Right royal offerings at Kings and Queens cafe in Patea

New Kings and Queens cafe owner Steve Rush. Photo/Lin Ferguson

Patea's new cafe Kings and Queens has opened for business, and according to owner Steve Rush the business is brisk.

"Yeh, we're really pleased. It was a gamble but we're doing okay.''

The cafe next to Hurley's the butcher in Egmont St is an eclectic mix of homemade food, and quirky secondhand gear including china, pottery, stacks of old LPs, books and an endless array of household items from yesteryear.

As well as homemade cabinet food including sandwiches, cakes and pies they have an extensive meal menu which includes everything you'd fancy from your local takeaway shop.

Steve said the whitebait patties were going down a storm.

"They are fantastic, the whitebait is sent to us from friends on the West Coast. We freeze them and use as we need it.''

Steve and wife Charlotte were reasonably new in Patea.

They came down from Huntly a year ago after their property sold well and brought their food truck with them.

"We set the truck up on the main highway for a while.''

But it was just an interim measure.

"Both of us really wanted to get a shop and start a cafe/secondhand business.''

Steve is a registered secondhand dealer.

" ... and Charlotte is an amazing cook,'' he said.

Kings and Queens is open Thursday to Sunday.

"We're very happy because we catch the truckies, people travelling through as well locals," he said.

"Let's face it, life is short and you can't hang around and wait to do stuff.''