Food: tasty breakfast fare and inventive cold lunch dishes. Ordered the First Breakfast - standard…read moreEnglish breakfast with sweet sausages. The muesli yoghurt was amazing: sweet with just a hint of tart, excellent fruit preserves, and delightful muesli. Vegan grain mix: great mix of flavor and texture from the rice, nuts, raisin, and vegetables. The Chorizo + sweet potatoes: delicious, esp the NZ sweet potatoes. Service: excellent and prompt. The proprietress was great at suggesting options among her menu based on your activities. Atmosphere: cheerful little shop with different rooms flowing into each other: quaint cafe, small hobbit-themed backdrop, and the general store.

The nice place for quick lunch! Definitely play into the Lord of the Rings zeal in Matamata, but as…read morea fan myself I didn't mind it ;) Had a really good BLTA and would definitely recommend the blueberry smoothie!

I m not a vegan nor vegetarian. I love my meats to much. But to the true Buddhism faithfuls, a veg…read moreonly diet is the only way of life. The Buddhists are taught to refrain from taking life. So they can only ingest non animal products. I was paying my respect at the Fo Guang Shan temple. And the water drop is its own vegan cafe. I ordered the noodles and a couple of side dishes. To my surprise that it doesn't take like normal vegan food. It's not bland and it's good for you. Lol, I wish I can eat healthy like this everyday. Seriously though, if you are a vegan and you are in the area. Give the water drop a try. You might be pleasantly surprised.

This is an awesome eatery that is part of the Buddhist temple in Auckland. The food is fresh,…read morehealthful, an delicious. Their daily set menu is also a really good value--you get rice plus three or four accompaniments, usually with a mix a mock meats and veggies. The environs are also beautiful, calm, and inviting. I highly recommend this place.

Stop here all the time and the coffee is incredible. The 'Lemon Passionfruit Shortbread' and…read more'Caramel Meringue are beautiful and worth their price tag. Great halfway stop from Auckland to Tauranga (winning TVNZ Breakfast's Ultimate Stop Spot), suitable for Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch or Afternoon Tea. Vegan, Dairy-free and Vegetarian friendly with outstanding staff, definitely recommend.

This restaurant has a wonderful menu that includes many deli favorites. I was torn between the…read morejackfruit barbecue ribs and the croque monsieur. The barbecue jackfruit plate one, and it $22 was basically enough food for two people. The jackfruit barbecue ribs were incredible: I've never ordered a jackfruit dish before and this was delicious with fantastic barbecue sauce that was tangy but not too sweet and had lots of smoky depth. The corn fritters for like dumplings and very tasty. The garlic bread was just like I would make it home and the rest of vegetable salad was very delicious. They do not have decaf coffee since they only have one coffee grinder - But I tried a couple of chicory as a flat white with coconut milk and was very pleased with the flavor and the drink it's self. The owner of the restaurant was raised on a dairy farm! She and I talked about all the problems that dairy farms and people are causing to the environment generally and especially in New Zealand with use of chemicals and the runoff from agriculture. Peace begins on the plate - and a full belly begins at Kaiaroha!

Definitely a high class vegan joint. The emphasis here is more on savory (sorry, savoury) items…read morerather than more sweet bakery items like we have in the United States. Still, comparisons with Timeless Coffee (Oakland, CA) and The Butcher's Son (Berkeley CA, not the one in Auckland) are apt. On my first visit I had a classic kiwi item, which is hard to find in the US, a sausage roll and second visit cheesecake. My only complaint is that it probably could have been half the size! The owner was super friendly and we exchanged notes on vegan biz here and in the States. Finally, the coffee was excellent and more like my American coffee expectations with a bolder flavor. Must stop for any vegan in Auckland.

Excellent products and service :) I've been a regular for years and it is a treasure chest for…read morehealth and healthy products.

This is the only organic shop left in Hamilton, back in the 90s there were a handful of lively…read moreoutlets dotted around the suburbs but they died out. Luckily Village Organics has upped its game and cleaned up the shelves and improved on the freshness of the produce. The shop is located at the end of the 'Main Street' Commerce Street of Frankton Village, where they hold the outdoor busy weekly Frankton Market which has crafts and food. The lines that are stocked in this shop have expanded over the years and you can now buy almost everything available at your local Huckleberry or Harvest but with a dollar or so more added to the price tag. For example the Brinks organic chickens which are $25 at New World Auckland are $30 here. And the Pacific Hazelnut milk I'm addicted to is $6.60 in Auckland but $7.45 here. Considering the extra costs of transport and scale of the business I think the price is worth it! The staff are friendly, they gave me some ground cloves from their kitchen for free as there were none on the shelves. The younger shop workers are always willing to ask their seniors if you have a query. You can get chilled sweet slices and cakes in the small cabinet near the checkouts, check them out next time you visit the Tron.

Ate brunch here, had a yummy eggs bene and the vegan fritters. They took care to help us avoid…read morefood allergies and were friendly. The cafe has all sorts of interesting random decor and they played cool, laid back music.

We were here on a Monday 10am, the crowd just keep coming in, guess this place must be in the…read morelocal's fav list! Tips: there are some vintage collections displayed around, try to spot some!

FOOD: This was our first stop after arriving in Auckland. We yelped a brunch place nearby and THANK…read moreGOODNESS this came up. What a lovely surprise. Decor is beautiful, service - impeccable, and food --- heavenly! Brunch is our thing and coming from LA, we have had a LOT of brunch meals. We were saying to each other how this place would make a killing in Los Angeles. We ordered a banana/chocolate chip scone, corned beef hash, jumbo oats, and a large flat white coffee (which is basically coffee with milk). The scone was warm and not too sweet. Corned beef hash was so tasty! Ingredients tasted fresh and their house made hollandaise just made the dish over the top delicious. Their jumbo oats... Oh. My. Goodness. I know, I know, who raves about oatmeal? Well, I do! This was so damn good! The oats tasted like they were just cooked and the muscovado sugar and cream made the whole dish come together perfectly. It wasn't too sweet nor was it too creamy. The coffee was also good - so good we ordered another one to go. If we lived here, we would probably come here every weekend. PARKING: Plenty of spaces and free. SERVICE: Efficient and very friendly service. You grab a menu, have a seat, and get back in line to order your food when you're ready.

3.7 stars food was pretty good not amazing. Got the…read moreboysenberry tea cake and that was the best food we had. Coffee was also pretty good pretty standard and got the job done. Staff were nice and atmosphere was light and welcoming.

They tell you that their portions are "sharing size" and theyre absolutely lying to you. Majority…read moreof the dishes are barely even enough for 1-2 people. Maybe im just used to my big fatso american portion sizes but I'd rather have enough food to fill me up and take home for the next day than be starved at a place where the food isnt even good Not only is every single damn dish spicy--which yeah, I like and can tolerate spice, and can enjoy it in certain situations, but every single dish you get being spicy is absurd and unejoyable, its not even the good type of spice, it just burns your throat--but the food was just plain bad too. I tried most of what came out and liked none of it. The only thing i could eat was the white rice which is pretty hard to fuck up. The food was so bad it made me throw up a bit mid eating and feel nauseous and have that about-to-puke feeling in my chest the rest of the time, which was worse than normal because there wasnt much that I ate in full and so its just pure stomach acid. The cocktails werent even good either, all the signatures were weird and the ones we got tasted bad. The servers were nice and thats about the only thing I liked about the restaurant. The place appearance wise was alright, but goddamn whoever designed the layout I guess decided to find a way to make noise echo as much as possible. I get it was busy at the time, but Ive been to busy places at peak hours that i didnt have to shout at just to get the other person to hear me. The entire floor layout was just weird in general and very crowded, not spaced out well at all. I wouldnt return to this place, mainly because theres nothing to eat for me, but I probably wouldnt recommend it either unless you like a shit ton of spice and weird meals & even weirder cocktails (What are in the photos is not all we ate, but i just took a photo of these to show how small the apparent "sharing sizes" are)

Friends and family who have been in Auckland recently all recommended that we dine at Hello Beasty,…read moreand the place lived up to expectation. We made a lunch reservation for today, and enjoyed our meal so much -- slow-cooked lamb, Korean Fried Cauliflower, sashimi selection, and the astonishingly good creme brulee (not really a cheesecake as described on the menu) that we begged our way into a dinner reservation as well -- where we loved the Neko Ginger cocktail, cucumber green goddess, burrata, and stir-fried steak fillet. if only we had another day in Auckland to try more of this wonderful menu

I stopped in for lunch here with my boyfriend on our way to Hobbiton one sunny Sunday. It was busy…read morebut we were able to snag a table outside. The service was attentive but not necessarily friendly. I ordered a kombucha and the grain bowl, my boyfriend ordered a burger. I was happy to find a place that catered to both of us, as I'm vegan and my boyfriend will eat anything. It's rare to find a place where we can both get something we want. The food and drinks came out quickly and everything was really good. The grain bowl was hearty and filling, and my boyfriend ate his burger in like 2 minutes. The restaurant is really cute, I loved the casual beach vibes. It's very Raglan :) We paid inside before we left and I bought a raw caramel slice for the road. It didn't make it too far down the road, I ended up eating it only 5 minutes after we got in the car. It was rich as, super caramelly and chocolatey. Absolutely 1000% amazing and exactly what I needed to finish off a great meal. My boyfriend and I split the bar, which was a great idea as I couldn't down something that intense after a huge grain bowl. We were both full for like 7 hours after our meal here, it was so good and that raw bar really hit the spot. I think the food was fab, but we didn't get the excellent service that it seems others got here :( Still, I'd go back if I was in Raglan!

One of the best cafes in Raglan. Great coffee and food and a light, relaxing decor and good street…read moreseating if you're into that.

I'm not a Buddhist at all but I still love everything about this Buddhist Temple situated in what…read moreseems like the middle of nowhere. The temple structure and design is massive and simply beautiful, it really looks like it just doesn't belong where it is. When I first saw this place under construction, I was really shocked at the sheer size of it. The architecture of the finished building is a very traditional design and reminds me so much of being in Japan. Perhaps this is why I enjoy visiting this temple, to get my nostalgic fix. It's a little bit of the orient in NZ. Anyway, the inside is just as spectacular as the exterior and has enormous space. It's so quiet and peaceful, with monks walking around and everything! It's free to enter the building, and I strongly suggest that you check it out at least once. They have a pretty cool gift store near the entrance too.

This Temple is truly a captivating sight. It yelled out, 'FILM ME' the moment I saw it. Sort of…read morereminds you of those Kung Fu movies Bruce Lee was famous for, or perhaps more ornate ones, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. For all its superficial beauty and splendour, I found the people who run it to be very focused on commercialism. They are wonderful at it by far, but it's not something I would expect from humble, Buddhist monks. I like that they reach out to the community, but the commercialism took away from their religious aspect. Still, it's a nice place for a spot of tea.