Baobab Cafe – http://baobabcafe.co.nz/

Reviewed by Fi Fi – February 2015

The Place:

This cafe has tripled in size since it first opened.  It expanded a couple of years ago and now has a large outdoor seating and courtyard area as well as loads of seating inside.  There is plenty of counter food, all day breakfast and varied lunch menus.  Or you can go vegetarian or gluten free, and there are loads of free-range products including some of the meats.  If you pop in on a Friday night you are treated to live music and the Tapas menu. This place has a real funky vibe, but not a real ‘family’ feel to it.  The coffee is great here, and it is licensed as well.

The Service:

The service was pretty good.  The food came out fast as well even though it was really busy.

The presentation:

The food was plated up nicely and looked inviting.

• The Benedict and Montreal – Overall, we were not wowed by this cafe.
• The Bread – the sourdough bread was quite hard.  I did not eat all of mine.
• The eggs – tasted good and you could tell they were free range.  Mine were not very runny which is disappointing.
• The ham – was beautiful and there was plenty of it.  It came from Island Bay Butcher.  We liked the ham so much we drove to the Butcher and git some to take home.
• The Spinach – was okay, nothing special.
• The rosti – was awful.  It came out burnt, overcooked and tasted like grated xerox paper.  I could not eat much of it, because it was that bad.
• The hollandaise – was homemade and it was tasty, just that there was not much of it.

Would we go again?

No, not for the bene, I was put off by my experience with the rosti and bread, but I won’t completely write this place off.  I would come and try something different from the menu.

Scorecard:

Style: Classic 5/10.

Taste: 5/10. The meal was good, nothing special but hot and tasty.

Originality: 5/10 – It’s the pretty standard.

Value: 5/10. The Benedict (with ham off the bone) or Florentine (with rosti instead of bread) are $17 each or the Montreal is $18.  A bit on the steep side.  Sides ranged from $2 (e.g. hollandaise) to $6 (e.g. bacon).

Eggs: (how good they were): 4/10. They tasted good, just overcooked.

Overall score: 5/10

152 Riddiford Street, Newtown, Wellington.