Herald rating:
The menu made a refreshing change from the normal big breakfast and corn fritters on offer at so many cafes. The menu reads "winter edition", so obviously changes are afoot with the seasons.
The look was airy and modern, with large swallow motifs swooping down on the wall above the counter.
The food was well portioned and beautifully presented. We ordered the house made granola with pomegranate poached pear, earl grey yoghurt, honeycomb and orange fluid gel ($13); eggs benedict with blood orange hollandaise, watercress, handmade bagel and salmon pastrami ($18); eggs "any style" - scrambled to perfection in our case - with toast ($12); and, in a brave new experiment for one of us, the lamb's kidneys with Pedro Ximenez cream, shallots, pine needle oil and mustard leaf ($18), which was deemed good. The yoghurt proved to have little sign of the earl grey and with the eggs bene the sauce was more hollandaise than blood orange, which was disappointing. A trip to the counter saw us return with a pain au chocolat (perfect) and a slice of toasted pistachio loaf (ditto).
The coffee was top-notch and the hot chocolate too. We were intrigued with the "deconstructed hot chocolate" on the menu.
