Pica is a disorder in which a person eats non nutritional objects (like clay and paper).
That this cafe is going for a theme along those lines is the only reason I can think they would serve such terrible “food”.

You could get a better brunch from the Burger King across the road and it’d be half the price.

I wasn’t even going to give it one star but I have to in order to submit this.

Worst – cafe – ever.

Pancakes were not made on demand – they looked bulk bought and microwaved. My banana turned grey and chewy as a result. The bacon was the cheap kind. The orange syrup was more like orange juice and the maple syrup was watery and tasted off.

Big breakfast also had cheap bacon, the “toast” was untoasted, no hollaindaise as per menu, overpoached eggs. The hash brown was good – they claim it’s their own, but obviously a mass produced type which is thankful as maybe their own homemade one would’ve been as bad as everything else.

All doors were left open on the cold winter’s day we visited which left us shivering.

Had a very uncomfortable and disappointing experience.

This has to be the most disgusting cafe I have ever experienced. Walking in at 1230 I thought there would have been atleast a few people dining however the place was completely empty. Despite this, many of the tables had dirty dishes on them. Both my friend and I ordered the open chicken sandwhich- what a mistake! My friend also ordered orange juice which was jst watery cordial rather than proper juice. The sandwiches were horribe, the menu claimed sour dough would be used however we were served a thin slice of cheese bread that you would find at the supermarket. The chicken was rather plain and rather than a breast as described on the menu, we received thin slices of chicken. The capsicum aioli was also missing. The side of chips were possibly the worst part of the meal, they were yellow and you could tell the oil hadn’t been changed in some time AND they had the cheek of asking $16 for the meal….no wonder nobody was eating there

WORST CAFE EVER!
If I could give less than one star I would. We ordered the big breakfast and 2 lattes- it was not busy at all. There were so many things wrong with it I don’t know where to start. First the bacon was not bacon it was a cheap thin watery ham steak, 2nd it said it came with toast what actually arrived was soggy bread with no butter on it. I had poached eggs which were rock hard cold- the sausage was rancid and to top it off it was suppose to come with hollandaise sauce which didn’t make it out to the table. When I enquired about it they brought my a freezing cold runny liquid which was defiantly not hollandaise. To top it off we have to wait 20 mins after we had finished our breakfast to receive our lattes which were disgusting – I didn’t even drink it.
I would not go there at all – and its wouldn’t surprise me if they closed down.

Absolutely Diabolical food, cooked by untrained and uncaring owner. I feel sorry for the girl they employ to take front counter as she must deal with some abuse.

HOw the hell can you serve two grey and overboiled battery farmed eggs on untoasted bread with some packet shaved ham and melted butter and call it Eggs Benedict then have the audacity to charge $15 for it??!!

I tell you, my friend and I, both trained chefs, felt insulted!

If the owners are reading this: please learn there is a lot that goes into running a cafe, and at the forefront must be quality, consistency, and service.

Cafe Pica clearly falls short with all of these and i can’t help feel they are waiting for a spot on Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares!

not even worth the one star i have to give it in order to submit this review!

Worst cafe ever visited.
Were served cheap ham steak type meat as bacon; when inquired about meat we were met by the chef at our table informing us that the meat was bacon; he began arguing and informed us he would find the packaging to “prove us wrong”- within 5 minutes he returned- with another slice of cooked ham- thick pink circular meat- and were told to “enjoy”. Rest of “big breakfast/ brunch was pretty average and not worth the money spent. All members of staff were either dismissive or rude. No offer of refund or discount when tried discussing meal. Would never visit again nor recommend anyone to visit here

I had an unfortunate experience on Sunday, March 22, which I believe is important to share – an attempted lunch at Cafe Pica.
After ordering the chicken and vegetable soup and two coffees we waited a considerable period of time for their delivery to our table. I was surprised at the wait given that there were only three to four other diners in the cafe. When the soup arrived I was amazed at what had been presented to me – a watery substance with yellow buttery slime floating on the top.

Despite the rather putrid smell 1 attempted to eat and digest the contents of the howl and after a small number of £ mouthfuls decided it wasn’t ; really edible. The coffee was
slightly better but rather weak and watery.
When we went to leave the manager didn’t ask how we found what we had ordered so I voluntarily told her how I had found it. No offer of refund, no apology, just a slightly dismissive remark. It is so sad, this is such a prime location and could be a thriving business to service the local market and visitors from out of the Porirua region.

My recommendation – avoid this place.

Three of us have just experienced Cafe Pica, and we all agree it is the worst cafe we have been to in a long time (possibly ever.) I wasn’t very busy, but there still managed to be alot of very dirty tables around. The ones that were cleared weren’t wiped down clean, and it just look messy. We should have known to walk out then; however, we continued. We ordered a coffee and there were grinds along the ridge of the cup and the saucers looked like it hadn’t been clean. Also judging by the state of the menus we should have known to leave. I ordered the Veggie and Feta Salad expecting something along the lines of roasted veggies with feta. However, I received Watties frozen veggies stirfried with a couple pieces of Brie Cheese on top (no Feta.) There was also meant to be roasted hazelnuts on it, but those were also missing. The open face sandwich was a couple thin pieces of chicken with lettuce on a slice of bread…not impressed. The burrito was just cooked mince in a tortilla and they were all out of sour cream and didn’t say anything until after the food came out. It seemed like a cafe run by people A) who didn’t care or B) that didn’t know what they were doing. My list could actually continue to go on, but I will simply say that I would not recommend this cafe to anyone at all!!

We visited in January 09 for lunch.
My husband ordered the steak and chips but was disappointed with the size of the steak when it finally arrived. It was small and flat and at the price of $18, we thought was overpriced. We had to ask the waitress to bring us clean knives & forks as the ones we had been given originally weren’t clean and my fork had some old food stuck in it as if it wasn’t washed properly.
When we were leaving we noticed the paninis in the front room cabinet – my husband said he should have had one of them instead of the steak but when he looked at them closer, he noticed mould growing on them. Looked like the other food had mould too.

I dont think this cafe is very well run and I wouldnt eat there again or recommend it. It’s a shame because I’ve been there before when it was run by other people and it was fine then.

good lunches, never open for dinner when we go by. I dont know why we keep trying, always fall back to our reliable porirua favourites.