Caffeinating in the city

I’ve always loved scouting out new cafes/coffee shops when I travel because I find it a fun dimension to use to compare a city to others. I did this when I was in Europe in college, maxing out the number of cafes I could hit each day in Vienna, for instance. Now that I actually kind of drink coffee (assuming you count drinking lattes as drinking coffee…), it gives me a whole new dimension to compare. But it’s still just really nice to escape the rain or an antarctic wind by ordering a warm beverage and a sweet treat and sitting and watching the people coming and going.

While in cities (mainly Auckland and Wellington), Scott and I have hit up a couple of cafes a day, trying out the coffee and checking out the scene. Here are some notes from a few of them, in case you find yourself in these cities :)

Auckland

Remedy – delicious brioche with rhubarb and custard (! rhubarb is much more utilized here than in the US, which makes us very excited), friendly and cozy. We actually found at a couple of breweries as well where the style is much cozier than is currently trending in SF. While there are some stark/industrial feeling cafes, there are also the cluttered, eclectic, couch-filled ones.

Mojo – coffee roaster used at many cafes all around the country. Somewhat reminiscent of an SF roastery.

Chuffed – SF vibe with wood and white and plants. One of the only places where we’ve found drip coffee.

Depot – pretty fun, very popular with the local business crowd, mainly a restaurant but with a coffee window in front. We’ll be coming back here for a meal next time we’re in Auckland.

Wellington

We may have been slightly coffee-ed out by the time we got to Wellington. It supposedly considers itself quite the coffee center, but we made it to fewer coffee shops per day.

Pandoro Panetteria – all the bread! Chain but pretty tasty.

Nikau Cafe – located in the City Gallery, fun and bright and feels like a museum cafe, discovered the joy of a flat white

Poneke – out by the water, nice breakfast, serves Mojo coffee

Egmont St. Eateries – good breakfast, more restaurant-y

Nelson

Swedish Cafe and Bakery – super tasty baked goods, Scott discovered the joy of a long black (for which he has long been searching)

We haven’t had bad coffee anywhere, but Scott, who is more knowledgable on these subjects, really liked the coffee from:

• Chuffed
• Remedy
• Egmont St. Eateries