The Library Cafe

Both times I went there I found the prices quite high and the quality not. If it's to pay for their support of sustainability and organic food, it's ok. However, none of the pastries looked very appealing to me - no healthier choices but rather the classic over-the-top sweets (i.e. white flour, lots of sugar, lots of fat). The quiche and salad was a small portion for the price. Last time the waiter appeared rather cold and factual, others are friendly. The location is great, but especially in the library space it would be nice to have wifi to consider working a bit on the computer while enjoying a coffee. Considering their emphasis on environmental protection, I found it unnecessary to put a bouncy castle in the yard, which had the machine running the whole time - even without anyone jumping on it. The play area inside looks very nice. The best part are the generous opening hours - you can get a coffee in the afternoon!

My man & I decided to go on a bit of a café crawl. Each Saturday we go to a different café to find Auckland’s best flat white’s, French toast and Eggs benny.  He’s owned café’s and roasted coffee. I’m a medical student & a coffee addict. We took my 8yo cousin out for brunch, so my aunt could get some Christmas shopping done. I did a bit of research to find some child friendly café’s in Auckland & read a few promising reviews about The Library Cafe in Onehunga. We ordered flat white’s ($4 each) and a hot choco for the little Miss. They use Ozone coffee the flat white’s weren’t too flash. The hot chocolate ($4.50) was more like cocoa than hot chocolate. He had the French toast, saffron & honey bread with caramelised banana, maple syrup, creamy vanilla mascarpone and free range bacon for $19.50 It was the most expensive French toast that we have come across so far and considering he was still left hungry afterwards it wasn’t worth the extra money. The saffron & honey bread was yum, but wasn’t overly fussed with the dish in general. Wasn’t anything special. I had the Traditional Eggs Benedict Poached free-range eggs on a toasted english muffin & home-made hollandaise sauce with: free range bacon for $17.50 The bacon could have been cooked for a little bit longer, but in general it was average. Miss 8yo didn’t like the kids menu and decided she wanted bacon ($4.50) & hash browns ($3.80) For a café who has quite an emphasis on kids, they had a pretty poor kids menu. They have a kids Big breakfast, French toast, Fish and chips, Sandwich pack and pureed baby food. I was very surprised that pancakes weren’t on the menu. She liked the bacon, but didn’t like the look of the hash browns. I tried them and wasn’t particularly fussed by them either they also were a bit undercooked. One of the chef’s mentioned to us that there was a bouncy castle outside. Little miss loved this! They also had children’s activity packs ($3.50) which also entertained her. They had an indoor play area, but this was a bit young for her.  The venue itself was beautiful, high ceilings gorgeous chandeliers. Coffee: 4/10 Food: 6/10 Service: 7/10 Price: 3/10 Over all Experience: 6/10 The bouncy castle was the highlight for us. We probably won’t be back, unless we had kids with us. Great venue, the menu and coffee could do with a bit of attention.