We had read somewhere that this shops makes fudge made with Lewis Road Creamery milk and…read moreWhittaker's chocolate. It was a must find for us whilst in town. It's mainly a cake decoration shop that makes their own fudge, cakes, and cupcakes. There was a wide variety of fudge available within samples given out. For us, there was only one fudge we were really interested in. We have never spent so much on fudge alone before. By the time we left, there was a queue of people waiting to go in. The assistant told us they do deliver to Auckland, this sounds very dangerous to me............................

I have ordered from this store in the past and have had good experiences on all three occasions…read more However, my most recent visit to the store was very disappointing. I ordered the Lewis Whittakers Chocolate Overload cake ($137 for a small 6 inch cake) in Hokey Pokey flavour for my father's retirement party. When I received the cake it was chocolate flavour, not hokey pokey. I reviewed all of my email correspondence and there was no mention of a chocolate-flavoured cake in any of the emails. The store representative refused to admit liability for the mistake, even though the emails clearly showed that the order was for a hokey pokey flavoured cake. No apology, no compensation, nothing! Very poor customer service. I will not be returning to The Girl on the Swing in the future or recommending this store others.

Cupcakes that double as roses? Please and thank youuuuu…read more With flavours such as Hawkes Bay Peach, Black Doris Plum, Tropical Mango and Balsamic Strawberry (to name a few) -- you'll most definitely find something to fall in love with. Being in a berry mood, I went for Petal's raspberry cupcake and wellllllllll, I can confirm it tasted like an extra sweet pint of FRESH RASPBERRIES. And it was just gorgeous. As was the packaging, which also doubles as a rose. SWOON. At $5 a pop, one of these bad boys is definitely a treat (although compared to similar price tags for a flat white, you are walking away with something much more substantial!). They also do catering if you are looking for a beautiful sweet treat platter ;)

What can I say? What used to be the go to store for cupcakes has... Sigh!…read more The $5 price tag is not bad since the starting price for any sweet item has rocketed in past few years. But what I can't overlook is that the icing I got today wasn't even mixed properly. The icing was so grainy it felt like was made by a 5 year old. On the bright side, the cupcake itself is quite moist and the icing is flavoured nicely.

I stopped in here yesterday to pick up a sweet treat to go with my Friday afternoon coffee. The…read moreselection of cupcakes on display all looked appetising and it was difficult choosing a flavour! Eventually I decided on a gluten-free banana and chocolate cupcake with caramel frosting. It was delicious - moist and the icing was good too. A young girl served us and she was friendly and polite, ringing up the sale with a smile. Having this just up the road is going to be dangerous! It also looks like they do a delicious range of milkshakes, with a retro milkshake machine behind the counter.

Sometimes a person just needs a goddam milkshake; not a smoothie, not a thickshake, not, god…read moreforbid, a frappe. A cup with some icy cold milk, some ice cream, and some flavour whizzed carefully so that everything is just blended but not turned into a big sludge. If you're in the Ponsonby/Herne Bay area, Icing on the Cake is the place to go for milkshakes. They're a reasonable $4.50, and have everything a good milkshake needs. If you're feeling a bit fruity, you can also get a frozen yoghurt; also good but not a milkshake. They also sell cute looking cup cakes here, which I suppose is where the name comes from; they look impressive but I'm afraid I can't report on how they taste.

Delicious sausage roll and croissant. Stop here for a delicious baked treat worthy of your time. We…read morehad the chorizo sausage roll, ginger bar and croissant. The lamination on the croissant and sausage roll was top notch. Coffee is on the darker roast side

Amazing bread- I love sourdough and Volare does not disappoint…read more The whole meal and fig+Walnut are my faves. The fig+Walnut is particularly good with Bleu cheese and brie pairings. The cafe space is a bit small, but great coffee also. Good for a snack or light lunch.

If you are a lover of breads, this is the place to get bread in town. There are a number of…read moreofferings, include San Francisco sourdough - reminds me of California! Usually, I attend more often for the cabinet food rather than loaves of bread, and my favorite is always the jalapeno cheddar scone. Sadly, you can't find much in the way of jalapenos in New Zealand but now that I've found this scone, my craving for the jalapeno and cheese combo is more than satisified. There is a sister shop in the south end of Hamilton (Kaihikatea Drive) with similar offerings. There are also other cabinet foods, including sweets, sandwiches, etc. And of course, you can just stop in for a very reasonable flat white.

Good fried chicken and butter chicken pies. Customer service was awesome. Got 15 chicken nibbles…read morefor 10 dollars. Also got a fried chicken thigh and chips for 6 dollars. It was really yum. Chicken was juicy and chips were crispy. Had extra chicken salt.

Great lamingtons, nice coconut latte, friendly staff, clean and welcoming cafe. Also had a good…read moreselection of retro kiwi snacks like pies and cream buns.

We've had a lot of pies while driving around the North Island; when we arrived in Hamilton, I asked…read morea local kiwi in the grocery store where to get the best to-go pies nearby. She told me to drive 15mins away and eat at Hillcrest. I am so glad I ran into her. These were the best pies of our journey. We tried the Mince Curry, Mince and Cheese, Chicken Cranberry, and Lamb Pepper Yum-Maz-Ing. These pies had more filling stuffed into them than anywhere else. The buttery, flaky crust created a warm pile of goodness. The Curry Mince was by far the most unique, spice focused, hearty pie we've had. We wished we got more than one because we didn't want to split it in half and share. The cheese was gooey, but not overwhelming like some pies from elsewhere, the cranberry felt like they picked it fresh from a garden and baked it in what I ordered to stay natural tasting, and the lamb was seasoned well.

Stunning, Yum & Fun!…read more The rare small NZ Café with a talented and passionate Chef and superb team in the food prep engine room. Looking forward to our next visit!

I have been coming at least once to this cafe for breakfast every time I am at Hamilton on business…read more- over 10 times. So, when I discovered they moved a bit down the road to a larger nicer locale I was expecting a better experience. But I was disappointed by the slow service. Now you seat at the table and they wait for you. But the waiter took too long to take my full order after getting my initial beverage order. And then I waited for 20 minutes and my order had not arrived. On top of that some items in the menu where not available as they run out of Hollandaise sauce. Looks like even if the place is bigger, they still have a little kitchen not able to serve the larger clientele, and they are disorganized. At the end they forgot of my orders and I left as I could not wait any longer for food. What a missed opportunity!