Kokako Cafe & Roastery, Grey Lynn

We had brunch today at Kokako Cafe & Roastery in Grey Lynn and had two excellent meals and two different types of cold coffee (because we could). Kokako's menu features organic vegetarian cuisine and is located in an old post office that has lots of character.

I had the Organic Potato Hash which consisted of organic free range eggs, hollandaise, a smoked eggplant relish and some braised greens. It was a superb dish that I would definitely order again.

Jane had the Organic Free Range Omelet that was filled with organic pumpkin, feta, red onion jam and more. It was also accompanied by a thick piece of ciabatta. The omelet itself was a decent size and the flavours complemented each other nicely.

For coffee, I had Kokako's Cold Brew Coffee which is soft brewed for 8 hours and very mellow to taste. Served with ice in a beautiful glass that accentuated its aroma, it was a very different flavour to what I expect from an iced coffee. It also came with the remainder of the coffee in a jar that made it look like medicine (which coffee obviously is). I started off really not sure if I liked it or not but by the end was enjoying it a lot more but still not 100%.

Jane had Kokako's Cold Drip Coffee which had been filtered for 4 hours through a cold drip. I found the taste of it to be quite bizarre but Jane in fact preferred it over mine.

The food arrived in a timely manner but the staff could learn how to smile and actually engage with their customers.

The Hardware Cafe, Titirangi

Brunch this morning was at The Hardware Cafe in Titirangi.

This is one of those cafe that serve a latte in a bowl by default, as I found out. I really prefer the additional boost of caffeine I feel when there is less milk, oh well I now know for next time. The coffee itself was however nice.

I had the Gluten Free Kumara Rosti with spinach, grilled tomato, poached egg and hollandaise. I didn’t enjoy the flavour of the rosti but did enjoy the rest of the dish, each of the other components was nicely done. I particularly enjoyed the hollandaise although the presentation could have been better.

The service was friendly, the food arrived in a timely manner and the cafe had a nice vibe.

I would go back, but would steer away from the rosti next time and try and remember to order latte in a glass.

Takapuna Beach Cafe

The Takapuna Beach Cafe used to be a regular location for us to go out to for brunch but it had been months since our last visit, so when we did go on Saturday I was pleased to see a revamped menu with lots of really interesting options.

I love the location of this cafe near the Takapuna boat ramp at the end of Takapuna beach with a beautiful view over the ocean to Rangitoto. The circular tables and large metal chairs however, whilst contributing to a nice beach feel, I feel are oversized and crammed in.

In addition to the complementary sparkling water, I enjoyed a good trim latte and Jane enjoyed a lovely fresh juice and long black.

I had the “Grilled King Salmon, folded free range eggs, homemade croissant loaf“ for my meal. The Salmon was quite rich but it worked well with the butter flavour from the croissant. I enjoyed the dish and would order it again.

Jane had the “Poached eggs, salsa verde, wild rocket & potato salad, grated reggiano with pancetta” which she really enjoyed.

All food was beautifully presented, our waitress was excellent, our water was regularly filled and the food arrived in a timely manner.

Shaky Isles - Kingsland, Auckland

We were planning on meeting friends for brunch on Sunday morning, and wanted to go somewhere that had an entertainment book coupon.  We both remembered enjoying coffee at Shaky Isles previously so figured we'd give it a go.

Shaky Isles
492 New North Rd
Kingsland
(parking out the back!)


I do like the environment, and particularly the big outdoor benches.  We sat inside on Sunday - it was reasonbly busy when we arrived, although got progressively busier and noisier during our brunch!  You certainly couldn't say the place has no vibe!


Their menu is a little different to the norm (a good thing!), but delightfully flexible, so if you like your traditional eggs bennie, or scrambled eggs with bacon, you can build pretty much whatever you desire.  Simon and I both had the Bruschetta with scrambled eggs, tomatoes, feta, spinach & basil pesto, Simon also had a side of spicy kransky.  We'd both definitely order this again.  One of our brunch companions had the Crumpet with dates, poached pear & orange ricotta - and a side of poached egg because that's what she felt like! I love that this was no hassle - I do get frustrated with cafes that are unwillingly or incapable of deviating from the exact menu.  And the final meal at our table was the aptly named 'Isle have it all' - aka the big breakfast!  It's safe to say we all enjoyed our meals and would more than happily return.

Simon also had a kiwifruit, mint, lychee, banana smoothie - this was really good and very refreshing.  My long black was great, as was my cappuccino.  Simon wasn't sure about the blend used for his trim latte.  I really appreciated that they use different beans for their different coffees - and you can swap and change here as well if you like.  I'm tempted to order 3 long blacks one day - 1 of each blend, and do a vertical tasting!

In summary:
Love the flexibility of this cafe, the food is great, fresh & delicious, and the coffees seem dependable.  We will return and we will recommend to others.    

Cafe Review - Brunch at Lulu's Cafe - Ponsonby Road

We used Google Places on my phone recently to find somewhere new to try for brunch. We chose Lulu's Cafe on Ponsonby Road.

The cafe is quite small, homely and perhaps a little Italian and cosy in atmosphere - the cafe as a nice feel to it and I can imagine myself sipping coffee there and people-watching. They don't take credit cards - I mention this only because I think it's the first place I've come across in Auckland that doesn't!

Our meals were very generously sized, and the coffees were pretty good as I recall, although perhaps a litle weak (it was a few weeks ago I must confess!)

Simon had the pancakes with lashings of Maple Syrup and I went for an Omelette with fresh garden salad.  I'm always a little dubious about ordering salads as they're often the ubiquitous mesclun mix plopped on the plate and served.  This however was fresh, generous and absolutely delicious. The omelette was also great, and very filling!

Would we return? Yes, although we wouldn't call it a favourite.  But if you were thinking of visiting Lulu's, we'd certainly encourage you to give it a go.

Brunch at Mello Cafe, Grey Lynn

I'm feeling a little guilty about calling this 'our' blog when I have only written 2 out of 25 posts in the last 3 months!  Hopefully this is my first of several in the near future!

This morning we headed to Mello Cafe in Grey Lynn for brunch - apparently because Simon had seen a couple of people sign-in here on Foursquare and one of them had recommended the coffee. I asked him who, he said it was no-one he knew. My how times have changed.

Well, regardless of how we got on to Mello, we're both really pleased we did!  The staff were friendly and helpful, the coffees were great (long black for me, trim latte for Simon) and it was so nice to look at a brunch menu and see a raft of items we'd never seen before - such as small veal sausages with white beans, mustard and crumbed smoked fish ball....

...and Potato Roesti with bacon and aged cheddar and sour-cream....

...along with items like Coddled eggs with a salad of salmon, and ciabatta (I think, sketchy memory kicking in at this point). I can't remember any more specifics, but we did both have a hard job choosing and had to ask for more time - and then we found out about the specials!!!  The cabinet food also looked really good, and we noticed a sign advertising a Ginger Latte as we left, one of us will try it next time.

Mello is on a stretch of Richmond Road that is endowed with a generously wide footpath, so there are several tables out the front, and they also have seating inside out the back, with a little terrace that was closed today, but I expect is open in summer.

Pop next door and enjoy the beautiful old memory-rich items at Flotsam and Jetsam while you're in the area.  What a delightful little place!

In Summary:
Yes, we will absolutely return to Mello and we're more than happy recommending them to friends, family and faithful readers alike. (And unfaithful for that matter, we don't discriminate.) Enjoy!

Surprisingly good cafe on the North Shore - Solstice

We have had so many 'average' cafe experiences on the North Shore that we have all but given up on brunching in this area and tend to end up in Grey Lynn, Ponsonby or Herne Bay. Today we wanted to swing by the ice-breaker outlet store and as I had wasted the morning recovering from a hateful migraine that graced my head upon waking, we figured we'd risk somewhere new on the shore.

So we headed to Solstice - 30 Kell drive, Albany - little alley way right in the village, beside the library. I knew about it as I was on the mailing list from Mosaik - I'm not entirely sure about the history here, but I believe Solstice was set up by the owner (ex?) of Mosaik.

The setting was lovely, the service friendly and there was definitely some consistent staff training evident.

Coffee
We both had trim lattes (and I then also had a long black). Coffee was strong and good quality.

Food
Simon had the Tuscan beef stack - this was nicely presented, had a gorgeous char-grilled flavour, the salad was nice, overall a great dish. (Personally I thought the beef a little too cold, but Simon thought it was fine, although he did comment it was closer to blue than the requested rare).
I had the Seafood Chowder. This was really nice, appropriately rich, without being unpleasantly so, full of good size chunks of seafood. My only comment on this though, I would have liked to have seen it served with a piece of ciabatta or similar - this would have taken it from being a lovely chowder to being a great lunch. It just seemed a little incomplete - and I do find chowder benefits from having a piece of bread to break up the creamy richness.
We kind of shared an Apple Tarte Tatin - this was quite sweet (mostly due to the butterscotch sauce I think), but very nice, and the vanilla bean ice cream with it was delicious.

We would order all of these dishes again.

Other observations
Attention to detail was pretty good - we had lovely stemmed water glasses, and we wondered whether these would get refilled, and yes they did, with a small, but excusable delay. The menu was laid out beautifully, and unlike so many places we seem to visit on the shore, it was clean! Prices were also very reasonable.

Brunch with Friends

Firstly - apologies for the lack of photos - although Simon suggests there may be something on my camera of use - will add later if so.

This morning we had friends up from Tauranga, with their 2 young boys. We decided we'd do a spread of bagels with a range of toppings and were really pleased with the end result!

So with the toaster happily relocated outside onto the deck and a deliciously cold bottle of OJ, we enjoyed:

Abe's parmesan, sesame, poppy seed and baby bagels with:

• buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, freshly sliced truss tomatoes
• mersey valley club cheddar - 'sharp & crumbly' (they weren't kidding!), italiano salami
• cream cheese & smoked salmon

A decidedly delicious brunch. We'll definitely be doing that one again!

Jafa Cafe

We were very happy to hear that Tim and Jon (who previously owned Benediction) had opened up a cafe at the far end of Richmond Road called Jafa. We headed along last weekend to check it out.

The staff set the expectation with us up front that they were ridiculously busy and that food was taking about an hour to come out. This was fine with us, and I really appreciate being told this as we were going into the cafe and not finding out until after we had ordered. Setting expectations is so important, it's easy to do, but so many places fail in this regard.

True to the form of what we came to expect from Benediction, the food, coffee, service and overall vibe were great. There were a number of the old favourites on the menu, but there were also a few new entries or a slight twist onthe old ones. I went for eggs benedict on a kumara mash and this was beautifully done. I can't recall what Jane ordered, but that's not as huge surprise as I tend to focus on my meal... but I recall that she did enjoy it.

I would definitely go back, and in fact Jane has gone back there for brunch today with Trudy. Somehow I think their brunch might be a bit better than what I cobbled together.

Altar Cafe

Altar Cafe in Mt Eden has been one of our more recent finds. We have been here twice within the last month for brunch and had a great experience both times. The menu sports more than the same-old same-old brunch items. On the first occasion I had corned beef hashcakes with the equivalent of eggs benedict on top, and on the second occasion I went for a Nicoise sytle salad. Service was neither slow nor sloppy (and we're very picky when it comes to good service). The quality of the food has also been consistently good as has the coffee (Allpress).

Revel - K Road

Against my usual mis-givings, Simon convinced me to try somewhere different for brunch on Sunday. And, joy of joys, it was GOOD! Yay!

Revel on K road was the destination, and admittedly, we didn't order cooked breakfasts, so we're possibly not comparing apples with apples, but it was certainly excellent enough to warrant a return visit! Wehoo!

I had a long black - which was deliciously strong, without being burnt, and didn't require even a hint of sugar. Simon's Latte looked delicious. I also had a berry smoothie. OMG!!!!! Seriously - BEST smoothie ever! Extremely thick - in fact I was given both a straw and a spoon - and definitely needed the spoon!

Simon had the fresh fruit with berries and yoghurt - this was an artfully presented cacophony of fresh fruits and berries, and the yoghurt nicely finished with a swirl of honey.


I ordered a bagel with Tomato and Avocado which also came with what I think was cream cheese, but its texture wasn't quite as smooth and it had a more cheesey flavour than cc. It was delicious!

The staff were all friendly and relaxed, and the service was really quick. The decor and ambiance is very funky, a bit alternative, relaxingly laid back.

Overall - we WILL be back. :)

Occam - Grey Lynn

Occam is officially our favourite cafe for brunch - and on the odd occasions when we think 'lets go somewhere different', we end up being disappointed and vowing to stick with what we know is great in future!

So this morning we met Lynn and Rex at Occam for pre-work, pre-christmas breakfast. And ALL of us had my favourite - Lemon Dill Hash Cakes with Asparagus, poached eggs and smoked paprika hollandaise. YUM! And of course I had a passionfruit smoothie. Not sure how Simon's trim Mocha was (feel free to comment...)

We've been to Occam many many many times, and thus far have had only one sub-standard experience - which was on a long weekend, and still wasn't as bad as some of the 'average' brunches we've had elsewhere.

Every time we visit we're amazed at how quickly our coffees turn up - often they're at our table as the person who ordered them returns to take their seat! And the quality is usually fantastic.

Water is help yourself style - and I really like the skewers of halved lemons they put in the water jugs - nice touch and it means you don't get slices of lemon sloshing into your glass and making a mess everywhere. Their outside area is great, although sadly the smokers all tend to dominate these tables (how unusual) - so if you're wanting fresh air you really need to sit inside, but near the door.

If you want a great breakfast or brunch - go to Occam!