The Piha Cafe

We walked in and I was immediately struck by the wooden furniture, the recycled jars into lights and the general warm, friendly atmosphere. Lots of families were settled in and there is a toy box and pre-loved high chairs to accomodate for the wee ones. We had to ask for a menu and the staff were pre-occupied for the most part - but the young woman took the order at the counter and our coffees came out in good time. We ordered two cakes from the counter, the kids brunch - boiled eggs and soldiers and a 'petite fruit salad', the chef's specialty burger for the husband and the salmon scrambled eggs for me. The boys brunch came out and he quickly got stuck in to his soldiers and eggs and ate them nearly all up - it was a definite success and a great option to have for the wee ones - can't go past a good runny yolk for dipping soldiers - interactive brekkies are a winner. I had originally planned to share my scrambled eggs with the toddler but we gave him some of the big boys toast to tide him over while we waited for our meals. And waited. And waited. And continued to wait. Meanwhile the kids had finished and were raring to go. We ate the (REALLY YUMMY) pieces of cake that were meant to go after our meals and had ordered two more coffees before our breakfasts came out - terrible timing - we had to take turns eating while one held the toddler and the other entertained the big boy - they were well over it. In the end I had to leave half of my breakfast because we had been there too long and the kids needed OUT. The food was great, generous portions - the coffee fine - and the place has a really lovely atmosphere, the only downside is the timing of the meals being all over the place and I have to say that it wasn't busy - they were not run off their feet trying to get meals out. The server also took ages to clear away the detritus of the first half of the meals - and there seemed to be three girls on with not that much to do - lots of wandering around chatting - we sat and drank our second coffees while the empty cups from our first ones were still on the table etc. All in all we will be back - the tasty food (when it eventually gets to you) and the cosiness on a wild and rainy day out west is just another reason to head out to Piha for family fun.

Though The Piha Cafe has. Great work building a structure that is at one with the environment and creating a menu that gets you out even on the wildest West Coast days.

What a location and a much needed cafe to chill, could improve on the coffee side though.