This was a delicious breakfast. The whipped yoghurt was amazing. The fluffy, airy sweetness was so…read moregood and the granola was also great. Fresh and crunchy with sweet stone fruits on top. The sourdough and eggs were great as well. I personally don't like parsley garnish so I didn't enjoy that on the egg as much but everything else was fantastic. Tomatoes were really juicy. Everything just tasted super fresh and of great quality.

we loved everything about this restaurant when we had dinner there. so much so that we went back…read morefor breakfast a day later! All the people there are friendly and efficient. The seating is comfortable. Go here.

As I was driving through Royal Oak this morning all of a sudden something caught my eye; a massive…read morepink 'Cake' sign! I had to stop! With gorgeous pink and lime green outdoor furniture outside, it was a shame it was blocked by a massive bus shelter. Inside was a cute little café that had lots of amazing looking cakes. Large cakes, medium cakes, cupcakes and mini cupcakes. They also had a selection of savoury items, also Allpress coffee on offer. On the back wall they had a large selection of items to purchase such as cake decorations, pre-made coloured fondant icing, cupcake holders, also coffee beans for sale. Here I purchased a carrot cupcake and a mini humming bird cupcake! Both of them were divine! I was very pleased with my choices. I was also swaying towards the rocky road cupcake as that looked yummy, so ill certainly have to go back. As I was paying for the cupcakes I also noticed they did catering. Perfect if you have a party or corporate function coming up. There is street parking in this area that all appeared to be free. Alternatively you could park in Royal Oak mall just across the road.

The Cake Stall is a boutique wee cake store located in the Royal Oak shopping centre…read more As soon as you walk in you feel like smiling - everything is pink, lime green and OTT - but in a good way! It's like a grown up's lolly store. Specialising in slices, cupcakes and fancy cakes, everything is pink pink pink and looks absolutely delicious. The Cake Stall also offer catering for special occasions and provide savoury food as well as their delectable sweet treats. The only slight negative that can be said about the Cake Stall is that there isn't a huge range of gluten free options available. Beautifully packaged bundles of biscuits and cakes are available to take away, or alternatively you can stop and enjoy a sweet treat and coffee on the premises. There is an outdoor area at the front of the store, though to be honest it's not the nicest place to sit being out on the street, so grab a beautiful decadent cake and head to Cornwall Park and enjoy it there! Tip: Edible decorations and the like are also for sale at the Cake Stall.

Carrington's is a really cool bar located in the heart of the Auckland Unitec campus. Though…read moreoriginally created for student use, Carrington's has flourished over the years and is now open to the general public too. With a full bar and pretty good range of food available, Carrington's is a great place to sit in the afternoon with friends and have a few drinks and something to eat. The chips are deliciously salty and crisp - I definitely recommend getting a bowl to share. The bar itself is pretty big, with a decent sized dance floor and plenty of seating inside, as well as a separate room which houses pool tables, and a newly renovated outdoor area. This set up of Carrington's makes it the perfect venue for 21st parties and the like; there's enough room to sit, gossip, dance, you can smoke outside, there's two bars (one in the new outdoor area), and the pool tables add a little bit of friendly competition to the party. Plus, it's hilarious watching your friends play when they're drunk! Tip: If you're a student at Unitec there are often deals on the food and drinks, so be sure to ask!

We had our wedding ceremony and reception here on March 8th 2014 and had an absolutely amazing…read moreexperience! The special events team were extremely polished in their service, presence and delivery, we loved every minute of our day with these guys! The venue is well organised to host events such as weddings or big parties and we found the food to be of outstanding quality and very reasonably priced. I recommend Carrington's Pumphouse to anyone considering having a special event 100%!!!

I had my first experience at Paper Moon just before Easter weekend and I loved it. We were a little…read moreearly for our reservation so my partner and I made the most of Mairangi Bay Beach being a stone's throw away. We had actually made the reservation while we were on the way there, and luckily we were able to secure a table. The person on the phone did ask if we were okay with being seated at the back of the restaurant, which was fine with us. As it turns out, the back of the restaurant was completely separate from the loud groups drinking at the front of the restaurant- added bonus! It wasn't particularly rowdy but it was nice to have dinner and be able to talk at a conversational volume. Our waitress was so lovely, she took great care of us and is the best waitress we've been served by in a long time (we left a tip, of course!). We were really impressed by her service, and my partner loved that she asked if we wanted a break between out entree and main (we definitely did, and had never been asked that before, at any restaurant). For our entree, we shared the tapas platter. This is seriously ideal if you're wanting to try a few things at a good price. We were treated with risotto balls (the best i've had!), deep fried camembert and other great treats- it was the perfect way to start a meal! The tapas combination changes everyday, which means you can try something a little different each time you visit. Our mains were excellent- the fish of the moment and the chicken burger. Both were excellent and perfectly cooked. Paper Moon provided one of the best meals I've had in a long time, and while it's a bit of a drive for me (living on the other side of Auckland), it's a great spot that's definitely worth the drive.

Went for breakfast and was persuaded to have the special - smashed avocado, which came accompanied…read morewith bacon, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. I requested crispy bacon and the hollandaise on the side. When the meal came out it was clear that the smashed avocado was not he star of the meal. Two slices of toast were the central focus with eggs and bacon slapped on the plate. The avocado was more of a blended purée in a small pile to the side of the plate. The bacon was undercooked (relative to my request). When asked how I found my meal I responded "pretty average". The waitress responded with "oh well everyone is different" and walked off. When I went to pay the bill I had the same waitress so said "the thing I didn't like was that the avocado was far from the being the star of the show and was purée baby food, the eggs were barely warm and the bacon wasn't crispy". She stopped me at that point to tell me the bill was $25.90. I paid, walked out and will not go back as they clearly don't care.

Smoothie Review…read more Smoothie: Fresh Blended Mango, Banana, Orange Juice, Apple Juice & Honey. Strong tastes of citrus with hints of banana and sweetness from the honey! + Fast and friendly service + Nice outdoor seating - Single item smoothie selection

this was a wonderful spot to stop for breakfast! The service was wonderful, ambience was fun and…read moreunique and the coffee was exquisite! Definitely would recommend.

Muy Bueno ! I've always wanted to eat here and have tried to in the past when their hours were…read morelet's say less than convenient. But it seems there are new owners who want you to enjoy the awesomeness Mexican food has to offer . This is no Tex-Mex joint where they make it in front of you a lá Mexicali fresh , this is the real deal ! Esse . I went for a prawn taco ( $15 spicy but nice ) and a chicken tostada . The prawn taco had capers and tiny small olives in it which was very surprising and the owner brought over some chilli lime dressing to try . This chilli lime dressing should be a pantry staple , it just gave everything a extra zing ! The tostada ( $10 )is a cold flat salad / crunchy almost taco like item it was good , but not as good as the prawn taco . There was a constant flow of people grabbing sauces and pickles that they sell and I loved the Mariachi music in the background . There's a blackboard menu on the wall and the photos that go with it are deceiving, so decide how hungry you are before you order . Arriba !! Taco ! Taco ! Vatos Locos Homes !

The first time I visited this little 'out of the way' café, I looked at it and wondered 'what was…read moremy friend thinking!?'(she suggested this eatery). It sits politely between a few shops in Ellerslie-ish, Auckland. It's not a handsome place, but it will surprise you. It sure did surprise me! After greeting my friend who sat alfresco awaiting my arrival, we joined what in a few minutes became a longer and impatient line of local professionals, each wanting to wolf down some of the fine food from this establishment. I have to say, this was a little strange. I observed the people joining the queue that eventually ended at the friendly female face at the counter. Nicely dressed professionals and such, entering a place that remained less than handsome on the inside as well. Hmm? My friend ordered and I swiftly followed, impressed by the calm demeanour of the woman that served us. She wasn't daunted by the growing queue. We returned to our table just outside the café. In roughly 15 mins, my friend received her order. Maybe another 5-10 mins, and my order arrived... Now, I won't go into details at this stage about the type of food we ordered and ate, but I will say, "Do not deprive yourselves of enjoying a meal at this little gem of a café". The food was fabulous! So good! So tasty! To say the café lacked any real style is no put down. You wouldn't want it here. You want good, honest, tasty food. This is what I got, and I have since returned for more. I'm surprised to read about the poor service had by others. That was NOT my experience. The service was and has since been attentive, and cheerful.

What amazing service! My sister and I were visiting from the States and didn't know where to find a…read moregluten free burger for her that evening. This was the few places open and they went and above and beyond to cook a bun free burger for her! (Which isn't a normal service they provide) We were beyond grateful to the employees who helped us. If you're looking for quality service and good old fashioned faith in humanity look no further than Ollie's.

When we moved to Greenlane we did a bit of exploring and Ollies caught my attention. Maybe it was…read morethe name or the big bold words burgers and ice cream subliminally triggering a desire for food or Its old school nostalgic welcoming charm of the exterior that reminded me of similar architecture from my childhood growing up in Jamaica. The one thing keeping us away was the traffic in that area especially since the parlor sits on the roundabout which made it seem like a daunting if not impossible task to get there by car much less finding a parking space. However we decided today was the day because we were tired of McDonald's soft serve and wanted real ice cream. So we had to figure this out. On the GPS next to Ollie's I saw a KFC so we knew there would be parking there, our strategy was to buy something, anything at KFC so we could park and hop over to Ollie's to see what they were all about. Luckily as we turned towards KFC there were a number of open parking spots directly in front of Ollie's main entrance. Inside was pretty much like we imagined, printed wall menus from an era pre led tv menus, red and white counters, red stools ,tables and a few arcade games in the back. The servers were friendly and quick to give out samples of the tip-top flavors and fill our order. They have a ton of flavors and interestingly they had a flavor named after my home country, Jamaican lime, so I had to give it a try, it tasted more like Florida keylime, but the name Jamaican Lime sounds much better. I eventually settled with a single waffle cone with cookies & cream and rum raisin, while the rest of the gang had Boysenberry, Kiwifruit Pavlova and Goody Gumdrops. All great flavors. To see the happy smiles and ice cream smeared across my kids faces was worth the trip.

Places like this one are hard to find and every parent of an under 5-year old child would probably…read morewish more cafes of this kind existed in Auckland. On the other hand, this is probably not a cafe to come to if you don't have younger kids to sip on a latte. Be warned, it can be quite loud in here! I probably come to Cafe Windsor (part of the Baptist Church next door) at least twice a month with my 1 year old girl and I always end up bumping into other mothers I know from somewhere (not a lot of dads around though). In general, it's a great place to meet and hang out with your coffee group and the little ones are catered for really well with changing tables, high chairs and a little indoor and outdoor playground. The whole front of the building can be opened up which is fantastic in good weather. The whole area is fully fenced so escapes won't happen. They also have a range of parenting books for sale and sometimes special events like clothes and toy markets are organised. Oh, and try the mixed berry smoothy which is well-priced for $5.50 I think.

If I'm wanting a decent conversation with my fellow mum friends, this is where we go. With fully…read morefenced surroundings and two separate play areas - the outdoor playground with shade covering - the kids can run free while us mums can actually talk. The food and service are both relatively good, although fairly standard fare. Of particular interest on our latest visit was an offering of a picnic plate kid's meal for $3.50 - a sandwich, fruit kebab and cheese cubes. It was definitely great to see a cheaper and more well-rounded option on the menu that standard kid meals of nuggets and chips. Would I return here without a child? Heck no. It's never going to be a peaceful way to spend a couple of hours with dozens of children rattling around. But Cafe Windsor has clearly seen a niche in the market and they have filled it well.

Verona has really long trading hours and is in a handy location, so I feel like everyone in…read moreAuckland ends up here at some stage, even if just for the convenience. It's a great venue with a rustic kind of feel, and it has a decent range of drinks and eats. Yet somehow I always feel like the Verona that's in my mind, and the Verona of reality, never quite meet up. It's because after every visit I seem to manage to block out the memory of the truly rustic service. I've always found it hard to get served - think long minutes standing at the bar and trying to catch the eye of staff who seem intent on ignoring you. Then when you finally get served (if you do - I have actually given up on occasion), you're made to feel like they're doing you a big favour by taking your money. The lack of service is a shame because Verona has so much potential.

I get this is one of those 'cool' hipster K Road eateries and that I'm supposed to shut up and…read moretotally buy into the whole area's pretentiousness but our maiden experience here was pretty freakin bad. Sorry I'm not sorry. My friend and I have experience in hospitality/fine dining which means we're simultaneously empathetic and super critical of wait staff and service at eateries. We wandered in after having a look at the menu which sounded incredible and sat down at a booth. A waitress came around and asked if we wanted to order any drinks so I ordered a red juice.. she comes back around fifteen minutes later and tells me their blender just broke so she can make me a green juice instead. No problem. We decide to order food this time, a three-bean ratatouille with rosemary polenta chips for me and a Miso Pretty salad with extra tofu for my friend and pudding for dessert. Another ten minutes later and the waitress tells me their smoothie maker thing has also broken so she can't make a green juice either. Ermmm okay then. Obviously I didn't bother ordering any other kind of beverage in case their whole kitchen fell apart in the process of making me a drink. Our meals arrived on silver plate-bowl things which some may either find QuiRkY/EthNic/insert your choice of pseudo-racist adjective, however they kinda gave us slight prison vibes. As for the food.. my three-bean ratatouille was bland bland bland. My friend was pretty annoyed at her salad.. three pieces of tofu, one leaf of kale and a bunch of cabbage for $16. The portions are pretty small too, I've seen entrées that are bigger. While we waited for our dessert to arrive the waitress comes back and tells us that she set our dessert aside for us only to return and find that another staff member had eaten it. Uhhhm? By that point we just wanted to leave but not before there was another mix-up with the payment (facepalm). I really don't give a crap if you think you're the cool place to be and have your own little DJ booth and Virginia Woolf quotes on the wall (whoopdy doo) but if you're that disorganized and your food looks and tastes like it came out of a children's cookbook then you sure aren't eating up any more of my money.