CafeBlog

I visited the Oxford Cafe in Tirau the other day; it was once just about the only decent place to get a tea or coffee in Tirau, but this is no longer the case. There are many great cafes in the township, and the Oxford is definitely not one of them.

Little has changed with the Oxford Cafe over it’s long life. It still looks like a classic old NZ tearooms. Upon entering, I checked out the cabinets and chose a mince and cheese pie as it was a cold day and the other fare looked reasonably unappetising. I tried to order a soy mocha, but was told they don’t do soy milk, so opted for trim instead. Alas, instead of just saying “No thanks” and trying elsewhere, I continued on.

I’m almost certain the pie was not made on the premises, it was predominantly pastry - and a very yellowish pastry at that - and little filling. The coffee was certainly hot, and although supposedly trim I have the feeling “light-blue” trim milk was used rather than green. There was a very overly milky taste to it - the kind that you get if milk has been left in the sun, or is not at it’s best. I could not finish the coffee (which is unusual - even a bad coffee generally gets completely consumed), so that gives you an indication of it’s quality.

With so many other good cafes in Tirau, I would not recommend visiting the Oxford.

Frans Cafe has a huge array of food on offer. We visited for breakfast and every cabinet there was absolutely full with food. We ordered pancakes and a big breakfast, and a soy mocha and trim latte.

The big breakfast was big, with just about every array of fried breakfast food you could imagine. The pancakes were very thin and light (just how I like them), served with a selection of fruit and maple syrup - a rasher of bacon would have been nice, but one cannot really complain.

I felt my coffee was a bit average. It sort of had a bit of a burnt taste to it, but the latte was deemed fine. Note than on a subsequent visit a couple of days later my soy mocha tasted much better, so the burnt taste may have just been a one off.

We stopped by here yesterday on the way home from Morrinsville. We had been out all day and the only decent coffee we’d had was at home with breakfast, so by mid-afternoon I was in serious coffee-drought mode.

Fortunately Firepot Cafe came to the rescue. A soy mocha and trim latte came to $8.50 and both were served in generous cups (well, more generous than the average Auckland cafe - if you require something the size of a bucket you will be disappointed). Both were piping hot and quite strong, and the mocha came with a chocolate fish and two marshmallows. Yep, those of us with a sweet tooth are well catered for.

For those travelling on State Highway 1B between Auckland and Cambridge and in need of a decent coffee, Firepot Cafe makes for a perfect half-way stop.