Our experience of this cafe was a bit of a shame. We really enjoyed everything that the cafe provided up to a point.
The food was great with strong, hot coffee.
We came to this cafe because of the review from the herald. We were happy with everything up until we came to pay.
At the moment it’s a real treat having breakfast out at a nice cafe. We use the entertainment book when we can and so that’s what we did today.
The response from the owner when he saw the voucher was “I could use that voucher but I won’t and I don’t have to” he went onto say “you come back again and you can use it”
If cafes don’t except your voucher well maybe they need to think about if they want to be part of the Entertainment Book.
As for the owner the review has obviously gone to his head!A real shame.

The paninis were yummy, and the coffee was hot and strong (just how I like it), the only letdown was the very average green salad, (mostly iceberg lettuce)

Because this place looks nice and relaxing, I’ve been sucked in a couple of times to go back there. However I have never had such terrible service as I consistently have at Blake St. You are ignored when you walk in, are left hovering uncertainly by the counter, or if you sit at a table are ignored for up to 15 minutes.

They clear the plates at empty tables around you instead of taking your order, the owner is snippy and distracted and slightly rude even when they’re not busy.

So if you go to Blake St, make sure you’ve got time to spare. You’ll be waiting a while.

I stopped to pick up some lunch on my way to work. I was running late and saw a sign for it so thought I’d try it. I paid $12.50 for a very average sandwich – one quite frankly I could make at home. I was going to get a piece of chocolate brownie too but the cost of that would have brought the grand total to $18.50! Won’t be going back, I won’t pay that much for something that I could make at home and it taste a lot better.

Unfortunately a friend who went and bought take away coffee there and came by my place- as expected, cold tasteless foam milk.

My friend said the service was ok( must be his lucky day haha).

So they deserve 2 stars this time.

Blake Street is easily one of the best cafes in the area. Excellent food, service, decor and music. I have eaten there a dozen or more times and never been disappointed. It’s slightly more expensive than most, but you get what you pay for. Recent magazine reviews are testament to this.

As for Charlie’s review, I’d take it with a grain of salt. It sounds typical of someone who blames everything that doesn’t go his way on ‘racism’. Quites sad really.

We were driving around Ponsonby last Sat trying to find a coffee place- at 1.30 pm everywhere were busy except this one


So we went in and found a table for 4 near the cashier. We sat down and ordered a Chai Latte in glass, a Mocha in cup, an OJ, and some sweet pastry stuffs.


The food arrived after 10 min. Initially we put aside thinking our coffee will arrive soon. 5 more min later we started to dig in………


As you would have guessed what happened next. A further 15 mins later we still have no coffee.. kinda killed our chat and we all started looking at the man over the counter …….eventually we asked where is our coffee. We received a stroppy reply saying we are the last table in so we have to wait( So not true! We saw people after us got their order, some ordered takeaway got their food and long gone)

After a 30 min wait and a stroppy reply we got our coffee. Firstly it’s a rip off coffee because the foam is thicker than the chai latte. Next thing I sip……the worse Chai latte I ever tasted in town. Laterally it’s a foamed milk with a touch of cinnamon powder on top. Any Chai Latte fan would know that this drink is quite sweet usually. But he made me a tasteless bland Chai latte

I asked my friend about her Mocha. Same verdict. Tasteless soap water.

Presumably the man over the counter who’s making us coffee is the owner of the place. He eventually came and delivered the OJ. He then asked in cold voice “is that all?” and off he went.

By then it so late already and we need to go so we took the OJ back to the counter and asked to be put in a container. The same man took out the container and left it on the counter. Only when we asked again then he poured into the container.

I never experienced such a bad service before. For me I often visit this web to look up menu or address or new diner.

Thanks Blake St, you made me signed up and made an effort to write about you. Thank you for your bad coffee and services.

PS Avoid going to this place if you are Asian. We felt that we got picked on because of our colour. He didn’t raise his voice when he was talking to others in the café.