Sandwiches, filled rolls, buns and the like are one of my favourite things. Yes ok ok I do like…read morefood in general (ain't no hiding that fact now), but a good basic lunch can be a very rare beast, or non-beast as is my usual dilemma. As someone who doesn't really eat meat, there's nothing more irritating than running in somewhere to grab a bite when you're starving and being faced with sad little plastic cupboards with sad little plastic wedges of what can only loosely be referred to as sandwiches. White bread, processed meat, not much else. Got vegetarian you ask. Yes, stale white bread cheese and onion. Well I like keeping it real, especially when it comes to food, fuck you very much. Deep breath. The Bread Winner Bakery would never stock anything like the above and I would never need to swear at the lovely people who run it. The vege quiches are super yummy without the sickly over-egginess that most lunchbar quiches have. We often grab pies and savouries for a weekend treat but my very best favourite to go with my Nippy's Iced Coffee (the iced coffee again) is a filled Tuna Bun. They will even usually make you one if they have run out, which they do because the Tuna always seems to go first. Another thing that is really cool about this place is that you can buy a ready-made cake and pretend you baked it yourself. Not that I would ever do such a thing.... Chocolate Log or Banana Cake are $10 and you can even get a Cream Cheese Iced Red Velvet for $22. There are all the usual gorgeous gooey slices and treats as well as some I haven't seen anywhere else, and for my money this is the best of the basic lunchbars. So much so I will even make a special trip to come here rather than waste my time trying other places. Love your work.

Came here the other day whilst shopping in Mt Eden, but were a little disappointed by the quality…read more I got what was labelled as a "pork pastie" - I've been missing Australian pasties like anything since I got to NZ, and I was excited that I finally found somewhere that had them. Unfortunately, it wasn't very nice - not very hot, and it didn't taste very nice. Not at all like I was expecting. They did have a nice looking cake and pastry section, however, and the woman who served us was quite friendly. No coffee, though, so if you're looking for a nice flat white with your pie, you'll have to go elsewhere.

Pies: excellent. Slices: excellent. Quiches: sub-par, I'm afraid. Something in the texture just…read moredidn't sit right with me. Those are all the things I've tried from here, but we can extrapolate from this data and assume that most of the food here is pretty good. Oh, also I've had the bread, and it was good. So yeah, not a bad average, I think. This place does a good trade over the weekend and after school (try and avoid this period as the tiny place fills up with hulking, shouty teenagers all clamouring for pies), but if you go mid-morning or around lunchtime it's usually not too busy. The staff are friendly, the food is good, it's worth going if you like bakery food. Highlight: steak curry pie. Lowlight: still the quiche, I'm afraid.

OK now I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is one of the best mom & pop bakeries…read morethis side of Auckland. The Boston Bakery (for which I have no idea why it is named after a city in the States!), is quite unassuming and from the outside isn't very distinguishable from any other old school bakery. Except that first of all the family that run it are the loveliest people and if you're lucky their little super adorable daughter will run the EFTPOS machine for your purchase. They also cherish their regulars; for example my partner used to be a regular and then moved overseas for 3 years and they still remembered her after all that time! And then there's the pies, oh sweet sweet delicious heaven-sent morsels of delight! They have the standard fare which drive a hard bargain at $3.60, but then they also have 'fancy' pies for $4.20 which include rockstar gems like Steak, Mushroom, Bacon and Cheese, or Chicken, Camembert and Cranberry, or Steak and Kumara, or Butter Chicken and Broccoli. My personal favs are the first 2 aforementioned pies and I really have to discipline myself as I have to walk past the Boston Bakery twice a day, 5 days a week. If you are in Mt Albert and need to fill the gap, swoop up one of these hand-made with love treats.

I've been contemplating giving it a 5 star review. You see, when I love the particular food I had…read morethat day I seem to ignore everything else, then a few more visits later my enthusiasm subsides and I found myself often disappointed. So for some of my past reviews I've even considered to deduct stars off. Now that is not to say I didn't enjoy my meal here, I've loved the food every single time, it's just that there are a few bits and pieces that made me reluctant to give a full 5 stars. I've always enjoyed their sandwiches. While they come in quite on the expensive side, I find them worth the price. My French toast this morning was $19.50 (or $19), probably not for the faint of heart. The raspberry/custard was gorgeous, which to me more than justifies the price, it is winter after all. Here's why there's no five stars. First off, please please please get your cutleries sorted!!! I think I can cut my French toast better if I used the handle of the knife. The first knife I got was super obviously bent at the tip, about 45 degrees bent! Service, just as others pointed out, needs some quality control. I can try to justify your price as much as I can but dining in just isn't that great, and while your food is great, everything else is, well, meh. So on the basis of "I value good food more than anything", it's a 4 stars UPDATE: Service has improved since my last visit. It was a busy lunch but we still got taken care of :)

For a Gluten Free Gal such as myself it's a strange kind of torture as you smell the bread baking…read moreknowing you'll never have so much as a kibble. But I keep a tight rein on the will to live enjoying the homemade hot chocolate. They don't have a lot in the huge range of goodie for my tummy but the bunt cake with raspberries and the chocolate and beetroot cake are rather delightful. I here the coffee is great too. Not cheap but great quality and I know what I prefer.

Ok y'all. We are from LA and were starving for some deliciousness. When you walk in, there are…read morethings coming out the oven- warm displays of fresh pastries and sweets and a coffee bar to the left. And it smells LIKE HEAVEN. It's toasty and the selections of things are incredible. We got lots of things I cannot pronounce or attempt to spell,but they consisted of : the croque monsieur, almond croissant, cheesy bread, croissant with onions and nuts and cheese(yes and it's SO GOOD). If you're looking for a go to, quick breakfast, and a delicious latte. The prices are great and the lady owning it was super sweet. GO, don't wait.

Now I'm no connoisseur of French baked goods, but this place is a definite pleaser. Someone brought…read morehome an olive bread from La Voie Francaise that got me hooked, so I decided to have a late morning pastry feast of my own. A raspberry chocolate croissant, a chocolate brioche, and a canele topped my plate. The canele was my highlight, crispy and sweet on the outside and gooey on the inside. The brioche was freshly warm and soft but not too rich. The croissant was on the verge, somewhat stale around the edges but still enjoyable. The ups: these pastries and the olive bread were delicious. Prices are very reasonable too, only $10 all up for the three sweets. La Voie Francaise also boasts an inviting atmosphere that's relaxing but well kempt. The downs: I'm not convinced by these tastings that La Voie is all the rage, but that's probably just because I've been spoiled by the French market in Parnell. I'll be back for a croque monsieur at some stage, maybe my mind will change.

As Kingsland quickly plunges into the bloated ranks of 'trendy' suburbs like Ponsonby and…read moreNewmarket, it's shedding all its real businesses in favour of yet more overpriced restaurants and faux-dive bars. Luckily it clings to legitimacy with businesses like this - good, honest, unfashionable things like dairies and bakeries. Kingsland Bakery does real bakery things at real bakery prices - steak and cheese pies without a hint of fennel or gluten-freeness, and for less than eight bucks or whatever it is you'd pay at the Fridge these days. As with all bakeries I do the one savoury, one sweet combo here. I recommend either a pie or a chicken filled roll, followed by a ginger crunch for dessert.

There's nothing better than a good shitty bakery, and the Kingsland Bakery is one of those gems…read morethat I hope stays around for a long time. Get fat on one of their cheap, massive pies that have real flavours like mince and cheese, steak and cheese, just steak, and all those other classic real bakery flavours. Get fatter with some sort of slice (or a mixture of slices and cut them up into bite-sized pieces; ahhh, platter). Or, you can pretend be healthy and get an oversized roll on white bread (no gluten free crap here, sorry hipsters) with a can of coke, and you've got your Sunday sorted.

Ooooh. I love Baker's Delight. Okay, I lie. The only thing I ever buy from Baker's Delight is a…read morecheesymite. If you haven't had a cheesymite, this will be the reason you feel empty inside. No matter what Baker's Delight you go to, their cheesymites are always perfectly made, there's always heaps of them, and they are always delicious. When I lived in Morningside I would come up to the Dominion Road Baker's Delight quite often, and I always had a good experience. The staff were friendly and understood the importance of a cheesymite. The store was always clean and they always displayed their cheesymites well. They have a good selection of fresh breads and they are all reasonably priced; a cheesymite will set you back about $3. Yummy.

I believe Wild Wheat has a few stores around Auckland, with the Mt Eden store being my local. Known…read morefor selling a range of artisan bread loaves, they also offer handmade sandwiches on their delicious pide along with a few other deli items. For a delicious quick bite, we grabbed a couple of sandwiches, one beef and one chicken. The filling options are quite the generic such as chicken, beef, ham and vegetarian but lets be honest, those are the fillings that suit most. They were great for something light and had a delicious chutney or tomato jam. Its good if you are being health conscious or just not a fan of mayo like myself. They aren't anything fancy but a sandwich can make or break based on the bread it's served on - the fresh pide just makes it. If you're just looking for that loaf of bread to dip with in that extra gravy at dinner, or to make that delicious home made garlic bread, grab one of the many loaves they have on to offer. Its only a small store so I would recommend just grabbing anything takeaway. Rating Food: 7.5/10 Service: 9/10 Value for Money: Good 813 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden Opening Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-5pm Sat-Sun 7am-4pm

Hi I'm Mary and I love kumara…read more So you can imagine my excitement when I strolled into Wild Wheat one day and saw they do a kumara sourdough. I purchased a small loaf to take along to a barbecue and it went down a treat! Wild Wheat is award winning and the kumara sourdough was judged best bread in the country at the 2012 NZ Food Awards. No big deal! At Wild Wheat you can not only get loaves of bread, but also individual bread rolls (including mini burger buns, cute), pies, meringues, slices and award winning hot cross buns for Easter.

First thing's first: cannoli. The whole idea of a sweet cream filling stuffed into a crispy pastry…read moreshell and dusted with a little icing sugar is exciting. Now I suggest you make haste to La Bottega Bakery. Located among the many eateries on the main street of Kingsland, La Bottega prides itself in making authentic Italian pastries. They also serve a short brunch menu during the weekend. We arrived on a Saturday afternoon, and the place was relatively full, which I take as a good sign. The guy behind the counter introduced us to their range of Italian goods. To be honest, he had me at cannoli, but managed to persuade me to try some others. If you like cannoli, you'd like the sfoglie as well - crispy puff pastry with a mildly sweet ricotta and honey centre. The almond bread roll (totally forgotten its Italian name) was their special of the day, but I didn't find anything too special about it. Clearly I was more interested in the dessert cabinet treats, but my dining companion also tucked into a plate of eggs benedict with bacon and spinach. Apparently it was average tasting at an above average price ($16.50). I wish we had read the reviews beforehand because so many good things have been said about the Caprese eggs benny! The décor is also worthy of mention. It's white and chic, and there is a rusty ol' bike hanging above the modern glass display cabinet. The place itself is quaint with limited seating options, but there are some tables in the airy, covered courtyard. La Bottega is Auckland's little dose of Italy. I'll be back again and again for their cannoli.

My friend and I visited this wonderful new bakery-come-café in Kingsland last week - what a…read morefantastic find! We had cannoli and sfoglie, which were both delicious, and the coffee was superb... matched by the friendly and attentive staff - will definitely be visiting again.

This is a great bakery because of its variety…read more They have a great selection of yummy filled rolls with an awesome variety of fillings. My favourite is the Vietnamese filled roll & when you toast it .. It's yummy warm & crunchy. Their savoury & sweet muffins are a generous size. I haven't tasted them all but again there is a great variety. My favourite is the spinach feta muffin. Also have of course pies, sausage rolls etc though I haven't tasted them & a great choice of pastas & noodles. The history of this place was that it was a bakery bread factory. So they bake all their yummy breads. They have a great selection of special variety breads. They still make large toasties good old favourite. They also have lovely variety of cakes .. Beautifully decorated. Although I have tasted them I've gotten an idea by the mini versions of sweet muffins. All in all I've rated a 4 because of the wide variety of selection of bakery food.

Today we went to the Bakers Cottage for the second time. Last week when we went there we thought it…read morewas really good, my partner and I each had a sub and a danish. The subs were fresh and the danish was delicious. However, this time we had a pretty terrible experience. First off, I needed to go to the loo when we arrived and yuck, it was gross. Everything was dusty and unclean and they didn't even have any hand soap! But luckily they had hand sanitiser instead. Then we ordered. I got a coffee, fruit salad and a quiche, my partner got a coffee, salami sub and a danish. Let's start with the good; the coffee was really nice (Altura coffee.. mmmm...) and so was the danish and the sub. But what I ordered was horrible. The fruit salad was rancid, it was actually fizzy like it had fermented and it was revolting. The quiche wasn't much better. It had no flavour and was really weirdly gelatinous. When I took the fruit salad back they didn't offer any apology or a refund but when I asked for a refund they were happy to oblige. I don't think we will go back here, or if we do it'll only be for the coffee.

I just had the most amazing bacon and egg quiche from Penny Lanes Bakery. I never write food…read morereviews but this quiche blew me away. This is the best quiche I have ever and probably will ever have in my life. When your not eating this quiche, your thinking about eating it.

So when they told us we to go try some award winning pies, I was thinking of dessert. Apple, peach,…read moreberries, pumpkin kind of pie. Well, steak pies are more like it in New Zealand. They even sell steak pies at the McDonald's there! This little gem bakery sells a large selection of different pies, donuts, baked goods, sandwich, and other delicious goody!! Their food is delicious and fresh. They have won many awards for a number of their pies. Also, their apple pie was to die for. Pricing is fair and the portion is filling. The owners were really nice and friendly. And of course their coffee was amazing! Ever want some good pies, I recommend making the trip here!