Tag: brunch

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Buzz Cafe

Lower Hutt

“What’s the buzz tell me what’s a-happening, what’s the buzz tell me what’s a-happening, what’s the buzz tell me what’s a-happe….”, Ok, so some of you may remember the 1973 Jesus Christ Superstar hit musical (for the record Rachael wasn’t born), but that’s not the ‘buzz’ we are blogging about this week. Neither are we referring to the delicious buzz of an alcohol fueled champagne breakfast.

This weeks ‘buzz’ is all about the aptly named Buzz Cafe in central Lower Hutt. A hive of industry and noise when we arrived this morning, there were Christmas carols blasting from hidden speakers (thank you December), a table of board games and a welcome from the owner at the front door.

Buzz cafe has been around for decades, and has frequented various locations around the central Hutt area. This current venue has a distinct industrial feel, and a bustling, upbeat atmosphere.

We are quickly seated, and drinks orders are taken. English breakfast tea for two and a banana milkshake for Harry.

There is plenty to choose from on the menu – and it seems even the most fussy of eaters (Rachael) can find something to silence the hunger.

We were impressed with the speed our drinks and food arrive, considering the time of day and that the cafe was almost packed.

Bacon and eggs (that ole chestnut again), eggs with spicy sausage and waffles with fried chicken (only a 17 year old boy could manage that on a Sunday morning).

As a side note:

Our good friend Di had recommended Zany Zeus in Moera as a cafe destination, and we had planned to go there last week. If you are a regular reader, you will be aware we were rained in and people more sensible than us had made the call that the general public should not travel unless urgent. (How can cake NOT be urgent?) We tried again this week, and we were delighted to find a park right outside the door.

Once inside we discovered there was no actual menu, and only cabinet cakes and cheese on offer. I know – most of you will be asking the same question as Rachael – what’s the problem here? We decided to purchase a cake each, then move onto a cafe with a breakfast menu. We would highly recommend Zany Zeus for cake and coffee, but not a meal as such.

According to the New Zealand Herald (so it must be true), Scarlett Johnasson described the Zany Zeus chocolate cake as ‘the best in the World’. Scarlett’s daughter (Rose Dorothy) has almost the same name as Rachael’s Nana (Dorothy), so we are going to count that as six degrees of separation and believe every word she says!

Here are a few pics to tempt the taste buds.

For the record we googled the lyrics to the song “What’s the buzz” to find out what the next line was. It pretty much said “What’s the buzz tell me what’s a-happening” (repeat many times). Pretty much sums up our work day really- repeat many times! Thank goodness for weekend cafe reviews we reckon!

OVERALL SCORE: 4 stars

Featured

Pacifica Cafe

Tara Road, Papamoa

This week we round off our journey North to the Bay of Plenty with a special visit to Pacifica Café located on Tara Road, on the outskirts of Papamoa. A bustling beach resort known for having as many retirees per square metre, as grains of sand along its sparkling coastline. Andre takes particular joy in this review as it was his mother Wilma’s café of choice for many years, and he’s looking forward to the trip down memory lane.

Pacifica is a well-deserved 5 star establishment. (Our regular readers will notice this early disclosure of stars awarded as a break from tradition where usually we conclude with a rating.)

From the moment we enter the spacious car park we find ourselves in a semi-rural setting with the café, a gift shop and a boutique garden centre all located on a sheltered site surrounded by what appear to be orchards. We quickly make our way inside and find it is busy but there are plenty of tables inside and out and we’re the only ones at the counter. The cabinet food looks inviting and there’s a wide selection of sweets to tempt the most discerning taste buds.

The lady behind the counter is friendly and efficient and even suggests a particular table in the outdoor area which she says is sheltered and comfortable. Our orders are placed, Andre a raspberry shortcake followed by a Moroccan lamb filo and salad, Rachael a chocolate caramel cake and for something a little less ordinary…scrambled eggs on ciabatta, all washed down with English Breakfast tea and a regular flat white.

The kind lady also points out the help yourself style arrangement of cutlery by the door, and reminds us not to forget to collect some as we make our way towards the egress.  There’s a moment of stupidity as we both cannot seem to figure out how the serviettes are dispensed from a no doubt fiendishly clever Scandinavian style dispenser.  After a moment or two Andre decides it’s time to make his ignorance a matter of public record, and takes the dispenser to the counter to ask for help. Having set his expression to sheepish, Andre is informed that the reason he can’t dispense any serviettes is because the dispenser has literally done the job and dispensed its entire load. In other words…it’s empty.

We find the table outside and the setting is marvellous. We’re right next to a magnificent display of lavender and we see what looks like an entire hive of bees busy visiting one flower after another. Our drinks and sweets arrive moments after we’re seated and the mains arrive as we eat our last mouthful of cake.

Rachael’s eggs are described as adequate although, given her impossibly high standards, we decide it’s more a case of “It’s not you…it’s me.” Andre declares his Moroccan lamb filo and salad an absolute winner, with which he can find no fault.

Once food and drink are consumed, Rachael takes a leisurely stroll through the gift shop while Andre plays with his new friends the bees and catches up on his social media commitments using the free wifi, provided courtesy of Pacifica.

We eventually take our leave and both agree it’s a great place to enjoy a leisurely afternoon. (a word of caution though…last time Andre was there with his dear old mum the road outside could best be described as “single lane country”. There’s now a four-lane highway so approach with care as traffic moves reasonably fast even in the slow lane!)