I absolutely LOVE the classiness of the Maori-styling in Karaka Cafe. It embodies the culture in a clean-cut artistic space. Replete with Brooke Fraser playing from the sound-system, and a Wharenui-styled playhouse for the children including kete filled with Te Reo books, poi, and toys.

It’s immaculately clean and has ample seating, in a well-spaced out big but warm space.

Super-chipper staff, and I found it hard to choose from the yummy-looking range of cabinet food. I went for a gorgeous berry-danish which was BEAUTIFUL – loads of rich berries popping with flavour.

A perfect soy-flat-white. I LOVE Karaka Cafe.

It was a cold day in Wellington, but the atmosphere at Karaka was warm and welcoming!
It was the first time the 4 of us (girls catchup) had been together since last year, so thought we would try something new. One of them had previously been there for brunch and highly recommended it.
The service was very good, but not great, as there were a few occasions when we just about ended up with other table drinks!
Apart from that minor issue, the rest of our experience was very good.
We had three different things off of the menu… Salmon, Hangi (Chicken and Lamb, I think) and Chowder… I had the Salmon and it was beautifully cooked. The Hangi, was lovely and had a wonderful gravy which accompanied it… The chowder was apparently “wonderful”… Hence, everyone was very happy with their meals.
Only one of us had a dessert, which was the brownie and OMG, it was wonderful…
We had a lovely experience and what made it feel more comfortable was that we weren’t rushed out the door either.
We will definately be going back there again.
Thanks for a lovely experience.

This was an amazing cafe the cabinet food look amazing and tasted great i really enjoyed it will be back!! thanks

We ate at Karaka Cafe with my family on 7th April. There were initially 5 of us at the table, then later on 6. The cafe was not excessively busy, there were 4 people in the kitchen alone, and an excess of staff working the floor.

My family ordered cabinet food and coffees, I ordered from the menu. My food came out well before the coffees had even been served (around 10mins). After 20 mins they finally brought out half of the drinks order, another 10mins the other half of the coffees arrived. At this point, an enquiry was made as to the location of the cabinet food, and we were advised it would be out soon, though the waitress was clearly non-plussed about being challenged.

40mins after sitting down, my partner arrived, ordered from the cabinet and sat down with us, also checking on our order, whilst my father got up and made a complaint.

60mins after we had arrived, all of the food (including my partners which was a cabinet roll ordered 20min prior) arrived on the table EXCEPT for one basic chicken roll. 10mins later after we were all well fed up, my brother in law went to the counter and asked for his money back, and my father laid a second complaint.

Thanks Karaka Cafe – for tainting an otherwise wonderful weekend with my family: even had your food been of 5 star quality (which it wasn’t) it would not have redeemed the appalling level of service.

The first time I went to Karaka I was impressed with the location and how child friendly the cafe was. Although the waiter bought out glasses of Sauvignon before we had ordered – just decided we wanted the house wine!

Today however, we found the food to be expensive with very limited vegetarian options (this is Wellington! Come on!) Also the kid’s menu was full of unhealthy options – and the cheapest was coco pops or $8.50 fish bites and chips. The chips were cold when they were brought out.

This cafe could make a killing if they were more family friendly and the staff were a little more attentive than bored. The location is amazing. Today the cafe was empty – a shame.

This Cafe should become a must try for any true Kiwi or tourist wanting a Traditional (Exquisite) New Zealand meal.

Karaka Cafe combines fine eating, Earthy Kiwi flavours with a truly enjoyable atmosphere.

Karaka highlight all the great things about our beautiful country…

- 100% of the music played comes from New Zealand Musicans.
- Traditional Artwork.
- Whare Waka next door.
- Smiley and attentive staff who greet you with warm Kiwi greetings.
- Delicious (Did I say AMAZING) food.
- Beautiful scenery and a great outdoor area with small Karaka Trees blooming at the front.

This is a must eat place when visiting/living in Wellington.

Don’t miss out during Summer!

*** Reply to other comments ****

I’ve become a Sunday morning regular, as have half of Wellington by the looks of things. I have always had great service and a friendly smile. I realise the service can be slow at times, but when I see the demand… I can definitely understand why.

Try the Hangi Hash… delicious! It’s a Kiwi spin of Eggs Benedict

Well, I love the food and have been there before. But today went with husband and small grandson for lunch. Ordered rolls from the cabinet and chips for boy. Were surprised that we weren’t just given our rolls at the counter as they were there in the cabinet. But were given a number so went and found a seat. Had to wait ages and ages. One roll arrived, then chips but no second roll. Finally after 15 mins, husband asked a passing waitress to look into it – she was not happy about this and answered him back! So then someone else came out and asked what he had ordered as they had lost the order. There were no rolls of the kind he had ordered so he had to order another which came out immediately. Waiter apologised, for the lateness, but not for the rude waitress. The system is not good. Can they not hand you your cabinet order there and then? Seems a lot of double handling. (Some cafes in Welly could do with a visit to Clark’s at the library as they have got counter service down to a fine art.)
Whilst we were waiting for our lunch, some people waited in queue and gave up and went elsewhere. Not surprised. It’s a shame as it is a gorgeous cafe and the food is really nice. But service slow and needs the odd tweak.

This place is nice and friendly and gets the last of the afternoon sun.
We went late on a Saturday afternoon. We just had some cake and a hot drink, but the staff were nice and there is a small whare for kids to play in.
We went in July and they could use some more tables and chairs inside.

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Second visit
Our second visit during a weekday for lunch was not so glorious. I had a frittata, which wasnt fully heated through but my friend had a nice carrot cake. There was little or no gluten free options and the two vegetarian savoury options both had mushrooms in….

I went to this place a couple of times. On one occasion the server lied about what was in my food. The server said that it was chicken and tarragon but it ended up being meat and potatoes. Not what I wanted. Quite frankly it tasted awful. I forgave them for that thinking that the server was just confused and I went back again. Silly me.

I ordered my food which took the cashier seemingly forever to ring up. Then I found my seat which was at the only available table at the time. One of the servers brought part of my order and my drink to my table. I sat drinking my hot cocoa and reading my book, while I was waiting for my hot breakfast to arrive. At least 15min had passed but instead of bringing me the food that I ordered, another server came and told me that I had to move to a different table. He claimed that he had reserved the table I was at – but saw no “reserved” sign at this table. Not only that but this cafe is one of those “find your own seats” type of a place. It is not a “wait to be seated” place. The server asked me to move to a table that had not even been cleared yet. Needless to say, I was very angry about the rudeness of being told to move and to move to a dirty table.

If he did not want me to sit at that table, then he should have asked me to move when I first sat down or when my hot cocoa was brought to me. But none of that happened. The server who also turned out to be the manager waited until I was nice and comfortable in my seat, after I had already started drinking my beverage and after part of my order had been brought to me to be rude. I am not sure why this happened. I am not sure why I was singled out for rudeness. All I can say is that it was wrong.

I hate to say it but I am extremely disappointed with the service in this place. As for the food, it really is not good enough to bother going back to again. As a tourist in New Zealand, I have found other friendlier places to eat at with much better food. I will make sure to tell everyone I know back home to never eat at the Karaka Café when they come to Wellington unless they want rudeness served with their order.

Fantastic place! Went there for brunch. Food was great, location was too, loved the Te Reo touch on the menu. Love that they have a variation of eggs benedict but with hangi instead of muffin. Great flavour. Got coffees to take away when we left which was a mistake. It seemed to take forever to get the coffees but maybe that was because I watched the guy making it at snails pace. Surprisingly it was still reasonably hot when I got it and I would definitely go back. The rest of the staff were great.

Had lunch with a friend at Karaka on Tuesday. It’s great. The food was delicious and beautifully presented. Staff extra friendly and great service. The setting is fantastic – lovely to be able to sit outside and look over the water.

Awesome place, went for an evening meal on a Wednesday. I had the salmon and OMG it was beautiful. I was with a group and we all found our meals were a very good price and was of a very high quality. Service was a bit slow to begin with but the bloke that took over was great. Good selection of wines. Have recommended the place to friends and family and will be going again.