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.

Despite being a lunchtime, Icon wasn’t all that busy and seemed quite spacious - I don’t know if this is the case everyday, but it suited us well.

We ordered a pie from the cabinet, a trim latte and soy mocha. The pie came with a salad which was suitable drizzled with a “just right” portion of vinaigrette. The coffees were also good - nothing outstanding, but also nothing to complain about.

While it’s a little off the main road, it’s worthwhile visiting here if you want to get good food and a decent coffee in a quiet setting.

The food here was great; there is a good selection of cabinet food, and also a wall menu for more substantial fare. The coffee was good, but nothing to get too excited over.

There is plenty of seating, either inside or or outside under cover. Be warned though, when outside the seagulls are always keeping watch and waiting for any opportunity to take your food.

If your passing through Paihia and happen to be needing a coffee, Hansens Cafe is worth a stop for the view alone.

Our smoked chicken salad was good, but the icing on the cake was the coffee. This is the best coffee I have had from a cafe in a long, long time. The milk in my soy mocha was frothed to absolute perfection making the coffee exceptionally smooth. Heat and strength were also spot on.

So, if you’re on the Shore and are wanting to experience a decent cup of coffee - this is the place to go.

For food, we had the Moroccan pilaf and a gluten-free chocolate cake slice. Both were tasty, although the chocolate slice was almost on the too sweet side. For coffee, we had a soy mocha and trim latte. These were both very good; hot and of reasonable strength.

A nice touch is the TV in one of the corners that is connected to a camera overlooking the adjacent kids’ playground. You can let your younger ones play to their hearts content while you can sit back and relax in the cafe while still being able to keep an eye on them.

Espresso Garden is located in the Mitre 10 Mega building, just off Wairau Road in Glenfield.

This is a great place to sample various coffees and beans, talk to roasters on how to attain the perfect brew, and view or purchase various coffee or cafe accessories.

See you there .

The food and coffee here was superb. We had a quiche with side salad, and honey and nut slice - both were just perfect. Our latte and soy mocha were also spot on. Nice and hot, strong but not so much that they were bitter.

Despite arriving during the lunch hour the cafe didn’t seem overly busy, but this was during the week. I imagine that at the weekend they would be plenty busy.

If you’re heading into Thames from the south, Tastebuds Cafe is a “must stop”.

On a couple of recent visits, the coffee always came out good strong and hot, and the food delicious. Of particular note, the ginger slice we had was not one of those weak, “I can barely taste the ginger” slices. It was an excellent full-on ginger slice. Great stuff.

We ordered a ‘build your own’ breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, hash brown and toast. The bacon and eggs were fine, but the hash (which was made on-site) was not cooked long enough - the potato was still quite crisp and had that raw-ish taste.

For coffee’s we ordered a trim latte and soy mocha. The latte was fine, but the mocha came with standard milk. On querying this, the mocha was promptly remade.

Perhaps they were just having a bad day; the service was ok, but the food and coffee just didn’t really come up to scratch.