The green fritters and the fermented chilli scramble at Wren Cafe. Photo / Fiona Goodall / Getty Images
Wren Cafe
46 Lunn Avenue, Mt Wellington
Ph: (09) 553 8927
We spent: $83 for two adults and three children
We Arrived: Lunn Avenue is arguably this country's most unappealing suburban commercial corridor. This one short road is packed on both sides with some of the biggest, most important consumption palaces in the
country: Mitre 10 Mega, New World, Farro Fresh, Wild Bean Cafe, The Warehouse (under construction), Placemakers, a stream of convenience dining places and many assorted weirdnesses. All day on a Saturday cars queue at the exit of every carpark, struggling to get out on to the clogged road, which is impossible for pedestrians to cross. The street is free of natural beauty and, now we come to it, man-made beauty. The only readily identifiable unifying design principle behind the street is, "Let's make money!"
This long build-up is to tell you I had low expectations for Wren's aesthetic appeal and to follow by telling you they were severely exceeded. Glossy green subway tiles, Victorian-style street lamps mounted on the walls, bulbous bamboo overhead light fittings: deep consideration had gone into these and everything else. Wren is in a carpark, wedged between Flooring Xtra and Akl Spa Co and is on one of Auckland's least beautiful streets, but other than that, it's the most visually appealing cafe I've visited in an age - or possibly two.
We Ate: The astonishing aesthetics continued on to the plate. I was, frankly, befuddled by the care they took - that they could afford to take it. The quantity and careful arrangement of edible flowers on every sweet dish, the elegant scattering of berries and crushed pistachios on the banana buckwheat pancakes ($21), the ornate interweaving of variously sliced vegetables on the green fritters ($22), the inverted cone of chilli floss on the fermented chilli scramble ($20), the consideration and contrast of colour and shape across the table: I could have looked at that food all day.
The fritters were earthy and bright. They were crunchy with overlaid vegetables. The fermented chill scramble came on a thick bed of sourdough and the tower of chilli floss delivered, spice-wise. With mustard seeds, curry leaves, parmesan and coriander, there was a lot going on on that plate. Some might say too much - but not me.
