Ciabatta Cafe & Bakery — Restaurant in North Island

This place is hidden on a street that is full of industrial buildings so it is really easy to miss yet it’s quite popular place with the locals that work on that street.

They offer a great selection of sandwiches in between two slices of that great ciabatta bread. They also offer coffee and baked goods as well.

I was surprised at how much sitting room there was since the actual restaurant counter is quite small. The further you walk in, the more room you discover.

We opted to sit on a few of the limited patio with our Lammie (slow cooked NZ lamb) and Smokie (Smoked salmon). They both came in their own little boxes and just unfold into a little plate for you.

Both sandwiches were friggin’ delicious and they were built with the right flavour profile to match the protein of choice.

The Lammie had the bacon jam to enhance the lamb while the Smokie had the swiss dressing & basil pesto.

If it’s not out of your way, we suggest coming here for lunch. It’s...

Great spot with a difference. The food is all made on site based around using ciabatta breads and rolls. The owner feeds his own live bread starter and the finished product oozes his passion for quality yeast products. This place used to be his bread making kitchen and now it has been transformed into a series of either group spaces or quiet little knocks. How do I know this? Because I took a few fun bread making classes in this original kitchen. You have to try his cronuts too. They are a combination of croissant pastry and doughnuts. So light and fluffy. Take home a fresh loaf of bread or bread rolls to share with the family too for later. If you're out with your dog, it is even welcome if well behaved. It is now my favourite place to meet with colleagues for a meeting. Free wifi if you need it. You'll find people of all ages there enjoying themselves. You won't be disappointed unless you call in on a Monday when...

A quality cafe. We got the berry custard crumble pie, almond croissant, and the vege/vegan ciabatta. While the food was satisfactory, the croissant and ciabatta could have benefited from being toasted/warmed up. The coffee was good and the staff were friendly.

The atmosphere was the most confusing part of this place. It has plenty of seating and many large tables, which is a huge plus of this place. But the decor and music left me wondering what they were going for. Lots of decor that doesn’t seem to match, asymmetrical rooms, doorways, and tables, and the music was light Christmas instrumental while we were there.

Overall it was a fine place to have a bite and a coffee, but it wasn’t my favorite. Definitely a great place to go if you have a large group as there is plenty of seating to...