Even the littlest of cafe society are feeling the pinch. Lauren Mentjox reports.
There is no doubt raising children can be expensive. These days, children as young as two are ferried all over the city to take part in everything from Jumping Beans gym classes to art and language lessons. Then there
are the cafe stops on the way.
Over the past few years, cafes have increasingly tailored their menus to suit the pint-sizers, with special kiddie meals and child-sized portions.
So, as Auckland tots become more accustomed to the art of eating out and ordering their own fluffies, cafes ensure they make the most from this generation of cafe kids.
A fluffy, in case you are wondering, is a tiny cup filled with milk froth and topped with a sprinkling of chocolate and a marshmallow, if you're lucky. The marshmallow is usually the main attraction. Most of the fluffie is left in the cup once the child is satisfied he or she has emulated their coffee-swilling parent.
Fluffies used to be free — or at least free with an adult's drink. Now it is common for cafes to charge up to $2 for the dollop of froth which is often left over from making the larger drinks. If that were not bad enough, Auckland Museum's Columbus Cafe refuses to make them during school holidays or busy periods.
"When it's raining, or when everyone else isn't working, we are busy,'' the cafe's manager Chris Reeve says. "And when our cafe is very busy, we can't make fluffies,'' he says. They do, however, offer a kid's hot chocolate but — at $3.50 a pop — you may want to ensure your child actually finishes it.
Unfortunately, The Aucklander's 2-year-old sampler found the museum's chocolate drink too hot and too big, preferring, instead, the side of cold milk we requested to cool it down. Luckily, there are still plenty of cafes that make fluffies, mostly about the $1 mark.
The Aucklander has rounded up a few of them for you:
Free
- All Esquires stores offer children aged under 10 free fluffies with marshmallows on the
side and a squirt of chocolate at the bottom.
Less than $1
- Butterfly Creek, Tom Pearce Drive, Auckland International Airport: 50c
- Starbucks Parnell: 70c for a large, milky fluffy (marshmallows cost 80c extra)
- The Fridge, New North Rd, Kingsland: 50c
$1
