Phone: 09 8128808
Open: Monday and Wednesday 8am-3pm Thursday-Saturday, Sunday, 8am-9.30pm
Cost: $52 for two adults.
SET UP & SITE
It was a sunny Sunday morning in mid-August, not at all cold, ideal for a drive over the Waitakere Ranges, and I vaguely recalled that, despite his early involvement in the resource consent process, Marc Ellis had eventually not played any role in the set-up of this beautiful cafe with its incredible view.
SUSTENANCE & SWILL
The menu is simple and was even more simple on the day we visited because they had, basically, run out of food. I queued at the counter for a good couple of minutes and when it came time to order what the cafe referred to as the "Kiwi Fry Up" ($23), its version of a big breakfast, which is the standard, the mainstay of any serious cafe's brunch offering, the woman behind the counter said: "Sorry, no Fry Ups." She pointed to a spot just in front of her on the counter, where, written in red marker was the following list: No sausage; No tomatoes; No Fry Ups; No hash browns; No gluten-free bread. It was an astonishing collection, given it was just after 11am and the cafe, while busy, wasn't what you'd call jammed. Let's be nice and say it was an unseasonably warm winter's morning and they had underestimated the speed of global warming. I ordered the eggs benny with bacon ($18.50) for my wife and the pancakes with maple syrup, berry compote and whipped cream ($16.50) for me. When I got back to the table, my wife had got us some water.
