The BAKER — Restaurant in Waikato

The Waikato's vegan hotspot is Tirau, due to one place only: The BAKER. The savoury and sweet treats available in the full and fully vegan cabinet at The Baker would be right in place at any fully vegan bakery in Poneke or Tamaki Makaurau (Wgtn./Akld.). Plant-based meat-filled sandwiches, pain-au-chocolat, pies: they're all here, hot and ready to run out the door with you and a hot cup of fresh coffee to keep you fueled and fired up for zipping on along the road. The only challenge? Getting there not just before their early closing time of 2pm, but also before each wrack in the cabinet sells out. Apologies for the half empty top shelf in the photo: I turned up a bit late for lunch! Check for the love heart-shaped V sign to indicate the fully pure...

We had an apple pork sausage roll (highly recommend), steak and cheese, steak & jalapeño pies with a fresh cream eclair. Thought I’ll get the steak & cheese due to the awards they won for it. Must say that I actually prefer the apple pork sausage roll above the steak pies. Steak strips are maybe a tad bigger than I like. I struggled to bite off pieces of the big steak strips and ended up pulling the whole strip out, leaving some parts with just cheese and sauce. Lovely yummy pastry. Jalapeño pie was about 1:1 ratio with the steak strips, not for the weak of heart. People were queuing outside the door, crammed space inside and 0-none parking close by. We drove around the block and parked...

Wow, I have never bothered to stop in tirau before, my mistake, this is a fantastic little bakery with a few tables for eating in use. Great Chiasso coffee. The outlook is highway one (like all cafes in tirau) but the attraction here is all inside, with a great selection of breads and baked goods plus amazing cabinet food. This is must stop destination

Unfortunately after a subsequent visit, distracted, uninterested staff have ruined this place for me. Parts of our order were missing, and the item we requested heated, although put in an oven was stone cold when we received it.. the quality of the food...