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Aston Norwood

Kaitoke, Upper Hutt

Being the highly knowledgeable readers that you all are, you will all be familiar with all the greatest ‘Astons’ of our time… Aston Martin, Aston University, Aston Hotel, Aston Kutcher (ok – he’s an Ashton – that’s a minor detail). But have you heard of Aston Norwood Cafe and Garden Centre? If not – you need to! This little gem hidden in the middle of nowhere (Upper Hutt) is a delightful mixture of French cafe chic, good ole New Zealand hospitality and the international equivalent of liquid energy – good coffee!

We did a little internet research about this place before embarking on the 15 minute drive from home and it seems there are many reasons to visit. Why not book in for a round of clay shooting, high tea, a Middle Earth platter, feed the eels or just take some time to wander around the stunning gardens. You could even join the Upper Hutt Naturalist Society, and accompany them for a round of naked archery. It may sound like we made up this cheeky little claim, however, it is listed as a genuine activity on the Aston Norwood website!

We had a slight ulterior motive for our visit this week. We are on the hunt for a venue to host a surprise combined 21st party for Summer and 18th shin dig for Harry later in the year. You might think it a little odd that we are announcing our intentions of a ‘surprise’ party in a public blog, but the chances of either of them reading about it here are slimmer than getting them to empty the dishwasher without being asked. According to Summer this blog has ‘too many words’, and according to Harry ‘it’s just lame’.

However…

We were genuinely enchanted with Aston Norwood as soon as we stepped out of our car and into the car park. It was well sign posted and cute little decorations around the door made for a warm welcome.

Inside the cafe we were impressed with the shabby chic, french interior design. The counter food looked tempting (Rachael is easily tempted though, so a slice of cake is a given). We settled on eggs montreal for Andre and scrambled eggs for Rachael. A flat white and an English breakfast tea, with a chocolate cake to share completed our order. The young lass at the counter asked if we would like our cake before or after our breakfast, while Rachael laughed hysterically. Seriously – who eats cake AFTER breakfast?

Our food all arrives as expected and we are halfway through our meal. All is going well and we are both impressed. A five star score is on the tip of our tongue, when Rachael happens to glance over at Andre’s meal and notice it looks a bit bland and could use something a little saucy to jazz it up. Actually now we look a little closer it seems the meal has been sent out without the hollandaise sauce! Hmmmm….. While not too big a deal the ingrained educators in us liken it to a school newsletter being sent home without being proofread. Not an actual disaster but a little sloppy in practice! It’s not a big deal, however, and the delicious parmesan hash brown on the side more than makes up for the oversight.

One thing we liked about Aston Norwood are the many different rooms and activities on offer. Just off the room we were sitting in was a stunning ballroom with a sweeping staircase, large chandeliers and bar. Apologies for the poor quality photo below. This required a belly slide past the front counter and a cheeky sneak through a closed door – sheesh the paparazzi have it hard!

The real gem of this cafe is definitely the gardens. They are absolutely stunning, and would be the perfect setting for a wedding (or combined 21st / 18th birthday).

Nothing we write will be able to describe the gardens better than the pics below, so we will let the photos themselves do the hard work for us:

We are excitedly awaiting a visit from Andre’s family from Holland later in the year and everytime we visit a cafe we asking ‘would we bring overseas visitors here?’. This cafe currently sits near the top of our ‘yes’ list and we both agree it is a must visit venue if you’re a local.

OVERALL SCORE: 4 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

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Astoria

Lambton Quay, Wellington CBD

As we slide into this Sunday with both the 1 December, and the beginning of the silly season colliding at the same time, we decided to outsmart the helpful folk who decided it would be a good idea to kick off the first of the month with the annual Upper Hutt Christmas Parade. Having seen the road closure signs earlier in the week, we agreed to avoid the Upper Hutt area for this review, and head in the opposite direction. Had we known how the day was about to unfold, watching grown men prance the main street wearing tights, with giant sacks (of lollies!!) may have been a better option!

As usual, Saturday night had rolled around and conversation turned to where to brunch the following day. We agreed up until this weekend we have carefully avoided the Wellington CBD, but maybe now we were up for the challenge. It was decided that we would get up early, catch the train into town and walk along Lambton Quay, stopping at a suitable place to eat.

In typical Kneepkens fashion, nothing ever goes to plan, and the first hurdle was the pounding rain lashing our windows when we woke up. Rachael, who had already planned her ‘Wellington outfit’, which included silver glitter sandals was not keen to continue the previous nights arrangements. Andre, however, making a quick wardrobe adjustment to his outfit (removed his socks and just wore the jandals) deciding to press on and give it a go anyway.

There was a slight flurry as we realised we would need cash to catch the train ($15 per adult return – Silverstream to Wellington Station), we were also not too clued up about where the nearest money machine is located (some might say we are just not clued up). We hoped our local petrol station might have a machine, and as luck would have it…it didn’t! Forced to make a purchase in order to withdraw some cash it was a toss up between caramel bliss balls or a steak and cheese pie. Rachael was tasked with this small job, so cherry flavoured lip gloss it was!

Ok… you’re probably thinking four paragraphs in and we still haven’t hit the cafe of choice. That would be because as we waited on the platform at Silverstream Station we were informed by a local in the know, that there was actually a train replacement bus, and we would need to go across the road and wait. As we watched a bus hurtling around the corner, heading towards us, our jaws slackened in shock. There is nothing quite like a neon sign claiming ‘Choo choo, I’m a train’ to really make you question the intelligence of the human race! Despite our reservations of stepping on a train dressed in as bus, we did, against better judgement. If you know us well, you will know Andre was happy with this arrangement, as it meant free parking, and Rachael was not, as it meant a 45 minute ride in a sealed container of germs.

The first cafe we came across on Lambton Quay (about a five minute walk from the station), was Astoria. We have been there a couple of times before and Andre is pretty partial to their black pudding dish. As we were starving, and Andre was claiming his stomach was eating itself to survive, we decided to stop here and refuel.

We were greeted at the door by a friendly waitress (please wait to be seated), and guided to a table for two (the guiding was needed as the lighting is so low it is almost a health and safety risk). We were handed a menu on a clipboard, so old and dirty it might as well have been a public library book. The tired silk flower and wobbly table leg were clearly early indicators that this previously well respected establishment has seriously gone downhill.

We were a little curious about the giant coffee machine plonked in the middle of the room, and wondered if it was possibly a strategic move to replace the lack of paying patrons?

The menu was limited and the cabinet food even more limited-er (not a real word but couldn’t think of a better one).
The best way to describe the cabinet food is to show you the pic (below).

We decided the food would most definitely be better than the decor, but interestingly it turned out to be equally as bland. To be fair, Andre’s garlic mushrooms with poached egg on ciabatta was adequate (we know he’s a soft marker) but Rachael’s bacon and eggs were less desirable (perhaps she should have egg-nored them and chosen something else).

Another couple of interesting points – our pot of tea took almost 15 minutes to arrive, and was delivered well after the food had arrived. Rachael’s meal arrived several minutes before Andre’s, so if you’re old school and waiting for the other person to start eating, you’re going to have to weigh up whether cold eggs is worse that bad manners – we’re not eggs-aggerating!

If you’re planning to come to Astoria to eat your feelings, or indulge in a decent sweet treat…don’t!

About the only thing going for this cafe at the moment is that they serve alcoholic drinks for breakfast, and that it is right next door to David Jones, where you swap your Astoria sized disappointment for a decent slice of carrot cake.

OVERALL SCORE: 2 stars

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The Great Wellington To Napier Road Trip!

McCauley’s Store Cafe (Otane) and Ahuriri Village Kitchen (Napier)

This week folks you’re in for a real treat…a double banger where two cafe’s go head to head to see who will take the title of…aaah… ok you got me! There’s no competition as such but there almost could have been as Rachael and Andre have driven nearly 800 km in search of the perfect cafe experience. Honestly, the lengths we’ll go to! For our overseas readers I’ve included a Google earth image to give you some idea of where Napier, our destination is.

Our first cafe, McCauley’s store is at a small place called Otane about 60 km south of Napier itself. There’s a slight detour off State highway 2 and with fuss so minimal you’ll hardly have noticed, you’ve driven through a time portal and entered a decade before even Andre was born. To give you some idea…here’s a picture of their “main street”…

Wow! I bet that place goes off on a Saturday night! But of course this isn’t a blog about townships so on to the cafe itself. When I say we pretty much had the place to ourselves I’m not exaggerating…we were the only customers! The lady behind the counter looked pleased to see us and we promptly ordered tea and toasted sandwiches. Andre had “the works” while Rachael was slightly more specific with cheese and onion. The cabinet food was sparse which isn’t surprising given the likely turnover of customers at this time of year.

What the cafe lacked in customers it more than made up for in atmosphere. For the more senior reader McCauleys is a cafe with its roots firmly planted in the “tearooms” of yesteryear. It’s almost like dining in a museum and we highly recommend it as a refreshment stop before the final push into Napier about 40 minutes drive further North. Do be careful though as driving due East from Otane will most likely take you over the edge of the world!

Final score 3 stars.

So in case you think we’re completely bonkers, I have to point out that we didn’t really drive all that way just to visit a cafe. Our mission was one far more grand! Rachael the athlete, is part of a team competing in the Maori Ironman challenge in November, in Napier. We thought it prudent to clap eyes on the the cycle course before the event, so she’s aware of what’s ahead, and can tweak her training regime accordingly, so as to peak on the day and blitz the field. (That reminds me…we need to get her bike serviced as the gears don’t work, but as she keeps asking “How important are gears?”)

After our arrival we settled into a hotel in Ahuriri which is the old port area of Napier. I won’t bore you with details of our wild night watching TV doco’s about Air Crash Investigations and Fatberg Autopsy (did you know they are made up of 90 percent cooking oil?) At one point Andre really let his hair down and had a perk coffee and a bag of popcorn!

After a wicked night as I’ve just described, we find ourselves at dawn(9:00am) entering the Ahuriri Village Kitchen. Andre stands by the cabinet staring in and shouting “Broccoli! Cauliflower! Broccoli! Cauliflower!” finally attracting the attention of the lady behind the counter. Rachael apologises on their behalf and whispers to her…”Sorry about that…he suffers from florets.”

Eventually we’re settled at a table by the window and the most delicious scrambled and poached eggs make their way to us. The accompanying milk jugette (I may have invented a word there) looks cute but it’s pouring qualities leave a lot to be desired and Rachael rescues the situation mopping up with her serviette.

We really enjoy our breakfast dining experience and notice the cafe, as well as a fabulous setting across from the beach, offers a few extras like being dog friendly and having a supply of hats and blankets available for those who wish to sit outside in all weathers. The staff are courteous and attentive and there’s lots of laughter which makes for a great way to start the day on a positive note.

We decide to award this cafe a well deserved 5 stars.