Cafes in your area (North Island)

[1/32 man]

Not one for reviews but like to make recommendations...please add yours.

As I am in Hawkes Bay here are a few that I have had good eperiences at.

Cafe Norsewood....Norsewood
Hatuma Cafe...Waipukarau
Paper Mulberry....Te Aute
RedBridge Coffee container...Havelock North
Adoro....Ahuriri Napier
Cafe 5 Tarawera....Tarawera State Highway 5

[Laava]

Brown Sugar, Taihape
Helena Bay cafe, Helena bay hill
utopia Cafe , Kaiwaka
The Office cafe, maungatapere
Old Parakao Store, parakao-twin bridges
marina Cafe, Baffin St, Opua
The Deck, Mcleods bay-whangarei heads

[R650R]

Couple of my fav locals are already busy enough so not sharing lol but others of note in last couple years of travel:
Nth Island
Hui hut Mangakino great coffee and awesome choc brownie
Ernesto’s in Wellington killling time before ferry.

South Island
Picton village bakery - an affordable non glitzy cafe on outskirts of CBD, limited seating as it’s more your tradie lunch bar type place but good food.
Courthouse Cafe Collingwood
Stone Oven Bakery Hokitika - good sit down coffee and meal in town centre
Beechwood’s Murchison big new place good value feed. Stopped here because the awesome Commercial Hotel and Cafe that was across road has been demolished due to quake stuff.

A couple of outstanding mentions due to quality of coffee
Tees st cafe Oamaru
Oasis cafe Omarama

[Burnie]

Franks Cafe - Ohakune:love:

[pritch]

This is more difficult than it should be. My favourite cafe recently changed owners - and the beans they use. Their coffee, formerly excellent, is now crap.

My main source of coffee now is a pub, Stumble Inn. Their coffee is not a ten out of ten but it's acceptable. You do need to know where to park, it'll cost sixty bucks if you get it wrong.

Similarly there are several cafes in Oakura but they are all closed by mid afternoon. The pub, Butler's Reef, isn't and last time I had a coffee there it was good enough.
There is a glazed seating area overlooking the road, pleasant if it's not too hot.

A club I have cause to visit regularly used to have an urn of hot water and some Nescafe. They have a new machine and the bar staff have received barista training. Their coffee seems fine. Following the AGM Saturday there was a free drink to all attendees. There were probably more coffees served than beers.

Just a thought, don't overlook the pubs.

[Vinz0r]

If you're in Hamilton, Brown Brothers Raglan Roast, on Te Rapa Straight.
Consistently fantastic coffee at a good price, and the cafe is an old drilling workshop.

[1/32 man]

Thanks gentlemen...keep your recommendations coming.


There were probably more coffees served than beers. This makes me think NZ men might be changing/have changed.
I visited the Blackdog in Matamau before it closed after the sad death of its owner and an old biker mate was there. He looked up and down the table and said, "Nobody drinking?" as he clutched his beer. We were all on Bundaberg ginger beer.
Maybe the idea that alcohol and riding motorcycles isnt a great mix is settling in?

[neels]

Stopped here because the awesome Commercial Hotel and Cafe that was across road has been demolished due to quake stuff.
That's a bit sad, but explains why last time I was there hunting out some dinner it looked very permanently closed.


My main source of coffee now is a pub, Stumble Inn. Their coffee is not a ten out of ten but it's acceptable. You do need to know where to park, it'll cost sixty bucks if you get it wrong.
Seems this is not a unique problem, although after a bit of negative publicity it's likely the problem will solve itself.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/301018736/its-a-racket-why-a-man-got-96-fine-when-getting-two-coffees


Just a thought, don't overlook the pubs.
I suspect most pubs that are open early hours would make more from coffee than anything else these days.

My only recent outing for a coffee up north, Papamoa bakery did a presentable coffee to go with an equally presentable sausage roll. Otherwise I'll give anything a go that looks reasonable and isn't a starbucks/coffee club/other equally faceless corporate franchise.

[frogfeaturesFZR]

DD’s cafe in Waitoki, and The Ginger Crunch in the old railway station in Helensville are worth the stop.:yes:

[speedpro]

Cafe Norsewood....Norsewood

I can second Cafe Norsewood. Very good

[pritch]

T

Seems this is not a unique problem, although after a bit of negative publicity it's likely the problem will solve itself.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/301018736/its-a-racket-why-a-man-got-96-fine-when-getting-two-coffees



That is savage.

[BikeLED]

Not one for reviews but like to make recommendations...please add yours.

As I am in Hawkes Bay here are a few that I have had good eperiences at.

Cafe Norsewood....Norsewood
Hatuma Cafe...Waipukarau
Paper Mulberry....Te Aute
RedBridge Coffee container...Havelock North
Adoro....Ahuriri Napier
Cafe 5 Tarawera....Tarawera State Highway 5

The Figgery at Te Mata is bloody good. 205 Napier Road. Great coffee and if you're peckish, have a look at their antipasto platter - a great selection of comestibles. https://tematafigs.co.nz/pages/cafe

The Craft and Social in Hastings is good too. Good coffee, and a pint if you need it: https://craftandsocial.co.nz

[Moise]

Where do I start…. I won’t mention any Auckland cafes as no one comes here unless they have to.

The ones that come to mind immediately are:

Whatawhata cafe. Decent coffee and food and it’s just the right distance from home for a break if I’m heading south-west.

Te Uku Roast Office. If you ride from Auckland to Raglan the back way (was SH22), this is the first place you can get a coffee after leaving Tuakau. There are any number of decent places in Raglan, but sometimes you just need a coffee now, and it is very good.

The coffee cart at the pub in National Park. If it’s a nice day, you can enjoy the view with your coffee, and if the weather is shit, as usual, you can go inside the pub and warm up by the fire. (The cafe round the corner from the GAS has gone, unfortunately.)


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[wetanz]

i drink an unsweetened long black and find it difficult to get a decent one, roasters and baristas here tend to burn their coffee - i carry a box of JEDS #5 coffee bags and a tin-mug, just get a fill of boiling water - also usually carry a small primus-can make a coffee pretty much anywhere

-have found a couple of surprises tho - somewhere between Kaukapakapa and Silverdale i found a coffee cart sitting in the middle of an empty paddock - was ok
-in the basement, entry from the road at the back, Shetland rd?-Glen Eden-Akld, sozo coffee house was a pleasant find
-beside the barn, opposite Tomarata rugby club (Wellsford), was a decent coffee and sausage roll
-sh10 roundabout to Paihia (Pie-here) at Puketona is actually not a bad pie
-the red bakery bottom of Kaikohe does an ok pie too, just watch the chinese girl, she deliberately steals your change
-sh10 Awanui, Big River Cafe, coffee wasnt bad either, the bloke seems to enjoy cooking too
-if youre waiting for the ferry at Rawene, the Boatshed does a lovely burnt coffee, but its nice sitting on the deck out the back over the water

JEDS #5 keeping you alive

[pete376403]

i drink an unsweetened long black and find it difficult to get a decent one, roasters and baristas here tend to burn their coffee - i carry a box of JEDS #5 coffee bags and a tin-mug, just get a fill of boiling water - also usually carry a small primus-can make a coffee pretty much anywhere

Not a cafe but a bean roaster to try - CoffeelaLa from Coromandel, their La Bomb roast I find is perfect for an unsweetened black. (Long or otherwise) I have tried the Jeds bags but found it rather bitter.
https://www.coffeelala.com/

[wetanz]

got a sister in amodeo bay-maybe one day i will get there

i drop in to ikarus coffee in pekerau hills, doubtless bay, northland sometimes - grower/roaster - grows and roasts his own beans, not a bad visit actually, spend a few hours picking beans

all time favourite coffee is fine ground as in turkish or greek coffee - brew it over a primus, 2 tsp for my mug, boil til it froths, pour, drink - mediterraneans and middle easterners drink this very sweet, up to 4 tsp gran. brown sugar per serving mixed into and brewed with the coffee grounds - easy to brew up on the run

[Moise]

i drink an unsweetened long black and find it difficult to get a decent one, roasters and baristas here tend to burn their coffee - i carry a box of JEDS #5 coffee bags and a tin-mug, just get a fill of boiling water - also usually carry a small primus-can make a coffee pretty much anywhere

-have found a couple of surprises tho - somewhere between Kaukapakapa and Silverdale i found a coffee cart sitting in the middle of an empty paddock - was ok
-in the basement, entry from the road at the back, Shetland rd?-Glen Eden-Akld, sozo coffee house was a pleasant find
-beside the barn, opposite Tomarata rugby club (Wellsford), was a decent coffee and sausage roll
-sh10 roundabout to Paihia (Pie-here) at Puketona is actually not a bad pie
-the red bakery bottom of Kaikohe does an ok pie too, just watch the chinese girl, she deliberately steals your change
-sh10 Awanui, Big River Cafe, coffee wasnt bad either, the bloke seems to enjoy cooking too
-if youre waiting for the ferry at Rawene, the Boatshed does a lovely burnt coffee, but its nice sitting on the deck out the back over the water

JEDS #5 keeping you alive

I find Roma coffee is usually pretty decent and rarely tastes burnt. They have a place just off the motorway at Drury, and quite a few cafes use their beans.

I've had a coffee at the cart at Tomarata but it's not often there when I go past.

It does seem to depend a bit on the barista. We were camping recently at Waipu Cove, and the coffee there is generally average. But a couple of takeaway coffees made quite early were much better. Nothing to do the the gorgeous young woman who made them!

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[1/32 man]

Found a new to me cafe in Woodville as I stopped with some others on the way back to napier from Manfeild on Sunday...I think its called Cafe 88.

Anyway no matter where I order a coffee it is ....regular flat white, one sugar, in a takeaway cup with a lid.
It tastes better but I still need a piss soon after.

[pritch]

I have tried the Jeds bags but found it rather bitter.


I did like Jeds in the plunger. Currently I start the day with a long black from my Bialetti stove top thingy. Bialettis can produce bitter coffee so the recommendation is to avoid dark roasted beans. The particular pot I have is small and I have considered taking it on the road if I was staying in a motel. The morning coffee would be better than what is normally on offer.

[neels]

I did like Jeds in the plunger. Currently I start the day with a long black from my Bialetti stove top thingy. Bialettis can produce bitter coffee so the recommendation is to avoid dark roasted beans. The particular pot I have is small and I have considered taking it on the road if I was staying in a motel. The morning coffee would be better than what is normally on offer.
I take my portable espresso maker (https://www.wacaco.com/products/minipresso-gr) with me when camping or travelling for this reason, and to save having to go out somewhere to find a not instant coffee in the morning.

[Blackbird]

I did like Jeds in the plunger. Currently I start the day with a long black from my Bialetti stove top thingy. Bialettis can produce bitter coffee so the recommendation is to avoid dark roasted beans. The particular pot I have is small and I have considered taking it on the road if I was staying in a motel. The morning coffee would be better than what is normally on offer.

That's my morning brew too Ron - Jeds No 5 dark roast in a plunger to be precise.

For anyone wanting great cafes whilst doing the Coromandel Loop, it's worth turning off the Loop at the Hahei/Hot Water Beach turn and taking Purangi Road which goes past Cooks Beach and down to the passenger ferry across to Whitianga. There are 3 cracking cafes on that road with massive amounts of parking and excellent food. The first one you come to is The Hive, followed by Eggcentric and Ferry Landing. You can find them all on the 'net and locations on Google Maps.

[Moise]

Thanks for that, Coromandel is a mixed bag for cafes. I like the cafe at Waiomu, but that's more the location than the coffee. Umu in Coromandel town isn't what it used to be. I'm struggling after that as I haven't explored the main centres, although I've had good coffees in Whangamata at a couple of the smaller cafes.

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[Blackbird]

Thanks for that, Coromandel is a mixed bag for cafes. I like the cafe at Waiomu, but that's more the location than the coffee. Umu in Coromandel town isn't what it used to be. I'm struggling after that as I haven't explored the main centres, although I've had good coffees in Whangamata at a couple of the smaller cafes.

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The Pepper Tree round the corner from Umu is excellent but a tad more upmarket (taking my wife there today for brownie points :innocent:). The others I mentioned are well-priced and as the road dead-ends, there's normally plenty of room and it's a nice bike road too. I should have mentioned Luke's Kitchen at Kuaotunu too. Busy in summer but service is always pretty quick no matter what. Their pizza menu is great - antipasto is divine! https://www.lukeskitchen.co.nz/

[Laava]

The Broadway Tearooms in Reefton was pretty good recently, so good I went back a second time.

[Dave C]

Brown Sugar, Taihape
Helena Bay cafe, Helena bay hill
utopia Cafe , Kaiwaka
The Office cafe, maungatapere
Old Parakao Store, parakao-twin bridges
marina Cafe, Baffin St, Opua
The Deck, Mcleods bay-whangarei heads

Yes, would vouch for all of those, especially Helena Bay followed by a blast through 50-odd k’s of twisty road to Russell! Also the Waterfront Cafe in Rawene on the Hokianga, setting yourself up for a ride south through Waipoua forest. If you need a top up in Dargaville, Blah Blah Blah will do the business.

[Moise]

The Broadway Tearooms in Reefton was pretty good recently, so good I went back a second time.[emoji106] It felt like stepping back in time!

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[release_the_bees]

The Office cafe, Maungatapere

I can confirm this is a good option. I went there on Wednesday, arriving shortly after closing time. They were happy to keep the café open, which was highly appreciated.

Their bacon and egg pie is worth going back for!

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[roogazza]

Got out for a nice fang Tuesday , Levin to Pahiatua.

There are 4 coffee places in the main drag of the Tua.
The Pahiatua Cafe on the left hand side heading north is my Fav. (owned by a young Asian couple,they are closed Mondays as they work weekends).

Coffee is nice and the food good too. Two tables inside but you can sit around out front as well...:cool: