Quay St Cafe is locate on Quay St in the Sanctuary Cove shopping district. They are open 6:30am – 3:30pm everyday. It has a nice atmosphere and depending on where you sit, a lovely view of the water.
We had the lovely Sophia join the Top Ten Team this day. a couple of posts ago I mentioned how wonderful it is to meet up with friends every week and to just chat about life. Again I met Sophia through another friend of a friend.
I think it is amazing how there are just some people in the world that you click with immediately you meet them. Sophia and I instantly jelled. She along with her daughter Tarah are wonderful cooks, so when we get together we are always either talking about food or make food!
Anyway back to Quay St. Just like writing a school report, we start with a positive, end with a positive and put the hard stuff in the middle.
The bacon and eggs were cooked to perfection and reasonably priced at only $13.50. It normally comes with toast, but because I am not eating bread at the moment, I asked for it without so there would be no temptation.
Sophia chose the Custard and Apple tart, but said that it was a bit dry and not enough custard really. It looks so very pretty, it is a shame that it didn’t have enough custard.
Sim and Tan chose the pumpkin and ginger cake, they said it was amazing. It was moist and full of flavour and they savoured every bite. I am going to go back when I can eat cake so I can taste it and then have a go at making this cake sometime in the future. The combination of pumpkin and ginger intrigues me.
Now to the coffee. I have to say, I unfortunately, couldn’t finish my piccolo. It didn’t taste burnt, but sort of like smelly socks, I know that isn’t a very nice description, but for me not to be able to finish a piccolo coffee, there was something really wrong.
I thought it was just me and I was being a true coffee snob, but Sophia didn’t finish her flat white either and Tan, while drinking all of hers said it wasn’t very nice, sort of tasted like instant! I think telling a barista that their coffee tasted like instant is sort of the ultimate insult. Sorry, but I have to be truthful other wise why do a review.
On having a chat with the owner, she spoke about changes to the menu, with lots of whole foods as well as making sure nothing was pre packaged. I asked her about the coffee and if they thought of maybe doing an organic blend, but unfortunately she said that everyone else seemed to think the coffee was very good and she seemed to think there would be a riot if she changed the beans.
Personally I don’t think the Sanctuary Cove regulars drinking the coffee know any better, which is a real shame, as everything else about the cafe was wonderful. It may have been the Barista, or a combination of barista and beans. I think the best barista in the world may struggle to make a good coffee out of these beans (bellaroma) but it is a large chain, so I’m not entirely sure?
On a very positive note, Sim (whose hot chocolate is never hot enough) said that her Hot Chocolate was really yummy! It looked very pretty and I’m glad that she enjoyed her drink, while we were complaining about ours!
The service atmosphere and food were delicious. The Cafe has recently being purchase, by a lovely husband and wife team and they are doing a fantastic job. They are licensed, so if you decide to go for a nice lunch, you can have a glass of wine/beer etc!
The cafe is also pet friendly, so a great place to take your extended loved ones, while you catch up with friends.
So if you want a lovely morning/lunch out and don’t care to drink the coffee, this is the place for you! It is reasonable priced, especially for Sanctuary Cove, with great food and good service.
So here are our scores for this week.
| Tan | Sim | Liz | Sophia | |
| Food | 9 | 9 | 9 | 5 |
| Drinks | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
| Service | 9 | 7.5 | 8 | 7 |
| Atmosphere | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
Have you ever been to a cafe, that has wonderful elements, but then something just spoiled it?
Please don’t forget to follow Tan on INSTAGRAM, and see all her other amazing Gold Coast Scenic Photos.
Thanks for reading, you know that I love to hear from you!
Enjoy Irresponsibly!
Liz xx
If you enjoyed this review why not check out these?
Finding the Best Coffee – Skull and Bones #14
Finding the Best Coffee – 2 little Bakers #13
Apple Crumble Slice (Thermomix Method Included)
Liz xx
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I had what tasted like burnt coffee recently and couldn’t finish my espresso it was that bad. I was talking to another barista a few days afterwards because I couldn’t understand how the coffee could be so bad and he told me that if the coffee is left sitting in the grouphead before the coffee is made this can led to the coffee tasting burnt even though it isn’t. However, this doesn’t sound like your problem – thank goodness we have a number of very good coffee roasters here in Hawke’s Bay and equally good barista’s – usually – it’s not often I can’t drink a coffee!
I know Rachel… It was very disappointing because almost everything else was lovely! I’m glad you have access to good coffee! Liz x
I wonder is it ultimately the bean that makes the good coffee, or can a super barista turn a crappy bean into a magical cuppa. Not a fan of bellaroma either. BUT…. I’d take it over instant, or a fast food coffee. LOL!
I’m not sure Anna, but this really tasted like instant…. so…. maybe the barista??? If in doubt I drink tea 🙂 liz xx