean more into that earthy green tea note.

The NYC Chocolate Chip was definitely sweeter than the other. I liked the addition of walnuts and the generous chunk of chocolate in the centre. But biting into it was a bit of a chocolate overload — between the chocolate core, the icing, and an extra piece of chocolate on top, it was a bit much for me.

Overall, not a bad spot for cookies. Now that I’ve tried them, I get the appeal — but I probably wouldn’t go back. The cookies are decent with a nice centre, but unless they were guaranteed served warm every time, it’s not enough to draw me in again. At $6.50 a cookie, it felt a bit overhyped. Then again, I might not be the target audience — the queue seemed full of Gen Zs happily buying six at a time.

Website: The Cookie Trader

Address: Guthrey Centre, 124 Cashel Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch 8011