I went here for brunch. I ordered a Latte and the French toast. That latte was really good. It was…read morenice and creamy and had a nice foam design on top. The French toast was great. It was soft and fluffy. It came with a whole fried banana and huge bacon slices. There was a couple apple and orange slices on the side. Staff were really friendly. Service was really fast. There was indoor and outdoor seating. They have a small car park in front. The outdoor seating is dog friendly.

The coffee was amazing The food is so delicious made with…read morefresh ingredients Absolute 5 *****

This is a damn good little know Cafe across from Blue Bird's Dorito making factory in Wiri…read more Really nice Avicado Smash that comes with poached egg on Ciabata. Cafe here is really good Altura coffee that rocks. Plenty of parking. If you are in South Auckland and want something other than fast food go try The Artisan. Also good is the Spanish Hunter which is chorizo and mushrooms! Really tasty and Lo carb.

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.

Good view. Great food. Great Service…read more I often come here in the weekends to just sit and chat with friends and family. The cafe is just big enough to have some privacy yet not so big that it feels like a big empty restaurant. There is semi outdoor seating with protective cover on windy days with a great view overlooking the water. The counter has a huge selection of mouth watering dishes from pastries to salads. It has all the staples of a typical cafe menu to everything in between.

Last Sunday, as I waited in the queue to order my regular iced coffee and fruit salad, I overheard…read morea woman behind me saying "There's so much choice you don't know what to have", and her friend replied "And it all looks so good". And its true. Ara-Tai café has a mouth-watering selection of counter food (try the giant iced cookies or a blueberry bran muffin), as well as breakfast and lunch menus featuring the classics like eggs Benedict and more specialty seafood dishes. I've never had a bad food experience here, and perhaps that's why whenever it's open, it's heaving. Airy, clean and fresh inside, you get a cheerful view of the marina through the big windows, and it's totally family-friendly. They also have a generous amount of outdoor seating if you want to bring you dog. Well worth the wait in the queue.

First meal in Auckland! We were looking for places walking distance from our hotel. Came across…read moreFederal and Wolfe on our handy dandy Yelp app. I love how easy it is to find places here. You can find this delicious breakfast café on the corner of Federal Street and Wolfe street, just like the name! They have a variety of items on their menu. You order at the counter and then can grab a table. The Grub = Dukkah Eggs $19.50. This dish comes with sourdough toast loaded with bacon, poached egg, feta and dekkah spices. This was so delicious and so filling. I highly recommend ordering this item.

Great restaurant for comfort food, breakfast, lunch. Dining Al Fresco watching the Sky Tower jumps.read more

This is one of my favourite cafes in Auckland! They have a gorgeous little courtyard you can sit…read morein, and quite a bit of space inside. If you choose to sit outside (and I really prefer it), they have fleece blankets to ward off the cold. So cute! There is free wifi, the coffees are really good, and they have a $6 coffee & slice deal. I just tried their waffles for the first time this weekend, and they were so, so good. But very large, so I'd suggest sharing! The waitresses are always lovely and friendly, and they're always playing piano versions of anime songs, which is an adorable quirk. Few things make me happier than good coffee, sweet treats and listening to the My Neighbour Totoro theme song!

One of the few places with wifi available for patrons in Parnell, unless you want to head down to…read moreEsquires and endure their hideous coffee. The internet is fast and works well outside in the courtyard, which is a nice place to sit on a good day (can be a bit breezy though). Good strong hot coffee is on offer, and also a moderately-priced lunch menu available. I didn't get any food, but the girls next to me got a waffle with a huge amount of whipped cream on it with berry sauce, which made me get quite substantial food envy. Nice chilled acoustic music plays in the background, and is quite audible outside as there is an outside speaker. When it is too sunny or raining, they put up a cover over the courtyard, so you can still enjoy your coffee in the atmospheric, cobblestoned space outside without getting too hot or rained on.

3.5 stars, but I'll round up as the service was very friendly…read more Stopped by here for brunch on the drive down from Auckland to Rotorua. I got one of their egg sandwiches, which I didn't realize would be so big. It was decent tasting, but a bit too much for me. Instead, the bf and I came here primarily to partake in one of their ridiculous milkshake. Yes, a milkshake for breakfast. Looks like a lot of the other patrons, most notably the younger crowds, were here for that same reason. We opted for their strawberry diva, which was a 1.5 foot tall monstrosity of decadence and sin. It had white chocolate bits, strawberry jam, sprinkles, thick strands of cotton candy floss, whipped cream, a stick of rock candy, along with the requisite strawberry ice cream that made up the milkshake. Just a messy, sticky treat, and it tasted like pure sugary sweetness. Not sure if other places in Auckland have things like this, but if you happen to have a hankering for sweets that only a very tall milkshake would fulfill, this would be a pretty safe bet for you to try out.

I REALLLLLLLY wanted to love this place. I was so excited to finally get here after walking by so…read moremany times. I came on a Sunday morning (expected it to be busy, which it was) with my boyfriend. We got a little two person table and scoured the menu. I had read online that they have vegan options. They are well known for their shakes, which look 1000% amazing and I really wanted one (legit the reason we came here). But when I asked the server, she said there were no vegan options for the shakes - the only vegan option on the menu was the acai bowl. I love a good healthy vegan option, but when you go somewhere hoping for a shake and come out with an expensive and moderate acai bowl, it's a tad bit disappointing. The server was really nice and the place n is cute, but they seemed completely understaffed. There was like one server for the entire restaurant. I ordered the acai bowl and my boyfriend ordered the avo toast. We had to ask someone if we could order after waiting for like 15 mins and then we waited another 25 mins for our food to come out. I try to be understanding when it's busy as I've worked in restaurants but it seems like they definitely need to hire more people. I'm hoping I just came on an unfortunately understaffed day. I wish they would offer vegan shakes. When they do, I'll be back!

We will not be eating here again. They messed up our order…read moreafter confirming it on a screen with us. Instead of a simple apology they strongly insisted that we pay the difference of twenty dollars with staff frequently coming to our table to hassle us while we were eating. I would have paid such a small amount without complaint out of conscience, except they blamed us for THEIR MISTAKE and lied to say the manager wasn't around (he later came out). We paid the extra $20 so that the staff member wouldn't have it docked from her pay.

We had been on several occasions to this lovely venue but unfortunately our last visit on the 2nd…read moreFebruary will be our last. We booked a table for 5 on the balcony only to be shown to a shady cooler area outside and told when we got there that they didn't have space on the balcony (we pre booked ??) one of our party was over 80 and felt the cold. OK the occasion was my wife's birthday and when it came time to order some in the group ordered breakfast (it was 11.45am and the waitress asked us what time it was) and some ordered lunch Sorry can't mix n match.... Obviously the kitchen magically runs out of breakfast ingredients at noon ?? So we left, no argument and went and spent our money($300 plus) at Grangers at Half Moon Bay. We will not be returning to this venue.

Before I moved to this part of Auckland, I found this to be a convenient spot to meet with Highland…read morePark locals. It's a cafe run by Asians (of course), and has some good food and coffee for you to enjoy. There are indeed some nice bamboo decorations about, and the cabinet is filled with delicious temptations. I've noticed people enjoy eavesdropping on your conversation here, perhaps from a lack of things to do. I guess I did have a few study dates here, and that intrigued people a bit too much! haha Aside from that, I really like this place. The staff are really friendly, and don't seem at all in a hurry to usher you out the door. (even though you know you've been there 3 hours and really ought to order something else!)

I'm not a major fan of Howick so don't really frequent it that often. So I don't really get to try…read moreout all it has to offer. Having said that the Bamboo Garden Cafe was quite nice when I went there recently. I'm a fan of asian cuisine so can be quite fussy when I try a new place (new for me) that serves it. Their blackboard was great for the many options on offer and on display in cabinet too. I didn't really like the set up though. It is a vast space so could be used in a number of ways. The way they have set up the restaurant makes it look like a sidenote - you know the kinds of restaurants that are attached to like a museum or something. It just wasn't to my liking, too much like a cafeteria for my taste. They did offer a lot of vegetarian options though which was great, and expected as with most asian restaurants. They also do take aways so that is a plus.

My new favourite local eatery…read more Oozing with charm and tranquility, St Margaret's Cafe is a perfect way to unwind with a stunning garden outlook (I imagine especially so in Spring), warm and inviting service and the food..., the food was just amazing! So good in fact, that I had to have dessert with my breakfast (and I would totally recommend the season fruits with mango sorbet and nut brittle to all).

A friend of mine recommended this place, and since I was on holiday, a drive out to the Karaka…read morecountryside sounded like a nice lunch excursion. And WOW! Am I glad I made the effort! This place is seriously one of Auckland's hidden gems. The name "Country Cafe" does it no favours. We turned up on a stunning spring Friday, and discovered the most gorgeous country garden setting, complete with lake - St Margarets is apparently such a popular wedding venue during the summer months that Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays are mostly fully booked. I can see why. Entranced by the scenery, we sat down & got just as engrossed in the menu! A delicious selection of salads & more substantial main dishes made it really difficult to choose. We opted for the Chargrilled Smoked Chicken & Candied Walnut Salad with potato & bacon & dressed with maple aioli, as well as the Oriental Sticky Slow-Cooked Pork Belly Sandwich with salad & spiced pineapple chutney. I learnt a while ago never to go past pork belly on a menu, and I haven't been disappointed yet. Both meals were stunning - visually gorgeous & utterly delicious. Well worth the drive, and with such picturesque surroundings to walk off your meal, you can bet I'll be making the drive again.