I cannot disclose the location of this fantastic private invite only cafe, I must say to get an invite is a privilege.
We arrived to freshly made coffee followed by slow cooked eggplant with tomatoes & spinach, fennel sausages, rosemary spuds & poached eggs on gluten free bread. Everything was cooked to perfection. The eggplant was soft and infused with tomato, the fennel sausages were outstanding with the perfect amount of fennel laced through them, free range too. Of course the eggs were poached to perfection and the potatoes crushed and slightly fried.
If you want to appreciate a breakfast cooked with love like this one, you can sample some of the finest breakfast fare at Kings Court when it opens for the ski season, you will not be disappointed.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Annabelles St Heliers
I decided to venture over to my friend LV's area for breakfast. Her sister had been to Annabelles before and liked it, she suggested Orvieto in Three Kings and that was fantastic so I was willing to try Annabelles.
The position is great, right on Tamaki Dr with views over the harbour. It wasn't busy and we got a table right by the window. The breakfast menu is small, it did have the usual, pancake (not pancakes), big breakfast and eggs benedict. I had the big breakfast and LV had the chicken sandwich from the lunch menu. We were both surprised they allowed us to order from the lunch menu at 11.15.
My big breakfast was ok, the english sausage had a hint of a herb in it and was good, the eggs were great but I felt like the whole breakfast lacked something, but I wasn't sure what. LV's chicken sandwich was just that, a chicken fillet on foccaica and lettuce, to me it looked a little dissapointing.
The decor here is a little confusing too, and I think that is what throws you when you come here. The walls are covered in a light brick type tile and down the back is wooden veneer, but it's the roof that really confuses you. It is a wave of plastic interwoven, it looks like waves but not, very early 90's. The whole place just doesn't blend well and is confusing. The wait staff are friendly but I felt like they were standing around by the counter just waiting for customers.
On the plus side the coffees were great.
Rating:
Food: 2.5
Ambiance: 2 (I just couldn't get past the decor but the view was great)
Staff: 3
Coffee: 4
The position is great, right on Tamaki Dr with views over the harbour. It wasn't busy and we got a table right by the window. The breakfast menu is small, it did have the usual, pancake (not pancakes), big breakfast and eggs benedict. I had the big breakfast and LV had the chicken sandwich from the lunch menu. We were both surprised they allowed us to order from the lunch menu at 11.15.
My big breakfast was ok, the english sausage had a hint of a herb in it and was good, the eggs were great but I felt like the whole breakfast lacked something, but I wasn't sure what. LV's chicken sandwich was just that, a chicken fillet on foccaica and lettuce, to me it looked a little dissapointing.
The decor here is a little confusing too, and I think that is what throws you when you come here. The walls are covered in a light brick type tile and down the back is wooden veneer, but it's the roof that really confuses you. It is a wave of plastic interwoven, it looks like waves but not, very early 90's. The whole place just doesn't blend well and is confusing. The wait staff are friendly but I felt like they were standing around by the counter just waiting for customers.
On the plus side the coffees were great.
Rating:
Food: 2.5
Ambiance: 2 (I just couldn't get past the decor but the view was great)
Staff: 3
Coffee: 4
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Orvieto Cafe, Mt Eden
We met at this cafe at 11.30 and it was heaving, there were no tables free so I waited by the magazines for a table and my friends. JV had eaten here before and highly recommended it to her sister LV, so we were looking forward to a great brunch. We were not disappointed.
It didn't take long to get a table at all and seeing the other diners orders coming out I was impressed by what was on their plates. JV ordered the omelet with hash browns instead of toast. The omelet looked good and came topped with caramelised onions and 2 huge hash browns, JV said this was her favourite meal here. LV ordered the creamy mushrooms on toast, her only complaint was the mushrooms weren't hot enough. I ordered the the hash browns with bacon and eggs any style, I had poached. These hash browns are the best I have ever had, they are home made, shredded potato and thick wedges of pure crispy delight.
The cafe was packed and we were so impressed at how fast our orders came out. The service was great and you could tell they are used to being this busy with their efficiency. What I liked about the service was we were not pressured to depart our table once finished even though there were people waiting.
Our coffees were hot although I thought mine was a little weak.
This cafe is great, the food is fantastic and the service excellent. We had food envy when we were leaving seeing the other diners meals. We will be back.
Rating:
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 4.5
Coffee: 3.5
It didn't take long to get a table at all and seeing the other diners orders coming out I was impressed by what was on their plates. JV ordered the omelet with hash browns instead of toast. The omelet looked good and came topped with caramelised onions and 2 huge hash browns, JV said this was her favourite meal here. LV ordered the creamy mushrooms on toast, her only complaint was the mushrooms weren't hot enough. I ordered the the hash browns with bacon and eggs any style, I had poached. These hash browns are the best I have ever had, they are home made, shredded potato and thick wedges of pure crispy delight.
The cafe was packed and we were so impressed at how fast our orders came out. The service was great and you could tell they are used to being this busy with their efficiency. What I liked about the service was we were not pressured to depart our table once finished even though there were people waiting.
Our coffees were hot although I thought mine was a little weak.
This cafe is great, the food is fantastic and the service excellent. We had food envy when we were leaving seeing the other diners meals. We will be back.
Rating:
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 4.5
Coffee: 3.5
Monday, May 17, 2010
Benediction Cafe Newton
This is one busy cafe on a Sunday! Trying to find a table was hard, there were some outside but it had just poured down with rain so there was a lot of sharing tables under the awning.
Downstairs seemed quite frantic, queuing to order with people asking about seating and wanting to order, yet being sent away to see if there are tables first, makes it a frantic narrow area.
The menu board is hard to read, the writing is small and cramped, I thought I was ordering Red fennel hash cakes, I was told by my friends it was red flannel hash cakes. Because we were being rushed to order (not a nice experience because I didn't read the board completely) I thought it also came with bacon but when I got my order it was huge chunks of a cabanossi style sausage that really tasted like luncheon sausage and brought back bad memories of school lunches.
JC ordered french toast and said it was soggy.
LV ordered gluten free toast with smoked samon, cream cheese and capers. She enjoyed it and it was a good serving.
The coffees were mild and warm not hot.
All in all not a great time. I will also warn you about the carparking, it is near impossible around this area.
Rating
Food: 2.5
Ambiance: 3
Service: 2
Coffee: 2
Downstairs seemed quite frantic, queuing to order with people asking about seating and wanting to order, yet being sent away to see if there are tables first, makes it a frantic narrow area.
The menu board is hard to read, the writing is small and cramped, I thought I was ordering Red fennel hash cakes, I was told by my friends it was red flannel hash cakes. Because we were being rushed to order (not a nice experience because I didn't read the board completely) I thought it also came with bacon but when I got my order it was huge chunks of a cabanossi style sausage that really tasted like luncheon sausage and brought back bad memories of school lunches.
JC ordered french toast and said it was soggy.
LV ordered gluten free toast with smoked samon, cream cheese and capers. She enjoyed it and it was a good serving.
The coffees were mild and warm not hot.
All in all not a great time. I will also warn you about the carparking, it is near impossible around this area.
Rating
Food: 2.5
Ambiance: 3
Service: 2
Coffee: 2
Saturday, May 8, 2010
23 Cafe Mt Eden
I had Friday off so of course I headed out for brunch. I have been here before on a Sunday and enjoyed the food and coffee but the service was extremely slow.
I must say the counter food at 23 looks amazing. Their salads and pasta dishes are enticing and their turkish bread sandwiches and rolls are filled with sumptuous fillings. They are well priced too. The slices look good too.
I had the eggs royal, 2 poached eggs on potato cakes with hollandaise sauce. The eggs were good a little runny, there was that white runny part(not a fan), the potato cakes were tasty, subtle flavours of onion and herbs coming through.
The coffee was perfect, strong and hot. This has been one of the strongest coffees I have had in a while, it was great, not too strong or bitter.
I was the only one eating at the time I was there, just before 12 and my meal still took a while to arrive, this is the only complaint though.
Their cabinet food is definitely tempting and I really like the layout of this cafe, its interior is uncluttered and the outside courtyard is great.
Rating:
Food: 4
Service:3.5 (only because of the slow service from the kitchen, the waiters were great)
Ambiance:4
Coffee:5
I must say the counter food at 23 looks amazing. Their salads and pasta dishes are enticing and their turkish bread sandwiches and rolls are filled with sumptuous fillings. They are well priced too. The slices look good too.
I had the eggs royal, 2 poached eggs on potato cakes with hollandaise sauce. The eggs were good a little runny, there was that white runny part(not a fan), the potato cakes were tasty, subtle flavours of onion and herbs coming through.
The coffee was perfect, strong and hot. This has been one of the strongest coffees I have had in a while, it was great, not too strong or bitter.
I was the only one eating at the time I was there, just before 12 and my meal still took a while to arrive, this is the only complaint though.
Their cabinet food is definitely tempting and I really like the layout of this cafe, its interior is uncluttered and the outside courtyard is great.
Rating:
Food: 4
Service:3.5 (only because of the slow service from the kitchen, the waiters were great)
Ambiance:4
Coffee:5
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Circus Circus, Mt Eden
I had an hour or so to kill before going to work today so I thought I would go up the road for breakfast to Circus Circus in Mt Eden. This cafe has been around for ages and every time I come here it never fails to impress me with its quick service.
I arrived at 8 am, ordered my coffee and hash browns with smoked tomato, bacon and scrambled eggs, sat down grabbed the Viva (love Wednesday's herald) flicked through the first pages and my coffee turned up, then what seemed like minutes my breakfast arrived, seriously it would have been less than 10 minutes all up. Super fast! They weren't packed but there were people waiting for takeaway coffees and other diners.
I don't usually order scrambled eggs because I find them too creamy, these were perfect, if they use cream at all it is minimal. I ordered this dish because I love hash browns but never buy them. Their hash browns were like watties ones, I thought they might be home made but they were good not too oily. This breakfast was huge, I couldn't finish it all.
Because I was there by myself and didn't have the girls with me to compare other dishes, I am happy to share with you previous favourites I have eaten here and love. Their bubble and squeak is great, potato with caramelised onions and peas in it, yum, the bagel tower is huge and the fruit and muesli is plentiful, a great mix of tropical and seasonal fruit.
Their coffee never fails to impress, always hot and never burnt.
If you come on the weekend do be prepared for it to be busy and a queue out the door, this is such a popular cafe for takeaway coffees with the soccer mums and their kids.
Rating
Food: 4.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 4.5 during the week, weekends 3.5
Coffee: 5
I arrived at 8 am, ordered my coffee and hash browns with smoked tomato, bacon and scrambled eggs, sat down grabbed the Viva (love Wednesday's herald) flicked through the first pages and my coffee turned up, then what seemed like minutes my breakfast arrived, seriously it would have been less than 10 minutes all up. Super fast! They weren't packed but there were people waiting for takeaway coffees and other diners.
I don't usually order scrambled eggs because I find them too creamy, these were perfect, if they use cream at all it is minimal. I ordered this dish because I love hash browns but never buy them. Their hash browns were like watties ones, I thought they might be home made but they were good not too oily. This breakfast was huge, I couldn't finish it all.
Because I was there by myself and didn't have the girls with me to compare other dishes, I am happy to share with you previous favourites I have eaten here and love. Their bubble and squeak is great, potato with caramelised onions and peas in it, yum, the bagel tower is huge and the fruit and muesli is plentiful, a great mix of tropical and seasonal fruit.
Their coffee never fails to impress, always hot and never burnt.
If you come on the weekend do be prepared for it to be busy and a queue out the door, this is such a popular cafe for takeaway coffees with the soccer mums and their kids.
Rating
Food: 4.5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 4.5 during the week, weekends 3.5
Coffee: 5
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Voila! Sandringham
Well where do I start! This cafe was reviewed in the Sunday Star Times last week and they gave it a 5/5. The reviewer did mention that she did get busted with her notebook,and got amazing service. Funny that!
Sunday is a very busy day for this cafe, it makes you wonder if it's because of the great review or if it's always like this, I am assuming both. Our experience was not as great as the other reviewer, maybe I need to pull out a notebook, but then what's the point of doing reviews if you are going to get busted, of course they are going to treat you differently. This is why I started this blog,because many of the reviewers are now recognised when out.
The place was packed and the service was rude at times. We were asked if we were just staying for coffee, and if so could we hurry up! We were waiting for a friend. Firstly it took ages to even get served for coffee, I thought we were to go to the counter and order there, so I did and was told to sit down and they would come to me. When we were ready to order, again I had to go to the counter to ask for service. I know it was busy but it's not that bigger place and they had enough staff on. I was getting impatient now!
I ordered the french brioche toast with bacon and banana, the bacon looked like it had been left uncovered in the fridge and didn't taste great, the brioche was great. LV ordered the eggs benedict galette with smoked salmon, looked and tasted great, the galette was filled with spinach. ES had the big breakfast and she too did not like the bacon, it had no taste and put her off the rest of the meat that came with the breakfast.
Overall I was not really impressed with this place, maybe the Sunday Star Times reviewer came during the week, but she has certainly helped increase popularity. Although reading other reviews on line it is definitely a popular place.
Rating:
Food: 2.5
Service: 2
Ambiance:2.5
Coffee: 4
Sunday is a very busy day for this cafe, it makes you wonder if it's because of the great review or if it's always like this, I am assuming both. Our experience was not as great as the other reviewer, maybe I need to pull out a notebook, but then what's the point of doing reviews if you are going to get busted, of course they are going to treat you differently. This is why I started this blog,because many of the reviewers are now recognised when out.
The place was packed and the service was rude at times. We were asked if we were just staying for coffee, and if so could we hurry up! We were waiting for a friend. Firstly it took ages to even get served for coffee, I thought we were to go to the counter and order there, so I did and was told to sit down and they would come to me. When we were ready to order, again I had to go to the counter to ask for service. I know it was busy but it's not that bigger place and they had enough staff on. I was getting impatient now!
I ordered the french brioche toast with bacon and banana, the bacon looked like it had been left uncovered in the fridge and didn't taste great, the brioche was great. LV ordered the eggs benedict galette with smoked salmon, looked and tasted great, the galette was filled with spinach. ES had the big breakfast and she too did not like the bacon, it had no taste and put her off the rest of the meat that came with the breakfast.
Overall I was not really impressed with this place, maybe the Sunday Star Times reviewer came during the week, but she has certainly helped increase popularity. Although reading other reviews on line it is definitely a popular place.
Rating:
Food: 2.5
Service: 2
Ambiance:2.5
Coffee: 4
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