The Library Cafe, Onehunga
10:00 AM Tuesday Aug 9, 2011
The Library Cafe. Photo / Janna Dixon
We came here because we're new to the area and had popped in for a coffee on another occasion and enjoyed it so much that we wanted to come back and sample the menu.
Parking was easy enough on the street outside.
We walked in and immediately thought we love what they've done with this old heritage building, built in 1912. There are two indoor dining areas with high ceilings and chandeliers - one fairly standard, the other a cosy "reading lounge", complete with shelves of books and games - and two choices of outdoor seating.
The most unusual thing on the menu was probably the breakfast burrito - a soft tortilla with tomato salsa, scrambled eggs, cheese, and either organic beef sausage and a hash brown ($18.50) or wilted spinach, portobello mushrooms and tomato ($18). There is also a choice of three big breakfasts - unusual in itself.
We ordered the old-fashioned savoury mince on ciabatta with two poached eggs ($19), which came with a dish of shaved cheese, and the salmon potato cakes made with hot smoked aoraki salmon served with poached eggs and homemade hollandaise ($19.50), which came with a heap of salad greens, almost as an afterthought. Both were excellent, though the salad was a bit unappealing.
The coffee was hot, delicious, and a generous size.
The service was very friendly and professional.
We recommend if you come here you park in the reading room for a few hours - it's easy to imagine spending a lazy winter afternoon here.
Overall we thought this may become our new favourite local.
I think this is something that totally sets the Library Cafe apart from alot of other cafes in Auckland, and it would have been great to have this point of difference mentioned in you review!
Especially for someone like myself, who is always on the look out for more places which serve free range organic produce. Prehaps a piece on the 'best free range organic cooked breakfasts in auckland" could be done?
Then we stood around for 10 minutes afterward waiting for someone to serve us at the counter so we could pay. I have never been back and still cant see how this cafe can get good reviews! (I have friends and family who also feel exactly the same) There are plenty of other cafes in Onehunga that are far superior to this and I would reccommend a reviewer try these out instead (Ultra - previously reviewed, Luscious, and Tran are just a few worth my hard earned dollar).