The Shelf — Restaurant in Waitematā

The staff were very kind and service was fast, but the actual food left something to be desired for me. I'm probably not the target audience for this kind of place, with the advanced "deconstructed" drinks and the like.

I tried the french toast and it was shockingly sweet. It came with a berry sauce, cooked (candied?) banana, was dusted with powdered sugar, and then topped with a big glob of cotton candy. Unfortunately, due to the sugar overload, any other flavours were sort of drowned out. The french toast itself was excellent, with a crispy exterior and soft fluffy interior, and it was nicely thick-cut as well. It's a shame that all you could taste was sugar.

The drink was similarly unusual. I paid a premium ($8, which might be closer to $6 at other establishments) for the privilege of having to make the iced latte myself. Again, I think another person might enjoy this sort of thing a lot more, but it just rubs me the wrong way. To be fair, it's not like it was a surprise (the drink was a "deconstructed iced latte") but at the same time there was no option to have a... constructed latte.

Overall, if the atmosphere and style seem appealing to you, then I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time. Perhaps avoid the french toast if you aren't looking for a sugar...

Came by for breakfast/brunch for a handing in celebration. A friend recommended this place because of their deconstructed iced mocha. There were quite a few tables along the restaurant. We grabbed menus and a table and then went up to order. We did notice that one of the stools on the table by the door kept falling off the ledge as people tried to get on. Both the waffles and french toast looked interesting so we got one each and shared. The freak shakes on the menu also looked quite interesting so grabbed a few of those as well. I wouldn't go for the freak shakes again. We got the tim tam (caramel) and oreo one. Both were quite icy and not as flavourful as we were hoping. They tasted mostly of milk and vanilla. The food, on the other hand, was quite nice. The french toast was very eggy and quite airy, both of which I liked. The waffles had a good texture, crunchy on the outside and a bit chewy on the inside. I liked the flavours of both and candyfloss on top was great. i would probably come back for the food but maybe...

My colleague and I were having lunch today at The shelf and heard a girl screaming near the toilet area. All the staff members ignored it until we got up and wanted to know what was happening and went into the ‘do not enter area’. The manager Tony was in the toilet wIth one of the staff members and was physically abusing her. He came out of the toilet pretending that he was the one who got hurt. None of the staff members cared about the girl who then I spoke to and asked if she was hurt. The girl was terrified and she was in a bad state. Tony ran away soon after and the girl left too. We called the cops and reported the incident. So disappointed with all the male staff who were listening to the girl’s screaming and did not care. I would never ever go to this place as i can’t stand abuse on women and would not want to support a restaurant where a girl’s plea for help is ignored. Witnessing this incident has had such an impact on me. I just can’t get that girls terrified face...