Brunch: Cereal Killa, Mt Eden

5:00 AM Tuesday Jul 31, 2012

We came here because a friend lives nearby and we wanted to go for a walk and a coffee. Then we saw people's orders and were swayed into eating too.

Parking was, well, we walked, but you can usually find a spot not too far away.

We walked in and immediately thought the place had a definite buzz but our table did feel a tad close to our neighbours'.

The most unusual thing on the menu was the coconut porridge with pear, ginger and berries ($13), which the guy next to me had and I coveted after trying my own meal.

We ordered the savoury mince on toast ($14), which was really more like bolognese with butter beans in it - not what I had been anticipating and therefore disappointing. Also, one piece of bread? Lucky I wasn't too hungry. The swede soup with truffle oil ($12), however, which had come highly recommended by the wait staff, exceeded expectations. Very tasty, warming and moreish.

The service was a mixed bag. Our two waiters were very friendly, our water glasses were refilled several times and our opinion sought on the food. But then we saw another waiter straddle a girl from behind to pour her water and we were very relieved to not have been served by this particular space invader. Over-familiarity is not okay.

The coffee was again, hit and miss. My trim latte was perfectly lovely, even if served in a small glass. My friend's decaf, though, was too bitter. She couldn't drink it. It is hard to get decaf right, though.

We recommend if you come here look carefully at other diners' orders and choose accordingly.

Overall we thought the place was great, but given that I didn't enjoy my meal and my friend's coffee was undrinkable, this particular experience had to be marked down.