Kenny’s Cafe – A diamond in the ruff?

To capitalise on a stunning Wellington Morning the three of us decided to meet at the disputed/foreign Kenny’s cafe on Courtenay Place at circa 7:21 am. First impressions were grime to say the best – I felt as if I was walking into in 80′s tea room/opium den in China Town – but as you will soon discover – I was quite contempt with my first Kenny’s Cafe experience.

We approached the host at the back of the dinning area – and was greeted and welcomed by a small (but charming) Asian lady who drew our attention to breakfast menu. After a quick canvas of the menu (a piece of cardboard selotaped to the wall) a general consensus was made to go for the Bacon and Egg’s for $10.00. Our host knew exactly why we were there – 3 (wise?) men on a mission to destroy their hunger and offered polite chit chat as we made our orders – which I thought was a nice touch.

After taking our seats one table back from the front of the cafe and engaged ourselves in deep conversation about world politics and upcoming social events. Within a short time 3 substantial meals were simultaneously served, shortly followed with 3 coffees (with milk) and a plate of toast. The meals were around twice as big as you get a Leuven and comprised of 2 tomatoes slices, 2 poached eggs, a serving of fries (an interesting dynamic for breakfast), 3 pieces of toast each and a very sizable serving of bacon.

Additional condiments were also supplied which was a real crowd pleaser (particularly with Tom) and included salt and pepper, tomato sauce and vinegar. After completing our meals we were all pleasantly surprised and had nothing but praise for the feast we had just consumed.

However, while the food was excellent bang for buck, there are couple of notable let downs on the dining experience. Firstly – the tables can only sit 4 people. This would be an extreme limitation if we had a full crew and ultimately lead to less banter – a key performance indicator of an A+ Breakfast. Another notable let is the decor which obviously has not been touched in 20 years and the coffee which seemed like filter coffee.

To summarize – I would say the Kenny’s Cafe was excellent bang from buck and had great service – but was let down by decor and atmosphere when compared to the likes of Leven.

Food – 7.85/10
Atmosphere – 6.25/10
Service -9.11 /10
Coffee -5.18 /10
Banter – 5.00/10 – only 50% turn out
Overall – 7.12/10

I had a takeaway chocolate ice cream sundae that was so good i almost cried. Also consistently good hot chips. Great for soaking up alcohol when you are sick of the pubs.