I came here with my partner while on a road trip from Auckland. We were meant to visit Waihi beach, but it was raining and it was boxing day. Cafe Strata was one of the few cafes open in Waihi, so we went in for a hot coffee and a warm meal after spending the night freezing our butts off in a tent.
The owner and his wife were running the place (with no additional help, though it was quite busy). I'm not sure if that is normal or if they were giving their employees the day off due to the holiday. It took a while of standing in line - with one person in front of us - just to get our order in. I ordered a soy cappuccino and my partner ordered a glass of OJ. After browsing the meat-filled menu and seeing only one vegetarian option (eggs on toast), I asked if they had anything available for vegans. The guy behind the counter told me they have gluten free options (not quite the same, haha) but my partner, ever the quick thinker, asked if I could have toast with tomatoes and hash browns. The guy working there told me he could do that and charged me as a toast with jam. My boyfriend ordered eggs on toast, and our bill came to just over $23.
I got my soy cappuccino within about 5 mins of sitting down, but we had a very long wait from there on. It took about 30 mins to get our food (there was one cook in the back, the owners wife I'm assuming), and my boyfriends OJ came after we were almost finished with our food. I think the guy initially forgot about it, but it was a bit annoying since we asked about it when our food came and instead of just pouring it, the woman just told us that the guy would get it. Not a massive deal though.
All in all, it was a decent place to have a casual meal. There was nothing spectacular about it, and I would recommend to the owner to possibly hire help if it is that busy regularly, but other than that, I was very pleased at how accommodating they were for my vegan request and the brekky and latte were good! read more