Friendly service!…read more We walked here from our hotel on the lakefront path. Coffee was great. Gorgeous view, right on Lake Taupo.

Had lunch indoors on a drizzly day…read more The best part about Espresso Cove is the view of Lake Taupo. I thought the layout design was quite smart, maximizing the diners' views of the lake, seen clearly from almost every dining location. We were fortunate to be seated right next to a window, a coveted spot! The food is decent. I tried the eggs benedict with salmon over toast, benedict over potato pancake, as well as the asparagus special. The prices seemed a little high for the portions. The coffee was also pretty good. Service was good. Some of the servers seemed pretty new, but they compensated by being extra attentive, helpful, and friendly, which I appreciated. Parking was not too difficult to find, though a bit of maneuvering is needed to fit right into their spots.

This was our first stop in Lake Taupo. I really loved the atmosphere. We had breakfast and amazing…read morecoffee. I highly recommend.

Amazing vibe, great staff, the pancakes were so delectable and light, but not too filling. Would…read morehighly recommend this spot for brunch!

The food was simply amazing…read more The restaurant is cozy and very romantic. Service was friendly and efficient. The crème brûlée was beyond delicious. Order it. I would love to go back and try other dishes.

Exceptional! The meal was superb, we both got the fresh fish, squash/pumpkin and the duck fat…read morepotatoes. The food was exquisite. Desert and coffee also the highest quality. The staff are friendly, welcoming and offer a fine dining experience with a warm atmosphere and reasonable prices. Excellent find!

Amazing menu, fun atmosphere, friendly staff! Great food and priced well. Will definitely go again.read more

My wife and I went to Bodyfuel and had a coffee, a flat White. It's the best Flat White we've had…read moreso far after one week in New Zealand and about 20 well done Flat Whites. From the first sip to the last drop, the balance of well roasted beans and perfectly creamy steamed milk delivered great satisfaction. It's not often that the quality, high quality, of the bean roasting and flavor comes through. The beans were roasted brilliantly for a Flat White, not so dark that that all of the origin flavors are gone, not so light that my face puckered from wild green beans. The coffee flavor was strong, balanced and nicely tempered with perfectly steamed milk. A sign in front of the shop said something like Try our award winning espresso made by our award winning barista. We're very happy we did. Sorry we haven't tried any of the food yet, it looked great.

Great location cafe with interesting mosaic sculpture garden and gallery/shop…read more Good range of counter food. Cakes, pies, sandwiches. Salmon bagel looked delicious and very generous with toppings. Blackboard menu with all the usual brunch fare. Coffee was good, nice flavour and well made. Service friendly.

This art cafe is definitely living up its name. There is art and a cafe with great food selections…read more We wanted more breakfast food so we opted with benedicts and corn fritters but they also had amazing salad and sandwich choices (I was looking at other tables near us). I'd definitely recommend coming in to check out the art, they have a small gift shop attached to the cafe for some interesting/cute products. There is a mosaic living room outside in the garden when you walked into the premise. Everything about this place is so quaint. I'd recommend coming in even if it's just for a quick coffee/tea to enjoy the scenery of the garden.

I felt like I was walking into "Cheers" - where everybody knows your name. This is an almost…read moresuburban cafe just outside of Taupo's main bustle that attracts nearby locals and the odd out-of-town visitor like myself. You'll feel right at home at this funky little cafe serving a generous selection of brunch options with a handful of specials. The Atomic coffee could have been made by a champion barista and the staff were all full of energy and smiles. A nice, independent and cosy spot.

Pretty happy. Food was amazing! It was very tasty and also decent serving sized. The coffee was a…read morelittle bit of a let down. Cappuccino was too frothy (there wasn't a lot of milk) and long black was more of an espresso. But would recommend regardless. Staff were very friendly; they noticed we were tourists and gave us a map and recommended a few places we should see!

Good value bakery…read more Great selection of pies sandwiches cakes etc. Had a ham wrap that was packed full and tasty. Small meat savoury pie great. Chicken roll had a good amount of filling also Quality of ingredients equal to the price.

Another place where we liked it so much, we came back for round 2 while on vacation!…read more They just offer a really simple thing, we put delicious filling into our flaky golden yellow pies. They also have sandwiches, fries, and other things but you come here for those pies! It's a cafeteria style service where you get a tray and just slide down from each heated display window to the next. You can pick out the delicious goodies that you want to eat and then pay at the end. We absolutely adored their flaky crispy pies that had all sorts of different fillings. A lot of classic combinations such as chicken and mushroom, steak & kidney, smoked fish, sweet lamb curry, and butter chicken. It's hard to have just one. I think my favourite thing I discovered there was their double happy roll. What makes it double happy? It was filled with ground beef on one side and creamy mashed potatoes in the other. Yum yum! There's nothing fancy about the food but it's just great great comfort food at a great value. It's bound to make you smile.

Food & cocktails were amazing. Service was great. Shoved at how easy it was to get into on a…read moreSaturday night. Perfect spot for a date night.

Probably the worst meal we've had in New Zealand. Starters were lamb croquettes and scallops. Both…read morewere deep fried to within an inch of their lives. The lamb was peculiarly puréed with all the consistency of paste. The scallops had been robbed of all flavour via the deep frying process. Both inedible, leaving a greasy taste in the mouth. Dire. Removed by the very pleasant server without comment. We shared a sirloin steak which wasn't bad although the miserable helping of French fries was not appreciated. The béarnaise sauce was thin and tasteless but cost an additional $5 for some reason. We had a cosmopolitan and a margarita which, oddly, arrived after the starters but seemed to have little or no alcohol content. At least they couldn't mess up on the very nice Pinot Noir. Never again.