Cool cafe! I like novelty cafes especially with upcycling to this scale! For those who might not be…read moreaware, this cafe has two train carriages with plush seats decked out for diners if the wish to latte somewhere a little bit different. I was keen to pop into the inviting black locomotives but hubby's choice was out closer to the water and ducks, which was pretty nice too. We had morning tea here for the first time, coffees and cake, or more specifically sweet muffin and afghan biscuit. Both were super tasty but my coffee was a bit blah. The place was staffed by lots of young faces all quite friendly and helpful. The place was very popular, and I eyed off my neighbours scrumptious looking egg benedict. We had to walk through a garden centre to get into the cafe which was fine by me as I wanted to drop into a garden store whilst out and about. The atmosphere is what was best about this place and I will definitely be back, preferably for those eggs benedict...mmmm....

At first we had our reservations but 1 visit change all that! The food is brilliant! The coffee lip…read moresmacking good! (Bach espresso) the cafe isn't too expensive either - intact some of the popular breakfasts are actually cheaper than Main Street cafés! The ambiance is great - with real train carriages set up as restaurants!

I had heard good things about the Little Sister Café so we decided to check out the place. I got…read moreexcited seeing the menu because of the Asian influence in their offering. The sound of steaming hot Vietnamese or Balinese cuisine literally launched me in to the driver's seat. I had Hanoi Rocks & the Venetian Dark Chocolate Tartlet. Hanoi Rocks was a rice flour crepe/pancake that was served with cooked greens in a steaming broth. It was comfort food but is it a breakfast dish l, I'm not sure about that. It was a fairly big portion, sumptuous; hearty and delicious. The Venetian Dark Chocolate Tartlet - now that was visually appealing. Small tart sizes with a gooey dark chocolate ganache with pistachio praline crumbled over it. My hubby had the Agria hash, Eggs Benedict with Lemon Hollandaise sauce and Greens. It was a carbfest and yummy. The pesto oil garnish did nothing to lift the flavour but definitely added a visual treat to the eyes. And he ordered a blueberry and sour cream cake/muffin. It tasted good but there was no wow to it. And I couldn't get a picture of it coz hubby dearest was already half way into it. Now for the flat whites. I personally thought it was not in the league of the best but still a pretty decent cup of Joe, but my hubby said he thought it was as bad as the coffee we had at Sierra café. I love cafés that offer Wifi keeping with the latest trends. So a big tick from me for that. Pleasant service overall but they lose it if it's the rush hour. I get that it can be overwhelming but it irks me when orders are mixed up. I don't mind the wait so long as you get it right. They got our sweet orders mixed up. And clearing tables after a customer vacates is a bit slack. But the service proved more effective once the crowd started weaning off. My Hanoi Rocks took time to come to my table. However this really nice Asian waitstaff was epic with his service, checking on my order and giving me a status update. I guess they have the makings of a good café to give them due credit but a fair bit to improve on. Suggestion to hand out menu cards for customers. Big queues with the menu not accessible with nothing else to view but the Black board on the wall and the display. People want to ponder over what they want to eat at a cafe with so much variety. We had to wait until we got to the counter to view the cooked menu but had they had menu cards or a designated space for viewing menu it reduces the pile up especially during the rush hour. On the whole an exciting menu with a superb variety. They are a mixed bag with some wows and some not so much. Will I be back! Yes, to try out the other interesting dishes on the menu. Until then I reserve my judgment.

Little Sister is a fairly new addition to Henderson. With ex-Sweetie and Salvation Kitchen owners…read moreat the helm, it's got to be good. To be honest, I'm relying on a Viva article for the second part of that statement, because I only went to Salvation Kitchen post-sale and the coffee was bloody awful. Don't go. Sweetie, on the other hand, was lovely and just like Little Sister, its counter-top teaming with sugary treats - like a goddamn Willy Wonka scene. Impossible to resist. My husband had arrived on the hideously early flight from San Francisco last week (yes, he came bearing gifts, and the gifts he did not manage to secure I promptly ordered online), where he was hungry and in desperate need of New Zealand milk, coffee and more importantly, eggs! Given that Little Sister is only open weekdays, this was the perfect chance to #supportlocal and head somewhere I had been dying to try out. First problem: check the bloody details, Vanessa. Little Sister does not open till 7.30am. I had assumed 7am, so we hung out in the car park for 15 minutes like losers. There's lots of parking, with very definite 'Little Sister' named spots, so unless you're absolutely blind, it's quite clear where to park up. The morning menu was quite brief, and I wasn't offered another one to check out what they offer for lunch. That's not to say I'm offended by brevity, quite the opposite. As you may have noticed, I get terrible FOMO so I appreciate obvious choices. My morning meal was therefore a hearty one - pork and fennel sausage, perfectly crisp bacon, slow cooked tomatoes with just the right amount of sweet and tart, a wonderfully spiced (yes, spiced!) potato and carrot rosti, a very large mushroom that had been bathed (and appropriately drained, leaving the sticky and tangy remnants) in balsamic vinegar, and two glorious eggs with the most vibrant orange yolk. And, of course, a knock-out latte to wash it all down.

A cute and cozy cafe in the middle of Birkenhead. Food is a tasty fusion of cafe breakfast foods…read moreand Indian cuisine. I recommend the Masala Hash and trying some of their interesting hot drinks like the Gingerbread Latte. There's puzzles and minigames available to play while you wait for food making this place a great space for families with young kids.

This place makes you feel cosy and has a homely feeling. The service here is great and the food…read morehere is delicious and filling. I ate the french toast which left me feeling good and sleepy. Haha. My friend had the eggs bene w/salmon and she said it was the best she'd ever had. The drinks were super tasty. We had the Tropical Sunshine and Mixed Berry Smoothies, a Chocolate Shake, and a soy latte. per the kids: AND THERE'S FREE WIFI!! Make this place your new go to brunch spot over the shore=)

Coffee is coffee not a chance drinks here are tasty and appealing groups gather for meet ups…read moreconversations flowing in every direction accents are heard everywhere lol in many different cultures and many different languages Marie

Great food and a lot of it. I would definitely go back. Got our food quickly and service was good!read more

From the lovely young couple who brought us The Grassy Knoll (RIP), this new addition to the Shore…read moreis already becoming popular with the locals. Just a mere hop, skip and a jump from the motorway exit, Willow is easy to get to - even for city dwellers. The only downside to it's location is that it's in the middle of a block of office buildings so it's somewhat lacking in the view department. However, with such great food and service, the view, or lack thereof, is pretty easy to get past. As for the menu, it's full of modern takes on brunch classics. For example their porridge, which is served with chia seeds, steel cut cinnamon, fruit jelly and fresh cream. Yum! I, however, couldn't go past their eggs benedict, which they serve with a savoury Japanese pancake instead of an english muffin and a wasabi hollandaise. The pancake was full of herbs and spring onions, and the wasabi hollandaise was lemony with a subtle kick. If I had one complaint it would be that the pancake batter was a little stodgy. Mention must also be made of the coffee. It was absolutely perfect! So good, in fact, that I couldn't help but order another one after my meal. I never do that.

Willow opened three weeks ago and is a welcome addition to the North Shore cafe scene. The cafe is…read morelocated literally just off the Greville Road off ramp on the Northern Motorway, at 42 Tawa Drive. I arrived on a crisp winter morning with a craving for good coffee and scrumptious food. My companion and I were promptly greeted and our coffee orders taken, two soy flat whites which arrived in record time. Coffee was great, however it was served in very small cups. It was so good I almost ordered a second cup when offered but I had a grumpy toddler in two & didn't feel like tempting fate. I ordered the smoked salmon which tasted like it was house smoked, and it was perched on top of rocket leaves, avocado slices and a charred pea and corn fritter. The salmon was topped with a dill sour cream, and the plate garnished with a sticky balsamic reduction. Unfortunately I could not detect any dill flavour in the sour cream and although the salmon was plump and tasty, it was a tad overlooked for my liking and had two pin bones left in it. These small falters would not deter me from returning to this delightfully bright and airy cafe. Their spacious & picturesque courtyard was screaming out for warmer days to arrive as soon as heavenly possible. Lovely customer service which was very attentive without being at all intrusive.

For this place it's no longer a cafe but a Indian Cusine. I bought some butter chicken and loved…read moreit. I'm going to be honest the curry wasn't up to my standard in heat felt just about 60 degrees. But I still enjoyed it. Good service they even offer takeaways. Cheap and affordable 12.50 seems decent for butter chicken and rice. If you want to eat Indian I can recommend this place if you're in greenhithe.

I had an excellent mocha Frappe from here. The coffee hit was pretty strong but went down smoothly…read moreand the chocolate flavour wasn't too overpowered by the coffee. It came in a nice big takeaway cup just the way I like it. The café itself has a really cool feel inside. I love the big leathery booths and the mirrors all around. Gives it a kind of retro ish feel. The signs all around were boasting about the frappes and that's why I had to try one myself. I can be very fussy about frappes and iced chocolates because I like them a certain way and this was exactly what I wanted. After I'd started slurping I saw a certificate clinging to the window bragging about someone who is obviously a very talented barista. Siyang Wang was awarded Bronze for barista at the 2012 Culinary Fare. Pretty impressive stuff. Will have to try a coffee next time I'm here.

Great cafe on the main highway into Auckland. All proceeds from the cafe go to At Risk Youth. Food…read morewas amazing. I had the Eggs Benedict. I highly reccommend. The staff were super friendly and really made me feel at home.

Tried to find out a country-style Cafe&Eatery in Albany area. Suddenly the Wine Box came out…read more Renovated from a previous old house, or maybe an old chapel, the wine box stands out among all other buildings around. With a terrace facing the Main Street with shed, sofa and green plants, it could be a cozy spot to kill your afternoon leisure time. However, after walking in, sitting down, the whole space runs a bit out-of-time. It could be decorated better, with its original structure. I could sense the food might be a bit lagged checking the menu. So we just tried something quite basic. Flat white arrives, totally matching its name, flat and white... you can barely taste the coffee. Then the chicken live pate with manuka&cream sauce gives out some unpleasant flavor which I could not bear, the BLT came out fairly normal. I was a bit upset with the bacon not crispy, bread over toasted and dressing too plain. Then we just ended up having chips for making this lunch up. Maybe it was tucked so far away from the city, however, it should not end up offering food with this standard. Black Cottage Cafe is a good example for a country-style Cafe&restaurant. Try harder and do not let it fade away.

Cosy little spot and great food, Peppered Scotch with Mushroom Risotto is a must have! Plus the…read moreHead Chef is the Man!

Booked a table for 11 people two weeks before Mother's Day, only to arrive and find the cafe had no…read moreidea what to do with us. Staff seemed uninterested that we even had a booking and a young staff member was left to "sort us out" while clearly stressed and unsupported. When we asked to speak to a manager, they refused to come and talk to us. After waiting 25 minutes, the owner finally showed us "our table" and walked away... except the people sitting there were still waiting for the food they had ordered. It was obvious the cafe had no proper booking system and had filled tables with walk-ins instead. A quick "sorry" means very little when you've clearly made no effort to honour bookings people made well in advance, especially on Mother's Day. Really disappointing experience and unfortunately I wouldn't recommend this cafe.

Cute cafe with a bo-ho feel in the heart of Pt. Chev. Super friendly staff, great all day brunch…read moremenu and awesome coffee. No holiday surcharge either. Great j

Nice Starbucks, located in a gorgeous area. There was plenty of seating and free wifi, although…read moreonly for 30 minutes. The restroom was clean, the staff attentive, and the coffee was just as good as any other Starbucks.