Shaky Isles is a corporate cafe – owned by the same investment group behind the Mac’s Brew Bars. Bad taste in the mouth already, right?

Well, the taste got worse when I ordered their vegetarian big breakfast. Or rather, the taste vanished altogether. The blandness was overwhelming. Mushrooms cooked with nothing. A huge pile of beans with not even a cursory application of salt to flavour them. It was depressing!

I’d give them one star, but the coffee is okay. The music, on the other hand, was so obnoxious we left early. Not recommended.

Service is extremely slow, but staff seem to appear friendly. I eat out a lot, and cannot believe how bland the food tastes! no flavour and way to over priced for what it is. I am definitely not going back for the food, maybe for a coffee but wasn’t that impressed overall.

took my mum and aunty for lunch today at shaky isles kingsland.
firstly the service was appalling – waited an eternity to be served, and had to ask twice for someone to take our order. then waited another eternity for our 3 decidedly average meals to arrive.
upon paying we were charged a 15% “public holiday surcharge” – even though the public holiday is supposedly observed on tuesday 3rd (are they going to charge it twice).
when i asked where this was advised the cashier pointed out a small sign on the front of the window.
not impressed – won’t be going back.

I enjoyed a lovely lunch here with my friend. The food is a bit expensive, but it’s definitely tasty and filling. The place is nice and the waiters friendly. It was also quite busy during the time we were there. I am happy to recommend this place. I would love to go back and try something different next time.

I took my staff in for morning tea , it is not a bad way to spend a morning sitting outside in Kingsland drinking great coffee .

As for service they are fast & efficient , I get the feeling that they must have a new manger because the staff are better .

I reluctantly returned to this cafe because a friend of mine convinced me to. She fancied the steak sandwich that was on the menu and had a voucher as well. When we entered at lunch time on Saturday there were lots of empty tables so we took a seat where the four of us would have enough room. There was bread crumbs on the chairs and covering the floor and water marks on the tables. I would have thought that the staff might have taken advantage of the lack of customers to clean up a bit. The steak sandwhich had been removed from the menu so my friend had the burger. $15 for nothing special. The staff here behave like they are in their own home treating the customer like annoying guests. The last time I went I got an Eggs Benedict which came with half an egg shell still in the egg (quite obviously), I pushed that one aside but didnt send it back because we had already waited about 45 minutes for the food to arrive. I will not return to Shaky Isles and think that the owners should stop worrying about how ‘cool’ the decor is and start looking after their customers.

The coffee is great and the Wifi is free. After this the good news stops with very average food. The scramble eggs and mushrooms lacked taste and the service is slow and disjointed.

The other reviewers are correct, it is overpriced for what you get.

Went in for lunch with some business colleagues. Service was slow and the food was overpriced for what it was. Won’t be returning or recommending this place any time soon.

I’ve been here three times and won’t bother going back for anything other than coffee. The food is overpriced for what it is. I ordered the falafel burger which for fourteen bucks you would expect to be a decent size and have ample amounts of the few ingredients listed on the menu as being in it. It was dry and extremely bland. I looked inside the bun and the hummus/yoghurt sauce was evident in the centre of the bun but not around the edges. I asked for some relish and made the burger go from bland to ok-ish. My sister ordered a side of spinach and didn’t realise this would be spinish leaves rather than cooked spinich. The going rate for a side of spinich is $3 and this apparantly buys you around 10 small leaves of the stuff. To anyone thinking of going here, unless you like really bland food I suggest you try just about anywhere else in Kingsland…

Great coffee and atmosphere!
Food was good.

Staff are friendly and coffee is great but would like to see some Gluten free options for slices or cakes

Usually come through here when everywhere else is packed to the rafters on a Saturday. The staff are friendly and that’s cool, but the food is a little overpriced and a bit on the average side. I ordered the eggs benedict and it came out on a tiny piece of ciabatta with a sprout and an egg. A bit sad. I can’t remember how much I paid, but it was probably around $15 which I remember being a bit much. The coffee is okay too.

However, the tallest coffee with ice cream is always a must have.

This place is the bees knees….I know coffee is the top of most people’s priorities but they also do a great English breakfast tea which goes fantastically well with the Breakfast Bruschetta, which was mentioned earlier (scrambled eggs on top of bread with pesto and feta). They have a certain way with scrambling eggs which I have never seen elsewhere – everything done really well with very good service. It’s hard to leave this place to try somewhere else in case it isn’t as good!

Clean and excellent service. Coffee is always good but very little to choose from in the menu. For a big eater like myself it’s a good place to visit when you are not too hungry as the portions are not too big and will satisfy as fill-in in a conversation. Good lively atmosphere and wonderful staff.

Best cafe in Auckland for brunch. Excellent coffee and fast, friendly service. Very comfortable environment, they even have free wi-fi! Outstanding brunch menu, not your average run-of-the-mill breakfasts that you get everywhere, I had fresh baby spinach and slices of tomatoes with beautifull done free-range scrambled eggs with super tasty chunks of delicious feta and pesto all on top of the BEST gluten free bread I have ever eaten!
It’s certainly worth the drive out to Kingsland for a decent Sunday brunch! Will be back!