Welcome Eatery. Photography by Mike Rooke
Upper North Island Finalist
WELCOME EATERY
Welcome Eatery started with a winning formula in mid-2014 and haven’t looked back. Fast, fresh and friendly: it’s written boldly on the wall of the neighbourhood cafe and sums up the menu and service nicely. Seasonal, on-trend ingredients are a feature of the menu, like soy-baked heirloom carrots or a beef bun of seared ginger beef rump with kimchi slaw.
There are whimsical touches too, such as the Divorced Eggs: two fried eggs with separate salsas. Even cafe standards like French toast are given their best expression on the Welcome menu.
Welcome Eatery. Photography by Mike Rooke
The French toast is a blueberry-stuffed brioche slab and it’s served with lemon curd and vanilla mascarpone. The salmon eggs Benedict gets a contemporary makeover with house-smoked fish, on Irish wheaten bread with poached eggs and lemon and dill quark.
The cakes are an Instagrammer’s dream, all served with a great range of organic teas or Supreme coffee.
Welcome Eatery, 181 Grafton Road,
Grafton, Auckland
The District. Photography by Ken Downie
Central North Island Finalist
THE DISTRICT
They’re taking classic cafe and bistro dishes and elevating them into something spectacular at The District in Hamilton. Owners Suzanne and Adrian Hodgson place an emphasis on quality seasonal ingredients served in seriously satisfying portions.
The District. Photography by Ken Downie
Comfort classics get the star treatment: the ‘meat lovers’ pizza is a feast of pork belly, chorizo and pancetta with peach barbecue sauce; burgers feature slow-cooked meats like pork belly and beef short rib and are served with chunky fries.
The District. Photography by Ken Downie
You can gluten-free your pizza base and you get the choice of bap or brioche for your burger. There are more hard choices to be made at The District: gingerbread French toast with banana, rhubarb compote and vanilla bean mascarpone vie with the likes of huevos rancheros with avocado salsa, chipotle sauce and feta cheese for your morning repast.
It gets harder still at dinner on Thursday and Friday nights with Adrian preparing decadent plates of grass-fed Hereford scotch, and Hawke’s Bay lamb rump, then delivering a coup de grâce with crème brulée, sticky date pudding, and lemon citrus tart.
The District, 19 Home Straight,
Te Rapa, Hamilton
Sweet Vanilla Kitchen. Photography by Mike Heydon
Lower North Island Finalist
SWEET VANILLA KITCHEN
Lucky Lower Hutt. The Wellington region boasts one of the best cafes in the city in Sweet Vanilla Kitchen.
Tucked inside a cute old cottage, you can find a seat in one of the rooms off the main area or a sweet spot in the outdoor courtyard, if you’re lucky.An amazing, ever-changing selection of cabinet food and baking catches the eye upon entering.
Sweet Vanilla Kitchen. Photography by Mike Heydon
If you make it past the likes of sticky date and orange cake, Mediterranean quiche or chocolate mud cake at the counter, you can also order from the blackboard menu.
You’ll find pancakes with banana and salted caramel sauce, aged scotch fillet steak sandwich with watercress, or salmon on pumpernickel with cottage cheese, kale, baby spinach and pickled beetroot awaiting you there.
With a menu that features a large number of gluten-free options it’s great for those with special dietary requirements. It’s simple, creative and fresh cuisine served fast enough to keep the hordes of customers happy.
Sweet Vanilla Kitchen, 49 Pretoria Street,
Wellington
Somerset Grocer. Photography by Petra Mingeau
South Island Finalist
SOMERSET GROCER
A gourmet cafe and deli located in the heart of Ashburton where the pick of local and international produce is displayed on the shelves and served up for breakfast and lunch daily.
An all-day menu full of classic cafe menu items like blueberry pancakes, and free-range eggs on toast is beautifully buttressed by cabinets creaking in salads, muffins, frittatas, cakes and slices.
Somerset Grocer. Photography by Petra Mingeau
Try the imaginatively stuffed baked potatoes, muffins with fillings like sweet basil, feta and prosciutto; roast vegetable croissants crammed with slabs of fried haloumi or the popular bacon benny: an eggs Benedict in a bread roll.
Sweet treats like rhubarb and custard muffins or lemon curd friands are the perfect partner to a tea or coffee and there is a great range of refreshing gelato flavours to choose from like banoffee, green apple and strawberry.
Somerset Grocer, 161 Burnett Street,
Ashburton
The Store.
People’s Choice
THE STORE @ TAI TAPU
The lycra legions stop by on their perambulations, and it’s a popular location on the way to historic Akaroa or as an afternoon tea drive from Christchurch.
The Store in Tai Tapu is renowned for its High Teas and you have to book 24 hours in advance to secure the elegant selections of finger sandwiches, tartlets, scones, meringues and cupcakes.
There’s a lot more on offer at this destination eatery, starting in the morning with options like the Breakfast Burger: a brioche bun stuffed with scrambled egg, bacon, spinach, cheese and aioli or classics like the big breakfast, eggs Benedict and crêpes – all tricked out with house-made sauces, preserves and pestos. Soups, enchiladas, fish finger butties, salads and larger plates of salmon and pork belly cater to all lunch appetites, with the promise of inventive ice cream sundaes to follow.
It’s a unique blend of food, coffee, wine and giftware at The Store. Local producers and artists feature strongly in the menus and gift range.
They have the size and skill to handle large groups and as the weather gets warmer the large outside courtyard area becomes the most coveted spot in town.
687 Main Akaroa Highway,
Tai Tapu, Christchurch
The Block Cafe.
Best Menu
THE BLOCK CAFE
The excellent menu offerings at The Block have put Blockhouse Bay on the brunch radar for many Aucklanders.
The brunch and lunch menu elevates classic dishes with clever ingredients and ideas: wild boar sausage adds some grunt to the Big Block breakfast, the poached eggs are flavoured with truffle and served with stuffed field mushrooms, and decadent confit duck is served on sautéed potatoes and fried eggs.
Extra touches like tangy Italian condiment vincotto finish the French toast and make you feel some thought and care has been put into creating each dish.
If you’re lunching rather than brunching, there are sliders, or chilli calamari salad, or good old beer-battered market fish and chips. The dinner menu offers mains and smaller sharing plates including pizzas and a range of tasty burgers.
The likes of twice-cooked pork belly, crispy skin snapper or chargrilled eye fillet cater for those with healthy appetites and a serving of the popular hand-cut fries with peri peri mayo never goes amiss.
568 Blockhouse Bay Road, Blockhouse bay,
Auckland
Espresso Garden Cafe.
Best use of Local Produce
ESPRESSO GARDEN CAFE
It’s in an unassuming location in the garden section of the Mitre 10 Mega on Andersons Road, but they’re doing great things with local produce at Espresso Garden Cafe.
Walk into the light-filled dining area and you’ll be drawn to the huge cabinet crammed with freshly baked sweets and sandwiches.
There are the likes of Turkish rolls filled with delicately cooked local lamb, and vegetarian French rolls with crunchy falafel and salad.
Sweet treats like slices,muffins, cookies and cakes top off the cabinet selection and make it a great place to refuel from a shopping expedition.
There is comprehensive blackboard menu for those wanting something a bit more substantial and it is all freshly made on-site.
Locally sourced fresh blue cod is used in the burger, likewise for the smoked salmon salad.
There is also eggs Benedict, French toast, creamy balsamic mushrooms and a whopping Gardeners Breakfast – just the thing before putting your green thumb to work.
And a visit just wouldn’t be complete without trying the quintessentially southern cheese rolls, they are quite a mouthful!
350 Andersons Bay Road,
Dunedin
PBC Cafe.
Best Atmosphere
PBC CAFE
The iconic Poverty Bay Club in Gisborne was built in 1874 and is a treasure trove of quirky bric-a-brac and British royalist nostalgia.
In among the Victorian trappings, PBC Cafe provides an inviting dining room with old leather armchairs for sipping a coffee and reading the paper as well as plentiful wooden tables for more involved dining.
PBC Cafe.
You can sit and experience the old grandeur of the former gentleman’s club while sampling a savoury brioche or decadent fresh doughnuts with warm chocolate dipping sauce. Gisborne is one of the sunniest places in New Zealand, and PBC Cafe boasts a magnificent outdoor seating area with tables under trees and umbrellas to linger with your coffee or brunch.
The Poverty Bay Club building is a Gisborne landmark and the cafe continues to bring people together over fantastic counter food, all-day brunch, pizza, blackboard specials and great drinks.
38 Childers Road,
Gisborne
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