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A Few Thoughts…

It’s not often we struggle to write the opening sentence of our review each week, but today we are feeling the pinch.

This sentence has been written and deleted a dozen times and it still doesn’t feel right. Last weekend we laughed in jest at the rapid pace the CoronaVirus seemed to be changing the World, with little concern for how that might impact on us personally. In the seven days since, everything has ground to a halt, and we are suddenly very aware of the challenging times ahead. Sadly, given the gravity of the situation at the moment, we have decided it is time for our blog to come to an end.

We set out with no real plans at the beginning of this journey, other than to get to know our local area a little better and suss out the odd decent coffee. It’s not well known, that Rachael’s anxiety around eating at unfamiliar places is often debilitating, and has on more than one occasion changed our preset plans. This blog was an opportunity to work on that too.

It turns out our little adventure has had a huge impact on our lives and has taught us a few more life lessons than just where to pick up a decent flat white. While not many of us enjoy reading other peoples ‘life advice’ lists, we are going to share ours anyway. Here’s what we have learnt:

Some of the best coffee is right here in our own backyard.
Friendly service and happy staff can improve pretty average food A LOT!
Most people can’t tell who has written our blog. We have taken week about to write up our reviews, and even we are surprised at how similar our styles are.
Writing a blog is almost as much effort as looking after a baby! We thought we would just pop out for coffee and cake each Sunday then ‘whip up’ our thoughts. It turns out those thoughts often take 2 or more hours to put into something semi publishable! Let’s not even mention the proofreading and editing required.
We started off taking notes each week (if you know Rachael well you will know there was a checklist involved). After 48 reviews that was no longer needed and we could judge a good cafe within three minutes of entering.
After 48 weeks consecutively (other than one week we were rained in), Rachael can no longer eat scrambled eggs and bacon.
Our kids don’t read our blog – but 3,686 other people from around the World did.

It’s not all bad news though. We have loved every minute of our reviews. We have had some hilarious experiences along the way, and had many fabulous brunches with friends and family, and one time even with strangers when Dunshea’s Cafe ‘encouraged’ us to share a table. We have seen a whole lot more of the Wellington region and will continue to support our local business once the lockdown has been lifted.

We do have another big adventure in the works and hope to blog about it when plans are up and running. Thanks for sharing our journey with us. We appreciate every single one of you who have stopped in once, twice or every week for a read. We have loved every minute of it.

Stay safe.

Rach and Dre xo

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Between Cafe & Eatery

Karangahape Rd, Auckland.

This place should be open all hours God sent!

You’ll assume by the photo caption above that this review is going to end well and, if you do then read on…

Firstly, let’s meet the crew on this expedition.

The crew. One of these things is not like the others.

This week we find ourselves in the Corona capital of New Zealand…Auckland. Our crew of 6 have made an effort to travel there for the weekend to catch the show Book of Mormon (outstanding!) and of course it would be rude not to conduct a cafe review given they’re so prolific in the beautiful city of sails.

I have to point out the the gentlemen in blue positively beaming in the centre of the photo, goes by the name Bright. The reason he’s so happy is he’s just watched the show for free courtesy of our friends Graeme and Wendy who sadly at the last moment were unable to join our merry band. Bright, who was giving away Uber Eats vouchers outside the theatre literally happened to be in the right place at the right time and found himself the recipient of a free show ticket. I have never seen anyone more appreciative. It made our weekend as well as his. Anyway…on to the cafe!

It was a short walk from the Auckland Town Hall, close to our accommodation, up to “K Road” where the cafe is situated in the first block of shops traveling North. We can’t comment on parking as our transport was still on the tarmac at Auckland Airport but it could be tricky given the amount of road cones everywhere.

First impressions are promising. It looks clean and relatively new, with a funky “industrial office” interior. The cabinet food is somewhat limited to sweet treats so don’t expect a large range of sandwiches and cold quiche to choose from. The real gems are on the menu itself as we quickly discover.

Every dish is fresh and delicious and greatly enjoyed by each person who ordered them. A minor disappointment is one of the plates having a large crack running through the middle of it and while it held together during our visit it’s clearly a concern on several levels. We did point out the condition of the plate at the end of our visit and the staff were suitably apologetic. We’ve decided not to let this impact on our overall score as it’s easy for this kind of thing to occur and we’re confident that plate is now at the bottom of a recycling bin or where ever cracked plates end their days.

A highlight of the experience was the way the tea was served. The cup, pot and strainer all looked as if they had been made on a potter’s wheel somewhere out back. It certainly looked unusual and provided a point of difference we’ll remember for some time.

I’ve left the photo large so you can get a good look at this.

So a quick poll of the team upon consummation of our vittles revealed all were satisfied and, cracked plate aside, we’re giving Between a solid 5 stars! Here’s a few other random pics…

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Workshop Cafe and Bar

The Esplanade Petone

Every now and then Andre needs to put credit on his “man card” and he looks for a project that will allow him such an opportunity. As luck would have it, our newly appointed “herb garden” needs pavers and after a quick visit to Bunnings in Petone we spy a cafe next door appropriately called the Workshop cafe. Andre can’t resist and drags a somewhat hesitant Rachael in past the sign that proclaims goat curd as one of the daily specials.

We walk over to the cabinet although after noticing considerable condensation inside the glass we decide to pass and see what the menu has to offer. Everything looks standard. Eggs, smashed avocado, bacon, mushrooms and combinations thereof to suit most tastes.

Andre orders up pancakes with bacon and uncooked banana, while Rachael looks forward to wedges with bacon, melted cheese and topped with sour cream. Our drinks, EBT and a regular flat white arrive in good time although the wait for our food seems somewhat long given the place isn’t exactly packed. Our preference and rule of thumb has always been that the food should arrive before we have finished our drinks. In this case the cups were well cold by the time our orders made it to our table.

The pancakes according to Andre were filling although quite thick and needed all of the available sauce to help them slide down. The bacon portion was somewhat on the miserly side although was cooked to his liking. Rachael’s wedges were a good portion size and there were no complaints around presentation or taste. Although less than memorable, both of us pretty much got what we expected.

Another party several tables over from us ordered sliders which looked like mini burgers with a skewer through the top (presumably to keep the layers together) and they did look visually appealing. Andre’s made a mental note of these should we end up there again when the next man card top up is due.

Today we are delighted to award the Workshop Cafe a solid 3 stars. It’s the kind of cafe you’d happily drop into when visiting Bunnings around lunchtime but it’s not really a “destination” that you then might use as a springboard to visit Bunnings while you’re there. The service was friendly and apart from the unsightly condensation in the cabinet the place was clean and looked well maintained.

For a workshop cafe the cups could do with larger finger holes!

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Hanger

Dixon Street, Wellington

We live in uncertain times. What with Corona Virus, climate change, the imminent demise of the internal combustion engine, it’s just one bad news story after another. We were hoping this week our cafe review would be a beacon of light on an otherwise gloomy horizon but sadly, it was not to be. However, thanks to our friend Rebecca, we at least go armed with an entertainment book voucher so it’s a little on the cheap which is a bonus!

Despite this cafe being about as central Wellington as you can imagine, we weave our way through streets and road cones to find a parking building less than 100m from our destination. As it’s Sunday there are plenty of available parks and we soon find our way down the stairwell to street level. From the outside the cafe has a small frontage and when we pop in it’s immediately clear there are no spare tables…it’s packed! A waitress takes our name and informs us there’s a 10 minute wait for a table. We’re cool with that so stand around the entrance acting nonchalant. As we wait our eyes are drawn to the cabinet which has a selection of carrot and velvet cakes. They look good enough to eat so decide to add one to our order. For the coffee connoisseur a large board offers a tempting selection of bean blends with cool sounding names like Doi Saket, Chelba and La Aurora. (Andre, no expert, eventually settles on a regular flat white)

Despite being threatened with a 10 minute wait, we’re called over after 5 and end up sandwiched between two tables with just enough elbow room to use a knife and fork. Our drinks order is taken by an efficient waitress who clearly doesn’t have time to chat, and they touchdown on our table in an acceptable time frame given how busy the barista manning the coffee machine seems to be.

Rachael orders scrambled eggs and Andre poached eggs on toast with a side order of an extra egg and black pudding. The food eventually arrives but it’s a long wait. Our drinks are a distant memory and the cups are well cold, but we’ve been entertained by the conversations from the tables either side of us while not giving away too much of our own family secrets in the process naturally.

At this stage I’d like to point out it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Rachael had to get her wet wipes out(rubbish bin not flush is our family mantra) as the chair had coffee spilt on it by the waitress who came back to wipe the table but neglected the chair and the milk for the tea had a bug firmly stuck to the inside of the cute bottle it came in.

Yes folks…that’s on the INSIDE….shudder!

Once the food is eaten, including the very tasty carrot cake, we call a staff meeting then and there to discuss today’s experience and award the appropriate number of stars. The votes are in and the results are not good. Two and a half stars. While the cafe environment is uber trendy, the food was lacklustre, the staff were stretched and the wait times for food disappointing. (take the dandelion off Andre’s plate and it’s nothing you couldn’t whip up in any kitchen) Another cafe that’s possibly a victim of its own success…we’ve seen them before.

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Betsy

Island Bay, Wellington

We all know in this day and age there is a fine line between cool (jandals) and uncool (jandals and socks), glamorous (diamonds) and tacky (rhinestones), shy (Kate Middleton) and over confident (Megan Markle). So it is a rare occasion we would describe a cafe as cool and glamorous, yet over confident.

Betsy, in Island Bay, was listed as one of the top 15 cafes in Wellington (cool), so we decided we should try it before our 12 month cafe review time frame was up. We were surprised after reading the many complementary reviews on Facebook, to pull up outside a tiny unassuming little shop in the middle of the main street (glamorous maybe). What struck us the most, was that once inside there was only one small table for those who wish to dine inside (how’s that for confidence?).

We were greeted by around 6 staff (all wearing matching black and white striped t.shirts – there’s the cool factor again). It was a genuine and friendly welcome, which impressed us, as we have quickly become accustomed to being part of the cafe production line of greet, serve, feed, repeat which while efficient from a business point view, doesn’t really make you feel more than a table number and an open wallet.

The cabinet food looked fresh and tasty and there was a good selection. Ever the optimists we hoped there was also a menu to choose from and low and behold – there was! Well, what we mean is there were two menus, like literally two… two pieces of paper… attached to two mini clipboards. We guess this was probably sufficient given there was only one table available for the ‘dine in experience’.

Andre opted for two house-made toasted crumpets topped with passionfruit curd, raspberry and rose syrup, vanilla bean cream cheese, toasted almonds. While we could almost feel the good health dripping off the menu just reading the description, the presentation of the meal was seriously next level. Check out the photo below.

By comparison Rachael’s humble cream cheese bagel with bacon and avocado did not quite look as Instagram ready, however, it was tasty and did not require a chainsaw to cut through the bagel. Always a good sign!

What this cafe lacked in menu choice it definitely made up in flavour.

Luckily we had arrived very early, as near the end of our breakfast the little shop began to fill with locals after a fresh baked specialty bread, quick cuppa to go or a tasty morsel from the cabinet.

There is lots to love in this quirky little cafe. The longer you sit and take in your surroundings, the more you see the little special touches – from magazines on wall mounted clipboards, to mini shelves of Besty relish, bags and t shirts.

While not strictly part of the Betsy cafe, we do think it’s fair to mention the seriously impressive Pohutukawa tree across the road. It’s absolutely stunning, and does add to the old school beachy vibe of Island Bay.

Putting all factors together we would describe little Besty as the jandal wearing, diamond dripping, Megan Markle of the Wellington cafe world.

OVERALL SCORE: 4 stars

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Prefab Cafe

Jessie Street Wellington

Well, this is post number 41 if my numeracy skills are correct which means we are closer to the end than the beginning of our blogging journey. We have mixed feelings as we discuss the impending anniversary and we wonder if we should go large on our final post. Perhaps we can be like Game of Thrones and make the final episode one our readers won’t forget! Or then again…maybe we could just remind ourselves these are amateurish cafe reviews with a handful of followers, most of whom will not even realise when they just stop after number 52. *sigh*

Anyway…on to this weeks review. Thanks to Lucy, we’re off to Prefab cafe in Jessie Street central Wellington. Oddly, when we drive by there’s no large sign outside indicating we have arrived and if it wasn’t for Siri announcing “Your destination is on the right.” we may have driven right past. The street is narrow and we’re fortunate to find a park about 100m away. We can’t imagine everyone would be so lucky so be prepared to drive round the block a few times or locate a parking building during peak times.

Once inside we quickly realise this is THE place to come if you enjoy inner city living with all the trappings. The place is PACKED! However, a lovely waitress who reminds me somewhat of Polly Gillespie soon has us seated at one end of a table for four while Sue Heck’s twin and a friend are at the other end. (Google images Sue Heck) We arrange our table accoutrements to delineate our half and we sneak up to the cabinet to see what’s on offer. It looks promising.

We’re not left on our own for very long before orders are taken and whisked off to the kitchen where Andre espies a chef who bears a striking resemblance to David Beckham. We muse over whether it might actually be DB but quickly put that aside as our food and drinks all arrive in a timely fashion.

Rachael takes one for the team and tucks into a scrambled eggs on toast (eye roll from Andre), while his lordship orders up the mushroom with poached egg.

At the same time, our cabinet selections make their way to our table. Rachael a highly recommended custard donut and Andre an almond croissant. Both of these turned out to be the highlight of the meal.

As we eat, we glance at the door and notice the queue is right back to the footpath. Some of these people are in for quite a wait…it’s probably worth it.

All up, we enjoyed our visit to Prefab. We recommend it’s highly efficient and friendly staff, good food and clean plus modern interior. There’s free wifi and orders were quickly delivered. There’s a lot of positive things to say about this cafe and yet…we can’t help but feel it’s too efficient, too dynamic almost to be enjoyable. The food was great quality and yet not memorable. Given how busy it was, it felt almost impolite to linger when others were waiting to come in. This cafe in some ways is almost a victim of its own success. If you’re looking for relaxed and quirky…this isn’t the cafe for you. A well deserved 4 stars.

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Cafe on Guthrie Street

Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt

There’s no back story this week behind our pick of Cafe on Guthrie Street. Rachael asks Andre, “Where to this week *GOAT?” and the GOAT replies “How bout the cafe next to Waiwhetu marae?” We lock it in and head off!

First impressions are promising. The building itself clearly had a former life as a neighbourhood house, but it’s been a cafe for as long as we can remember. There’s a pleasant outside seating area at the front and we’re tempted to sit there as it’s a nice day but we want to experience the ambience and the only way to do that is to sit inside, plus there’s more to take photos of.

The reception is friendly and we glance in the cabinet but decide to pass as nothing looks overly tempting. We take a menu to a central table in an adjoining room to the counter and begin to peruse. Rachael points out that there’s dutch chips on offer at which Andre becomes extremely animated! (for those of you who have never met Andre, “animated” means he raised an eyebrow and said “Really? That’s cool.”)

Once the excitement passes and everything returns to normal, it’s a Belgian waffle for Andre and a Smashed Avocado Bagel for Rach. We decide to share a plate of dutch fries. While we wait, Andre regales (read bores) Rach with his stories of eating dutch fries (called friet) while in Holland. He makes bold claims that she’s “in for a treat with the friet!” Only he laughs.

Our food arrives in good time accompanied by a flat white and an EBT. The fries certainly look the part! Golden brown with lashings of mayonnaise and interestingly, a mild curry gravy, with finely chopped red onion pebbled over the top. We tuck in.

We both agree the dutch fries are certainly delicious although to Andre’s seasoned taste buds, the mayonnaise juuuust misses the mark. It’s a kiwi brand and although not unpleasant Andre swears the “real dutch stuff” is unmistakable and next level. Don’t be put off ordering them though folks as you won’t be disappointed.

Rach gives her bagel the thumbs up and Andre enjoys his waffle although it’s not quite the standard of some as the waffle itself is pretty stoggy. The accompanying cream and liquid chocolate is on point however and helps everything to glide down as it should.

After a quick conflab, we decide to award 4 stars to Cafe on Guthrie. Rach was tempted to go 5 but as we were ordering at the counter she noticed the chef lick his fingers while preparing a dish and while this must happen in most kitchens, we prefer it if we were kept blissfully ignorant of what happens at the grill.

*There’s some debate about the accuracy of this conversation as memories have become somewhat hazy. For those of you unfamiliar with the GOAT acronym it means Greatest Of All Time.

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Cafe 6

Raumati

With Christmas a dim and distant memory and the last of the trifle finally eaten for breakfast, our discussion soon turned to the next cafe to be reviewed. We were aware this is to be the final review for 2019, and wanted to make it a fitting experience for the occasion.

Deciding that this review should be something spectacular, we decided to treat ourselves to high tea at the Bolton Hotel. This is a special place to the pair of us, as we held our wedding knees up there almost 13 years ago. We have fond memories of this day, and minus the hundred guests thought we might like to head back and reminisce!

The day arrives and fancy gladrags, high heels and lippy are carefully selected for this exciting event. (Rachael pulled out a few fancy threads too).
We decided to leave early to beat the Wellington crowds – an hour and a half early in fact (excitement levels may have gotten the better of us – nothing like the promise of a cucumber sandwich with the crusts cut off to get us moving out the door).

We arrive at our venue, accidently drive up a down ramp in the parking building and make our way into the reception area. After sitting in the atrium for about 15 minutes, one of the hotel staff brave their way over to us and politely ask if they could be of assistance. Actually, why yes you can! We have a booking for high tea we proclaim. “A booking for Astoria” asked the hostess? “No” replies Andre – “a booking for Kneepkens”. The hostess looks rightly confused, as Rachael quickly explains the hotel cafe is called Astoria and yes – we have a booking for Kneepkens.

All is going well until the hostess announces we are not actually booked for high tea and that the ‘link on their website must be playing up’. Ah – ok. A bit like telling your kids Mr Whippy has run out of ice cream when the music plays. All three of us smell a bit of BS here but being the upmarket establishment it is we all play along.

Deciding not to waste the lippy and the squirt of Andre’s good aftershave he had diligently applied earlier, we decided to take our leave and look for a Plan B.

Plan B… this took us a little further North (or is it South? If you’re driving in a straight line you will end up in Auckland, so make of that what you will) to the funky little beach town of Raumati.

We end up at Cafe 6, a cute little cafe with an outdoor seating area and an indoor garden. We are impressed with the friendly waitress that greets us at the door, and love the happy vibe this cafe offers.

There is a small selection in the cabinet, including the most divine looking slice of chocolate cake we ever did see! Neither of us are big fans of the humble choccy cake, but this one looked too delicious to overlook.

We found a seat by the window and had a good view of the locals wandering past with their kids, dogs and pimped up mobility scooters (it is a retirement town after all).

The menus were printed on little booklets and even came with little samples of food stuck to the inside cover, if you’d like to try before you buy. Rachael does not!

Coffees and teas were ordered along with bacon and eggs (yet again) and black pudding and eggs. The food arrived quickly and was well presented. While there was nothing wrong with our brunch, it was best described as adequate. The chocolate cake however, tasted amazing, and it was pure genius that Rachael ate half the slice before her eggs arrived, as this counteracted the offensive alfalfa sprouts adorning the main meal!

We both agree while the food was lacking in excitement or imagination, the little town of Raumati is certainly a desirable little spot to pop into for a coffee and a cake. There is a cute boutique shop called The Frock Shop just around the corner from Cafe 6. Ladies – why not set your husbands up with a takeaway coffee on a wooden seat overlooking the ocean, while you look after their credit card. If you ever needed a reason to stock up on the latest Augustine couture, visiting Raumati could be it!

OVERALL SCORE: 3 stars (feeling generous this week).

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GROUND UP CAFE – Pauatahanui

Heading north this week to the semi tropical Pauatahanui inlet, we stop in at the Ground Up Cafe right next door to the Transmission Gully road works. What was once a sleepy backwater is currently a hive of construction with every second vehicle seemingly involved with the roading project.

The on street parking is limited but if you’re not lucky enough to grab one right outside don’t be deterred…there’s plenty of parking round the back, just pull into the driveway on the southern side of the building.

First impressions as we step through the door are good. There’s a nice vibe going on and we quickly notice the staff are young and mainly male. In fact one lad barely seems more that 12 but he’s doing a good job clearing tables and delivering coffee.

There’s enticing food in the cabinet and the menu on the board looks standard with a lunch menu and an all day breakfast available. If the BLAT is “nacho jam” then maybe the English breakfast might be more your cup of tea. (sorry about that folks…a literary power surge. Hopefully won’t happen again!)

As we’re not sufficiently ravenous to both order a full meal, we settle for tea, coffee, a couple of slices and Andre slips in a chicken filo. Rach opts for her ever favourite caramel slice and big Dre is into something called a Monkey Chew. Everything arrives quickly and turns out to be amazing! Andre raves on about how the top of his slice has a layer of whole cashews and he’s a BIG fan of cashews!

After 30 minutes or so of enjoying the cafe ambience we decide to check out the wildlife reserve directly behind the cafe. The entrance is a couple of hundred meters south and it turns out to be a hidden gem! It’s a nice way to walk of the extra kilojoules we’ve taken on board.

All said and done, the cafe’s pleasant and functional. There’s no free wifi but it’s not a deal breaker. We can thoroughly recommend the selection of home baked treats for sale at the counter as Andre purchased and approved the shortbread…another weakness of his.

The staff are friendly and in a rare move, swung by our table twice to clear plates as we finished with them. Well done! As we both didn’t partake in a full meal it’s difficult for one of us to judge how tasty it would have been, so in all fairness we can only present up to 3 stars today and that’s what we’re giving it. It’s a cafe that does what you’d expect, but without the frills.

Andre’s Highlight: The monkey chew slice.

Rachael’s Highlight: Teapot poured well.

As it’s a few days before christmas Rachael and Andre would like to take a moment to wish all our loyal readers a safe and happy festive season. We both hope you’ve enjoyed following our journey throughout much of 2019 and that you’re looking forward to more reviews in 2020.

Rating: 3 stars

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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