WOW!!! My children and I recently took a trip over the hill to The Short Straw cafe. Though the drive there takes approx 20mins, we didn’t seem to mind as it’s a very scenic journey.
On the day we visited, the Short straw cafe was showing all the new baby animals in celebration of Spring. And local engineer enthusiasts had all their cool contraptions on display-child friendly,and available for little hands to learn.
There were hundreds of people who turned out for the occasion.So Understandably there were periods of waiting, But my Son will testify that he enjoyed the best iced chocolate ever made in history-with heaps of gooey real chocolate sauce and my Daughter and I both agree that the Caramel mud cake complete with thick creamy yogurt was to die for. Out doors where the open BBQs served up thick steak sandwiches-that just melt in your mouth, and little farmer lunchboxes for even the fussiest of eaters-containing hand decorated sheep cookies, fruit,sandwiches and juice. Definitely no fries in sight, funny how most people think that should be a standard meal on its own-but if I had wanted that on the menu I would of gone to McD’s.
The staff were very friendly, prices weren’t too bad-I didn’t break the bank. We all really enjoyed our time there, my youngest child has a disability which effects her bones resulting in many fractures from minimal force. I watched her have an amazing time-petting the animals and enjoying herself,eating, sharing great conversation, exploring the activities they had set up outside. Very well organised event. I will be recommending The Short Straw cafe. Many Thanks

What a shambles, poor service and a place that does not cater for 1 year old children!

Our Antenatal group decided to have our children’s 1st Birthday at Short Straw Cafe, given that they dealt with this sort of thing on a regular basis.

They had set up a small table & chairs for them, all I can say is where are the highchairs? My little one certainly wasn’t going to sit still and eat, not when the door was opened every 5 seconds for him to escape!

The food, the waitress eventually served this up to the children after we asked a few times where it was? The same girl also put 2 large ‘glass’ bottles directly onto the children’s table, and when she did deliver the food, it was rather hot, was she trying to send us to the hospital?

As part of the price we had paid for each child, we were meant to get tea and coffee and a platter of food for the adults. When we arrived there was no tea and coffee or platter, so after waiting a bit we ordered and brought our own coffees etc…
About 45 minutes later the coffee & tea arrived, along with a platter of overcooked bread. By this stage we were still waiting for some of the coffees that we had purchased ourselves! In the end I gave up waiting and cancelled mine. It had been approx 50 minutes and it had still had not arrived. A long black does not take that long. Another waitress brought me my money back and then picked an argument with me about the coffee – really?!!!

The entire visit for my husband and I was draining. I will not be returning, nor will I be recommending it to anyone else. It’s a rather large trek for bad food and poor service, we live in the Wellington region where the options are endless for quite the opposite of this establishment, so why would you bother with this one!

Apart from the children, I really enjoyed this cafe. I’ve brought multiple people out here for afternoon tea. A great range of cakes and the smoothies are fantastic! And reasonably priced! Cannot wait for my next visit.

This place is perfect if you have kids. There are so many toys inside and out to keep them entertained for hours. But we went in the late afternoon on a weekday.

It surely is in the wop wops and can take a while to get there.

The food is ok but not wonderful. There are no hot chips and not only a limited amount of vegetarian savoury items. Also, the quiche comes with a salad that has no dressing on it. My 80 year old grandma had to ask for salad dressing.

One good thing, is that you can sit inside or out and enjoy your meal while your child is happily playing.

It’s amazing to think that as you drive out to this place that you’re only 30mins from NZs capital city. Unfortunately, the peace and quiet doesn’t last when you arrive.

Short Straw is a relatively busy and remote cafe out in the wops, partly getting it’s name from the fact that the building was built using straw – novel.

The place was busy with a few large groups – great diversity of people for people watching. Unfortunately the food was ho-hum. My wife ordered vegetable soup, which was described to me as bland and tasteless. I had a slice of quiche with salad. Lots of salad, but you get all of about 2 drips of dressing on the salad – hardly salad dressing, more like a salad g-string.

Considering where you are, it isn’t exactly a peaceful place with the number of kids running around.

So personally, not my kinda joint. But others may enjoy the drive out there.

Love this place. If you have children, this is the place to come to, play outside or in, while away an afternoon, fantastic and oh the food is lovely.