Petone

This week we were feline adventurous, so headed to Neko Ngeru in Petone. For the bilingual among us, you will know that ‘Neko’ means ‘cat’ in Japanese, and ‘Ngeru’ means ‘cat’ in Maori, so literally translated we went to the Cat Cat Cafe. While this blog is mostly about food (and this week cats), it also gives us the purrfect opportunity to appreciate how many cat puns we can fit into one review too!

Visiting a cat cafe was a new experience for us, so we felt we needed to do a little research first. We were pleased we did, as it seemed we needed to book in advance, as only 15 spots at a time were available in the cat room. While needing to book a cafe spot online may seem a little fur-midable at first, it was actually really easy, and ensured we were able to pay the $7 entry fee in advance, to secure our place. We went for the ½ hour option, but could also have paid $12pp for an hour, if a longer stay was required.

Parking was easy to find at this time of day – if you know Petone well, you will appreciate that parking is often a-paw-ling in this area, and could well be an issue at other times of the day. This is im-paw-tant to keep in mind, as the clock is ticking on your booked time if you are late!

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The staff were fur-endly and welcoming. The rules were explained before entering and the double door entry and hand / shoe sanitising station was easy to operate. This may seem extreme to some, but it’s obvious this cafe is not kitten around when it comes to the welfare of their little friends. We were impressed with the setup of the cafe, the clean environment for the cats, the soothing background mew-sic, and the caring cat-titude of the staff. There are plenty of activities set up to keep the cats active, and a paw-some little area for the cats to climb, and sleep peacefully without being disturbed by over eager humans.

While the cafe was reasonably busy, we only needed to wait a meow-ment to be served. There does seem to be a paw-sibility that the food options could be extended a little. The food did look tasty, but if you’re starving and looking to eat your main meal at Neko Ngeru, you will be a little disappointed. Andre tried the flat white, and Summer a hot chocolate. Top marks for the coffee and ⅗ for the hot chocolate. We didn’t order a meal this week – basically because there were none on the menu. You can, however, order a cat shaped cookie, a pie or a sausage roll. The food prices were a little steep – $8 for a slice of cake, and $5 for a small muffin. We probably shouldn’t fur-get to mention, there is only one table in the cafe area, but you can take food into the cat room if you’re game.

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All in all it was a very paw-sitive experience, and earned a grand five stars from us this week in terms of a fun filled half hour, but we feel unable to give a fair rating for the food. This cafe is a delight for cat lovers of all ages and stages. Purr-haps you could head there for your next caffeine, and share your tail with us too.

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Petone

This week we head to the trendy seaside town of Petone, a comfortable 25 minute drive from home. It’s a good opportunity for the two of us to have a Cafe Blog writers ‘staff meeting’, where we discuss the finer points of our blog, how to engage our audience, and where to next in terms of cafe’s. In reality as we drive, Rachael suggests a game of paper, scissors, rock to see who will be writing up this weeks post, and Andre checks out the Hutt River for potential fishing spots.

We have decided to dine at Palmers Garden Centre. This is a relatively new cafe, opened on 11 August 2018 (thank you Google). As we enter we are impressed by the sleek design and modern interior.

The service is friendly, our cup of tea arrives within two minutes, and there is a standard selection of goods in the cabinet. The menu is standard fare – pretty much what you would expect to find in your average cafe.

Andre decided to tickle his taste buds with the french toast. We know some of our readers are french toast connoisseurs, so will appreciate the following description:

Thick slices sunk in milk,
fringed with crisp lace of browned egg and scattered sugar.
Like spongiest challah, dipped in foaming cream
and frothy egg, richness drenching every yeasted
crevice and bubble…

Ok I need to be honest – that was a french toast poem I found on Google. For an actual description, see the photo below.

Something a little different for Rachael this week… bacon and eggs!

One thing we both liked was the waitress offered us the option of milk on the side for our cup of tea. Generally this comes out with the teapot, and always feels like a real waste if it doesn’t get used.

There was wifi available, but this was password protected. We were impressed with the setup of the cafe – lots of indoor and outdoor seating (there was heating outside too), wheelchair / pushchair friendly, and the tables were clean.

This is a nice little spot to have a coffee and catch up, while buying a plant for your garden or a knick knack for the house. We would thoroughly recommend popping in for a visit, however, this cafe is pretty run of the mill.

Andre’s Highlight: This cafe is walking distance from the beach. Perfect for a stroll along the pier.

Rachael’s Highlight: The carpet reminds me of one of those old school woolen blankets we all had when we went camping.

And for the record… Rachael lost paper, scissors, rock this time round. Andre – if you’re reading this – next week it’s best of seven!

OVERALL SCORE: 3 stars.

Like this review? Find more https://sundayat10oclock.home.blog/

Today we head out to The Chocolate Frog Cafe, in Miramar. This cafe is set within a lovely garden centre and gift shop, just a short 35 minute car ride from downtown Upper Hutt.

Parking is abundant, signage is clear, and the aroma of bacon and coffee is evident from the minute we step out of the car.

This cafe is positioned inside the gift shop area – brilliant opportunity to give these treasures a little side eye, as the husband leads us towards the actual food.

We are both impressed that we can view the menu before entering and ordering. The menu looks inviting, and the tied back curtains either side of the doorway are both alluring and 1970’s Women’s’ Weekly decor all at the same time.

The selection in the cabinet has us keen to try everything this cafe has to offer. Slices, cakes, biscuits, sandwiches and pastry. The Chocolate Frog really is a novice food bloggers dream.

Service is exceptional. Right from the gentleman who greeted us at the door, to the waitress who cleared our plates when we had finished. Our EB tea was delivered about two minutes after we ordered, and our food within 10 minutes.

We both ordered eggs. These came out hot, well cooked and beautifully presented. We both felt the portion sizes were spot on, and the green (we’re sure this stuff has a name, but being novice bloggers have no idea what it is) decoration was a nice touch too.

At first we were a little unnerved by the ceiling, which seemed to be channeling a modern venus fly trap arrangement.  The entire ceiling appears to be covered in varying sizes of framed blank canvases, which highlighted the 1000’s of bugs, water stains and dust particles that have accumulated over time.  At best we could imagine this to be a to living tribute to Jackson Pollack, at worst – an OCD cleaners nightmare.

There were many redeeming features, however, such as: free wifi, cutlery delivered with the food, sugar sachets on the table, pour your own water station and a children’s playground. Just as a side note – the playground was not in easy sight of the actual cafe. We would suggest tracking down a spare teenager, and bribing them with food to take the little ones to the playground, while Mum and Dad chill with a flat white.

While we both agree this is a family friendly spot, you may need to plan in advance if you have a wheelchair or pushchair. There is plenty of space when sitting at the tables, but maneuvering through could be a bit tricky.

When you have finished your coffee, take the time to wander through the gift shop and garden centre. Lots of quirky little treats to be found – especially if you’re looking for a last minute gift!

Overall we would highly recommend The Chocolate Frog. We would even go as far to say pop in there for a decent meal before your next flight overseas. It’s just down the road and a much better option than airport food, that’s for sure.

Rachael’s Highlight: Every chair was hand painted with a different design or quote.

Andre’s Highlight: Display of cakes and baking when we first went in was outstanding.

OVERALL RATING: Four Stars.

This week we agreed we were keen to see how the other half live, and dine like royalty. Well, dine like the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to be exact. There was only one place we could possibly go for this… Maranui Cafe in Lyall Bay. Those of you keen on following Megs and Harry, will be well aware they met a group of youth at this cafe during their tour of the Pacific in 2018.

As we climbed the staircase to the top of the old Surf Life Saving building, we discussed our luck at being able to get a park right outside the door. We could see parking would be difficult later in the day, or in the middle of Summer.

When we got to the top, we were pleasantly surprised by the stunning view, welcoming waitress and delicious array of counter food when we stepped in the door.

We knew this cafe was popular, but we were a little taken aback by the 5 minute wait for a table, and 40 minute wait for food to be served. While we were happy to wait (hard to write a review if we didn’t), this is not the place to come if you’re in a hurry. We were impressed that we were given the expected wait times before we were seated, and agreed that the stunning view of the Cook Strait made the wait bearable.

The tea arrived quickly, and the coffee around five minutes later. This gave us plenty of time to contemplate what Harry and Meghan may have eaten, and was it on the menu (Rachael), and the possible erosion of the Maranui Cafe due to the rising sea level (Andre).

This cafe has a fun and funky vibe. The decor is reminiscent of a 1950’s Surf Club, and there are a few quirky details that make the place a little treasure trove for the eye. There were plenty of staff, (I could discuss how our classrooms would benefit from the same adult / students ratio here, but I won’t), friendly table service, and a good selection on the menu. While there is generally the standard fare you would expect, this cafe does cater to the vegan palate, and has a decent selection of items to choose from.

There are a few things we personally like when visiting a cafe. One of these things is free wifi. Maranui Cafe did win points in this area, however, you do need a password to log in. This is not displayed anywhere, but the waitress was more than happy to give out the magic word when asked. It you’re wondering what it is – lyallbay – no capitals, no spaces. You’re welcome!

You may remember at the beginning of this review we mentioned we were keen to dine like royalty. Who knows what they actually eat, but Rachael went for scrambled eggs and bacon, while Andre tried the Magic Mushrooms. Unfortunately, the eggs came out minus the bacon, and the mushrooms came out minus the magic. We have to say the waitress was quick to rectify the bacon situation, but the mushrooms remained sadly limp and tasteless. You could say there was ‘mushroom’ for improvement (just trying to be a ‘fungi’ with the mushroom puns).

Water was available on some tables, we were unable to see exactly where it came from. The cafe is not really child friendly, but there is a lovely outdoor table area if your young prince or princess wants to run around outside.

We both agreed that while the cafe has a fun atmosphere and a half decent view, it really is a victim of it’s own success – a bit like the Kardashian’s really… famous for being famous!

Rachael’s Highlight: Possibly sitting at the same table as Prince Harry.
Andre’s Highlight: The stunning views across the Cook Strait.

OVERALL RATING: 3 stars.

Mitre 10 Petone

Having barely slept a wink with excitement, Rachael and Andre are up early. Today’s a big day…our first review. Rachael spends forever on her hair…Andre’s got none but eventually we’re off!

It’s a 25 min drive from Upper to Lower Hutt and the discussion in the car revolves around guessing how many friends will turn up for their free coffee. Andre’s feeling optimistic.

We swing into the car parking and it’s plentiful. It’s a good start. Once inside it’s a brief stroll to the right and there it is. We’ve both been here before but immediately notice there’s been some modernisation of the cafe. No longer plastic sheets hanging down keeping the birds out, it’s actually got walls now and looks inviting.

We wait for 10 minutes in case any of our readers appear for their free coffee and a large crowd gathers. Unfortunately they’re not anyone we know. Eventually one dear old lady does show up…hello Rachael’s mum. Mums always have your back don’t they?

While the cabinet food looks spectacular(including salmon and dill hash cake) Rachael opts for a scrambled egg( you’re going to get a lot of that over the coming posts!) and Andre settles on the speciality Lambs Fry with a fried egg. Rachael gives in to her well documented weakness for a custard square as a sweet side.

Our drink orders are fairly standard, English Breakfast tea and a regular flat white. The service at the counter is perfunctory although efficient and we’re soon on our way to find a table of which there are plenty to choose from.

Drinks arrive first after 5 minutes with the custard square followed by our meals 5 minutes thereafter. The plates are well presented and it looks appetizing. We soon realise however that each plate is loaded with enough food to feed an african village for a week and despite our best efforts we don’t clean our plates. In fact, the food in the display cabinet was also “super sized”. The custard square could have been halved and it still would have seemed like a generous portion. I guess this is MEGA Mitre 10 but in all honesty we think this counts against them. If you like cafe’s and you’re greedy then this is definitely the place to come!

Other items of interest include…free wifi provided by Mitre 10, no music playing in the background and for the families with wee ones, there’s a playground right next door allowing you to enjoy your coffee and supervise like a good parent all from the comfort of a table and chair. (when you’ve got under 5’s it really doesn’t get any better than that!)

After a brief discussion, our team of 3 decided the dining experience was reasonably standard but without flair or anything surprising. The food was good and the atmosphere welcoming and comfortable. The cafe could claim to have a point of difference regarding portion sizes but we’re not convinced that’s necessarily a positive. Of course it’s hard to overlook you’re inside a mega hardware store and Andre was keen to get amongst the power tools as you’d expect once we drained the last of our cups.

Andre’s highlight: The Lambs fry…delicious!

Rachael’s highlight: No loud music.

Rating: 3 stars

Fergusson Drive

Upper Hutt

The best laid plans of mice and men take a tumble this week. We were booked to visit a local “cat cafe” but at the last minute one of the cats became ill and we have been rescheduled for later in the month. With that to look forward to, we head down to Upper Hutt’s very own Cake and Kitchen on Fergusson Drive, just a short stroll from the train station. Legend has it, customers have boarded a train from Wellington station, disembarked at Upper Hutt and gone no further than the Cake and Kitchen just for their classic mashed pea dish…an absolute must eat. (ok, in all honesty I don’t know if that is a legend, it’s probably not, as I’ve just made it up…but it should become legend because the mashed pea dish is outstanding!)

We’re lucky to get a park right outside where you’ll notice a cute caravan “hole in the wall” selling takeaway coffee. As soon as we’re out of the car, delicious baking aromas assault our nostrils and draw us in. There’s a friendly hello from the wait staff and we peruse the menu before placing our order at the counter. The decor is definitely retro with a post World War II feel, in fact Andre recognises some of the furniture from his childhood. (is Andre really that old that his formative years are now a “theme”? We laugh.)

Having ordered our english breakfast teas and eggs with bacon on fancy bread (Rach scrambled, Andre poached) we take a seat. Less than two minutes later the tea arrives…wow that’s quick! Five minutes after that, two plates of deliciously presented food also makes its way to our table. Can’t complain about having to wait that’s for sure. Both meals are well prepared and Andre remarks that the “chef knows his poached eggs” High praise indeed!

Cutlery and serviettes are in a small container on the table. We’re not big fans of that as who knows how long they’ve been there and how many young hands may have played with them, but it’s a growing trend, and they look clean. The sugar container needs a refill although we decide to not bother the wait staff as they look busy enough.

There’s a pleasant vibe in the cafe…it’s probably about half full. The background music is turned down to an appropriate level, so we’re not having to shout at each other, and we’re far enough away from the hissing and spitting dragon that is the coffee machine so barely notice it’s there.

Twenty minutes later and like a couple of draught horses we’re fed and watered. Each of us decides on a highlight and like two cowboys…I mean cowpeople…we hit the trail in search of fortune and adventure! (when I say fortune and adventure please read “off to the supermarket to get our groceries and a lotto ticket”!)

Rachael’s Highlight: The “Cupcycling” option.

Andre’s Highlight: The Bacon was exactly how he likes it, slightly toward crispy but not nuked.

OVERALL RATING:

5 Stars

Footnote: If you’ve read this far down…firstly, well done and secondly, why not leave the name of a cafe you’d like us to review in the comments section? Can’t promise we’ll get there but we’re not above giving our readers what they want.