Well… those fish tacos were AMAZINGLY GOOD! The flavour combination of the salsa with coriander and onion and just the right lite amount of diced tomato was excellent. Perfectly seasoned – no need for adjustment there at all. The fish was delicious. Perfect.

I loved the view out to the sea (the west harbour), and on a glorious, sunny day like today – the ‘last work day before Christmas’, there was a nice chilled out vibe, as people were in a relaxed mood for enjoying lunch in the open air.

I actually chose a wee posse inside, as the wind was getting up a bit, and I wanted to read the paper.

The focus at Meola Kitchen is definitely on excellent food and great coffee. Speaking of great coffee – the barista was so focussed on turning out tremendous coffees, that he forgot to smile – even when I tried to crack a joke because I mistakenly thought he’d forgotten about my second coffee. Humour me, man, I’m your customer. Anyway – your coffee’s good. The other fellow was friendly & helpful to make up for it They were constantly peddling to stay ahead of the customer demand… so service was pretty good considering.

The decor is shabby-chic, which suits the old style building, though maybe the rickety chairs could do with a bit of sprucing up?! It’s a funny old jaunt upstairs to the 3rd floor if you need to use the bathroom, but the trip up adds to the texture of your experience in this old-Auckland house. It’s quite cool.

Overall, it’s definitely a place to sample the beautiful food on offer, in a relaxed under-stated space with great views.

We arrived from Christchurch and decided to have Sunday brunch, we ended up at Meola Kitchen. Six adults who either ordered their food from the wall menu or cabinet. The food was fresh and delicious, the coffee was great. To make the experience even better, the service was great. Highly recommended.

Pro: opening hours
Con: flair

Coffee was nice and so was the food – but nothing special either. Definitely can’t compete with the Garnet Station down the road which has much more flair, different sitting opportunities, and organic food. The best about Meola Kitchen are the opening hours – finally a cafe which is open till 5pm, 7 days a week, when other cafes in Herne Bay (Rabbit Hole, Zus & Zo) already close at 3pm.

We’ve just moved to the area and had been looking forward to having Meola Kitchen as our local. The coffee is consistently good – but the food is disappointingly average. Also, we are suprised to note that although staff are friendly, tables often sit uncleared for quite a while – not great if you’re sitting waiting at the dirty table, or its the one next to you with sparrows flying in for leftovers. Come on Meola Kitchen – pick up your game!

The breakfast burrito here is a personal delicious favourite, not to mention a healthy choice, with light scrambled eggs and crispy bacon wrapped with a grilled tortilla. The coriander and tomato salsa adds a fabulous kick. The best coffee here hands down. All the food is fresh, authentic and delicious.

It is hard to find the perfect brioche – but the cinnamon brioche from Meola Kitchen is it! I have tried them more them once and they are consistently soft, warm, sweet and delicious. With the great coffee served, makes for a good start to the day. Thanks for that Meola Kitchen and for your friendly staff too – we’ll be back!

Very unimpressed. Ordered the breakfast burrito which turned out to be a tortilla with filled bland scrambled eggs and a few pieces of old looking chewy bacon. No cheese, sour cream, beans etc. Very plain and not very fresh. Partner ordered poached eggs which came out undercooked. Seemed like a very lazy job from the chef. Coffee was also pretty average. Will not be going back.

Hadn’t been to Meola in a while but stopped in on a Thursday and saw the place has been given a new lease of life. Fresh look, fresh menu and still a killer espresso (depending on the day of the week…) Can’t beat that breakfast menu (not an eggs bene in sight!) and fantastic staff. Highly recommended. Beats my local hands down.

I am giving this place 5 deserving stars. I hope the people working there see this… Fantastic natural service, yummy food, super location. And not too much more to ask for. Apart from maybe improving the magazine selection slightly. This cafe is a must try!

We thought we would drop in to this spot as we passed through Westmere after seeing the review in the Sunday Herald, for a takeaway coffee and bite to eat. After reading the menu we decided there was no leaving with out trying the Huevos Rancheros with home made tortillas and Chorizo sausage and the Goats cheese Souffle. My partner thoroughly enjoyed the Huevos, it was truly stunning. And the goats cheese Souffle was presented superbly with delicious subtle flavours. Definitely will return for another fix. Staff were lovely and worth the five stars given.

I went with husband for a weekend very late brunch on a Saturday. I ordered the fish tacos, hubbie ordered the big breakfast. Coffees were v. strong. Everything was SUPER fresh, even the hash brown in the big breakfast tasted like the potatoes had been immediately cut, fried and put on plate. My fish tacos were exquisite. The lime cream, coriander, salsa and spices were perfectly balanced. The taco was homemade and nicely soft.
We had a lovely time sitting outside reading the paper and came away thinking it was one of the loveliest cafe meals we’ve had in awhile. We decided we will go back soon as there were too many delicious things on the menu.
The ONLY thing that got up my nose was having to climb three flights of stairs to the toilets to find it buzzing with flies. Also, not well sign posted so I ended up opening large cupboard doors to find this mysterious unlabelled bathroom. A bit of thought on this and maintenance would make this cafe perfect.

I read the MM review “…Metro Magazine raved about the huevos rancheros …” well all I can say is they have either never had authentic huevos or the standard has dropped pitifully. Brunch on Sunday 27/3, I was eager for my favourite breakfast, which I’d not had since leaving the USA in Feb 09. MK’s version was abysmal, overcooked eggs, dry beans a meager but tasty salsa and over fried tortilla. Even the Tex Mex lot don’t deep fry the tortilla. YIKES! It was the worst I’ve ever been served. I’m on a mission now, I’m going to hunt out the best huevos in Auckland. Stayed tuned. The place was busy and other diners seemed to be happy with their choice.

Fantastic food, excellent coffee and great service.