OAKEN CAFE — Restaurant in South Island

I heard about Oaken last year, admittedly, I had a cliché syntax and semantics moment and crafted the belief in my mind that it was a woodcraft store!

Regardless, the other day, after relentless deliberation with a colleague we decided to go to Oaken for a coffee.

I must say, Oaken is in a very nice setting. The cafe itself is situated off a main road, however they have managed to stop the noise of traffic from drowning the inside of the store. The seating upstairs is a very nice touch and on a nice day it would be a splendid place to watch the iridescent light fill up the cafe.

The customer service is on par. The staff are friendly and welcome you as you enter the cafe. They also enjoy conversation and exude enthusiasm.

My colleague and I both ordered a flat white. My only improvement would be to feedback that the waitress split my coffee on my saucer, this is something that really annoys me. However, I appreciate that mistakes happen, and the quality of the coffee made up for this fault.

Overall, I was delighted by Oaken. I have already been back two times, I am sure that my presence will not be...

First impressions of Oaken are good but with room for improvement. Most of the tables are upstairs, so if you have trouble with these, you are probably best to go in a quiet time. There is one table downstairs and outside seating when its fine. I was served on arrival and was the only one in line at 9 am. I was quite surprised at how long it took for my order to arrive. It took 18 minutes for the tea and 25 for the food. The food was fine, but I felt like a little chutney or hollandaise would have gone well with it. I asked for a side of hollandaise, the staff member was happy to help but then carried on clearing tables before going to get it. That sounds a bit petty, but it's those little things that make you feel looked after at a hospitality venue. The atmosphere sells this place. I was left with the feeling that what they were doing was more important than serving the customer, but at the same time, they were friendly and polite. You are upstairs watching the morning traffic and leafy gardens through floor to ceiling windows. It's a nice space. I'll come back if I'm...

There were many options to eat breakfast that morning but I purposely chose one which was closer to University of Otago. This cafe was one street away from St David's Complex which houses lecture theatre, seminar rooms, a cafe and University Union... which was not there when I went back to Malaysia in the year 2000.

I chose this cafe before it was within walking distance, and its proximity to University of Otago - I parked my car at our accommodation and walked towards the cafe before continuing to the university campus. First impression was very good - the cafe boasts floor-to-ceiling glass allowing maximum natural lighting to light up the whole place. Friendly staffs made our visit welcomed and in no time the breakfast items were served in front of us. All of which tasted freshly made and perhaps it was the cold winter morning that got us famished.

Eggs Benedict, bacon, eggs and even wraps were those that we'd ordered.. and we could not find fault with all of the food. In the end, we walked out of the cafe happily and continued to...