The Federal Store — Restaurant in North Island

I went there at 10am on a Sunday (10/12/23). The staff did not say that there was a 1 hour and 5 minutes wait for your food/breakfast to arrive. They did not say a thing, no apologies, no nothing ... not until we asked, "Hey, where is our food? Have you forgotten about us?" The other customers sitting at tables around us were also experiencing the 1 hour + wait times. The staff at the outset could have said something like, "I'm sorry but there is a long wait time today. If you order food from the cabinet, we can microwave it and get it to you quicker." I live in Upper Hutt and work in Wellington everyday. Maybe 1 hour and 5 minutes is an acceptable wait time for folks in New Plymouth who are fans of this cafe, but this kind of service (the long wait times and not saying anything up front and not saying anything until prompted) is totally unacceptable in the Wellington area. If you go to this cafe when it looks busy, ask them how long it is going to take, and maybe go for the cabinet food which might be quicker, or just go somewhere else. Truthfully, McDonalds would have been much...

This placed came highly recommended and was a nice experience for our family of 3 while on holiday.

Owner(?) showed us to our seats & we ordered 3 different breakfasts (Eggs Benedict, Avo Toast & French Toast). Was a lovely touch he checked cup size for hubby’s coffee. We voted Avo Toast the best of all (French Toast very very sweet but delicious while eggs bene was as expected).

Only negative came at the end. The whole store was packed with people leaving before ordering as no tables.

We wanted takeaway coffees & cabinet food to go so gave up our table for another group & waited (& waited) for our takeaway items. Barista was rude & snappy towards us multiple times (store is small & nowhere to wait for coffees inside when pouring with rain except by the barista). Also had to remind them for our almond crossiant (but they were lovely about this).

Overall would go back (before 9am or with an early booking) to try other menu items & more cabinet food (Pinky bar slice...

As a person who enjoys and reviews food ... This place did not disappoint... I've ordered a Sweet French toast and it was indeed sweet... As you can see the plate was beautiful and filled with sugary goodness ...I wasn't able to finish my plate because of all the sugar but it didn't bother me as the dish was tasty...you get what you pay for...the toast was soft as butter... The brulee banana was really good and the crème anglaise(wasn't sweet) and bacon brought a good balance to the dish... Only critique will be that I didn't enjoy the brown sugar in the dish as it broke the balance at times ... The place was aesthetically pleasing and the staff was friendly...the order came out really quick too...I've ordered at 12.05 and recieved it by 12.20 which is pretty quick... I'd definitely come back to try other menu items and would recommend this place to anyone...they got a simple yet filling menu... Keep up the good work guys....see y'all soon... Stay safe...