Metro Top 50 Cafes
As always, the ‘cafe’ definition is nebulous, and it’s only grown more so as brew bars (cafes you can’t order eggs on toast at) have become more popular. We’ve included them on this list — we’re a fan of the slow pour-overs and attention to detail that are characteristic of many coffee shops without a kitchen menu — but have indicated the places where all you can get, aside from a coffee, is a croissant.
Whether they’re more brew bar, deli or bakery, the one thing all 50 of these cafes do have in common is that they all serve some form of coffee. We promise.
With thanks to Karma Drinks.
Category winners
Category Winners
- Supreme Winner
- Best New
- Other Best New
- Best Coffee
- Best Established
- Best Service
- Best Surroundings
- Best Fit-Out
- Best Cabinet Food
- Best Bread
- Best Sandwiches
- Best Cafe/Roastery
- Best Dressed
Duo Eatery
If you decide to visit Duo on a Saturday morning, you can spot it in the middle of a row of shops by the groups of locals standing around outside, dog leashes in hand. Though it’s been open for only a year and a bit, the Birkenhead Pt eatery has a definite buzz around it — the kind of genuine, unmanufactured hype that comes with doing something well. Owned and run by Jordan and Sarah Macdonald (Jordan used to chef at and co-own Culprit), the food offerings are well-trodden favourites turned up several notches: the mushrooms on toast, for example, come with a delicious salsa verde, and the French toast is a brûléed, custard-soaked brioche. Then, of course, there’s the raw fish on toast, which was an entry in last issue’s Metro Best Dishes — it’s that good.
More about Duo Eatery Burnt Butter Diner
Claudia Long and Ryan Pearce’s compact cafe in Avondale has a no-fuss ethos that makes it uncomplicated to love. With a small team and space, everything is scaled down to simplicity: the menu has zero duds and the coffee only comes one way (filter). Straightforwardly great.
Rumours
Yet another new entry on the list, Rumours is a bare- bones coffee bar that focuses its efforts on making sure your brew is the best it can be. The espresso is mostly Society Coffee, a small micro-roastery based in Auckland, with seasonal single origins and guest roasters on filter, both local and international (batch and pour-over). We especially like the iced white with demerara syrup, and the espresso tiramisu is good for a post-lunch dessert.
Dizengoff
Dizengoff has been around since 1994, which makes it 29 in human years, 203 in dog ones and extremely senior for a cafe. It still does a brisk trade doing what it does — and doing it well.
Odettes Eatery
It is a feat to make sure everything runs smoothly at a cafe of Odettes’ size, but headed up by operations manager Poi Eruera, the service here is fast and friendly, executed with an ease that belies how hard it really is.
Bestie
Though we continue our fight against the word ‘vibe’, our Best Surroundings category is a nod to a place that just feels good to be in. It’s incredibly hard to beat the atrium at the end of St Kevins Arcade, with the Sky Tower looking down on the sprawling and plant-studded dining area.
AUCKLAND'S TOP 50 CAFES
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Cafe
- Eats under $25
- Albany 5
- Avondale 3
- Balmoral 2
- Birkenhead 2
- Blockhouse Bay 1
- Britomart 5
- Browns Bay 1
- Burswood 1
- Central city 53
- Devonport 2
- Eastern Beach 1
- Eden Terrace 9
- Ellerslie 1
- Epsom 1
- Freemans Bay 1
- Glen Eden 2
- Grafton 1
- Greenlane 1
- Grey Lynn 10
- Henderson 6
- Herne Bay 2
- Highland Park 1
- Hillcrest 1
- Hobsonville 1
- Howick 1
- Karangahape Rd Precinct 22
- Kingsland 3
- Mangere 1
- Manuwera 1
- Morningside 3
- Mt Albert 6
- Mt Eden 26
- Mt Roskill 6
- Mt Wellington 1
- New Lynn 3
- New Windsor 1
- Newmarket 10
- Newton 3
- North Shore 8
- Northcote 2
- Northcote Point 1
- Onehunga 5
- Ōrākei 2
- Ōtara 1
- Ōtāhuhu 3
- Panmure 3
- Parnell 6
- Penrose 1
- Ponsonby 19
- Pt Chevalier 1
- Remuera 1
- Riverhead 1
- Rosedale 1
- Sandringham 5
- St Heliers 1
- Takapuna 4
- Te Atatū Peninsula 1
- Waiheke 7
- Waterfront 3
- Westhaven 1
- Westmere 2
- Wynyard Quarter 1
- A la carte 55
- Afghani 1
- All-day eatery 3
- Allpress coffee 12
- Altezano Brothers coffee 1
- Ark coffee 1
- Asian Fusion 2
- Atomic coffee 4
- Bakery 9
- Bar 32
- Be Specialty coffee 4
- Breakfast 10
- Brew Bar 4
- Burgers 4
- Cabinet food 56
- Cakes 3
- Camper coffee 1
- Casual 45
- Charcuterie 1
- Cheap Eats 76
- Cheese 2
- Chinese 22
- Chongqing 1
- Coffee Supreme 10
- Cook Island 1
- Courtyard 1
- Degustation 3
- Degustation dining 4
- Deli 3
- Desserts 1
- Dim Sum 1
- Dine-in menu 39
- Dine-menu 1
- Dinner 5
- Eightthirty coffee 5
- Espresso Workshop coffee 1
- Ethiopian 2
- Filipino 5
- Fine dining 7
- Fixed-price meals 1
- Flight coffee 6
- French 4
- Game meat 1
- Good for dogs 5
- Good for kids 31
- Good seating outside 7
- Guilin 2
- Gujarati 1
- Handpicked coffee 1
- Himalayan 2
- Hong Kong 1
- Indian 9
- Indonesian 2
- Italian 8
- Jamaican 1
- Japanese 15
- Jiangsu 1
- Kaimoana 1
- Korean 13
- Kōkako coffee 6
- L'affare coffee 2
- Lanzhou 2
- Lebanese 2
- Licensed 5
- Malaysian 12
- Malaysian-Indian 2
- Mediterranean 3
- Mexican 3
- Middle Eastern 2
- Nashville 1
- Neighbourhood 6
- Neo-bistro 1
- Nikkei 1
- Odettes blend 1
- Open Late 2
- Open Mondays 17
- Opens Mondays 1
- Outdoor dining 28
- Ozone Coffee 2
- Pacific 2
- Pacific Island 1
- Pastries only 2
- Peoples coffee 2
- Peruvian 1
- Pies 2
- Private dining area 1
- Private room 20
- Ramen 6
- Raw 1
- Red Rabbit coffee 1
- Rich coffee 1
- Rocket coffee 3
- Rotating guest filter brews 2
- Sandwiches 5
- Sashimi 1
- Set menu 22
- Shaanxi 1
- Shanghainese 3
- Shared-plate options 58
- Sichuan 6
- Sicilian 1
- Smart 18
- Society coffee 1
- South Indian 1
- Southeast Asian 1
- Spanish 2
- Specialty coffee 6
- Sri Lankan 1
- Sunday lunch 2
- Taiwanese 1
- Takes large bookings 13
- Takes large groups 38
- Thai 6
- Turkish 1
- Udon 1
- Under25 67
- Uyghur 1
- Vegan 2
- Vegan friendly 12
- Vegan menu available 1
- Vegetarian 7
- Vietnamese 9
- Vineyard 2
- Vivace coffee 1
- Wheelchair accessible 37
- Wi-Fi 9
- Wifi 4
- Wine bar 7
- Yum cha 2
