One thing you cannot say about Auckland is that it is lacking coffee shops and bakeries. everywhere you look, there is another cute cafe that you make a mental note to go to some day. this post is a direct response to that – here you will find a list of the Auckland cafes I’ve visited along with ratings on a scale of 1-10 for their atmosphere, drinks, food, and service, which are then used to calculate an overall score. each attribute is weighted as follows in their overall score: 15% atmosphere, 45% drinks, 25% food, and 15% service. if I don’t order food or a drink somewhere, then that does not negatively impact a cafe’s rating – the weight from the category is redistributed across the remaining three. scores may change if I visit the same place more than once!
rating summary
below is a summary table of all of the Auckland cafes I have visited and their ratings in order from highest to lowest overall rating. To see more detail about a certain place (e.g., location, what I ordered, and likes/dislikes), click the name in the far left column or scroll down on this page. I will continually update this list as I visit more cafes over the next few months of living here! Let me know if there are any places I need to add to my list 🙂
| name | atmosphere | drinks | food | service | overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| deli di bossi | 8 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 8 | 9.1 |
| young dandy | 7.5 | 8.5 | n/a | 9 | 8.4 |
| The Receptionist | 8 | 8 | n/a | 9 | 8.2 |
| d.o.s.e | 10 | 7 | n/a | 9 | 8.2 |
| daily bread | 7.5 | 8 | 8.8 | 7 | 8.0 |
| Amano | 8 | 7.75 | 8.05 | 7 | 7.8 |
| Kokako | 7 | 8 | n/a | 8 | 7.8 |
| MIBO | 9 | 7.5 | n/a | 7 | 7.7 |
| Brown St Espresso | 7 | 7.5 | n/a | 9 | 7.7 |
| cosmo coffee | 6 | 8 | n/a | 8 | 7.5 |
| Up Cafe | 6 | 6.5 | 8.5 | 8 | 7.2 |
| Luna bakehouse | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7.1 |
| ellie | 5 | 7.5 | n/a | 7 | 6.8 |
| kompass coffee | 7 | 7 | n/a | 6 | 6.8 |
| Little and Friday | 6 | 6.5 | n/a | 7 | 6.5 |
| seoul 1946 | 8.5 | 4 | 8 | 6.5 | 6.1 |
rating details
below you will find each of the Auckland cafes I’ve visited along with some rationale for the ratings I’ve given them.
Deli di bossi (9.1)
- Location: auckland CBD – 10 commerce street
- Atmosphere: 8. The cafe has an indoor/outdoor vibe, but is completely covered. the decor is super cute and very authentically italian with plenty of italian grocery items for purchase as well. deducted points for how it sometimes feels like you’re next to a parking garage due to the valet pickup for the residential building above being right next to the cafe.
- drinks: 9.5. the iced latte here is to die for and the best I’ve had in Auckland. definitely get it in a takeaway cup – the dine-in glass is a bit bigger so they add in more milk, which is unnecessary. The Flat white is also very good. They use vittoria coffee beans which i really like.
- Food: 9.5. absolutely unreal paninis here. The al proscuitto panini is quite possibly the best sandwich I’ve ever had. the ham panini was also very good and they definitely don’t skimp on the meat.
- service: 8. nothing super special or anything, but the staff is always nice and the service is quick!
Young Dandy (8.4)
- location: Parnell – 118 Parnell Road
- Atmosphere: 7.5. this cafe is airy and bright and felt lived in (in a good way). nothing out of the ordinary, just a nice cafe vibe.
- drinks: 8.5. Ordered an iced blueberry matcha and omgggg so good. not overly sweet but the blueberry flavor was strong. The American in me would have appreciated more ice though lol.
- Food: n/a
- service: 9. The service was not only super quick, but the guy taking my order was friendly and interested in chatting about where I was from and why I was in NZ. He gave me some good nz recs too which was nice!
The Receptionist (8.2)
- location: Auckland cbd. There are two locations – exchange lane at 95 Queen st and Little High Street at 59-67 High Street. I’ve been to both!
- Atmosphere: 8. I really like the atmosphere of both locations, but they are very different. The Exchange Lane location is bigger and all of the walls and floor are covered in the same brown tile. The Little high Street location is more industrial with florescent lighting and white walls with metal accents. I’m not sure why they decided to go with very different vibes for their two locations, but they’re both cool for different reasons. It would be nice to have more seating options at both though!
- drinks: 8. ordered a flat white. very good flavor! and love the cups (see below!).
- Food: n/a. but I need to try their truffle croissant!!
- service: 9. The baristas here are extremely quick and attentive. I went into the Exchange Lane location at a particularly busy time and their ability to multitask between taking and preparing orders was impressive. Their uniform consists of a white button down shirt with a black tie to go along with the name of their cafe, and it’s a nice touch!
d.o.s.e (8.2)
- location: Auckland CBD – 5 high street
- Atmosphere: 10. very cool and unique cafe, i don’t know if I’ve seen many other places like it. it definitely has more of a dark / industrial vibe and feels very modern and clean.
- drinks: 7. Ordered the Iced Biscoff Latte and honestly I just expected more. the biscoff flavor was pretty minimal which was a little disappointing! but the coffee itself was good.
- Food: n/a
- service: 9. very nice employees. they seemed to have a lot of regulars come in while I was hanging out there and it was obvious that they really liked talking to everyone!
Daily Bread (8.0)
- location: There are multiple locations, but i’ve been to the cbd and ponsonby locations.
- Atmosphere: 7.5. vibes were industrial but airy? Definitely more modern / minimalistic. it was cute just not full of character! also, there were several flies buzzing around at the ponsonby location when I went, which is just annoying tbh.
- drinks: 8. Get their iced latte. so good!
- Food: 8.8. full review on Croissants around the world.
- service: 7. friendly staff and quick. didn’t stand out for any particular reason though.
Amano (7.8)
- location: Auckland CBD – 68 Tyler Street
- Atmosphere: 8. love the rustic vibe of Amano and how their baked goods are displayed. they don’t really have good seating options though!
- drinks: 6.5. only had a plain americano here, which is admittedly boring, but it was good for what I was looking for. I’ll try something more fun next time, so this score may change.
- Food: 8.7. amazing croissants. we had the plain and almond pain au chocolat. more deets on croissants around the world… but TLDr; they’re a must try.
- service: 7. friendly staff, fast service. nothing super special but good service!
Kokako (7.8)
- location: Auckland CBD – Commercial bay, level one
- Atmosphere: 7. the Japandi vibe of the cafe itself is very cool. The kitchen/prep area is more industrial with metal countertops, while the seating area is a long wooden bar counter. The only downside of this place is that you do still feel like you’re in commercial bay (a multi-level shopping center), so it doesn’t have the full Japandi cafe vibe that they’re going for.
- drinks: 8. one of the only places I’ve seen have nitro cold brew so far and it was very good! their flat whites and iced lattes are also above average. All drinks come with a double shot of espresso too, which is a plus.
- Food: n/a.
- service: 8. friendly staff and quick service. no complaints.
mibo (7.7)
- location: there are wynard and mt. eden locations, but I went to wynard – 155 Beaumont Street
- Atmosphere: 9. gorgeous neutral colored tiles, wood wall accents and tables/chairs, and a clean, minimalistic vibe. lots of people working / hanging out mid-morning on a thursday. really liked it in here!
- drinks: 7.5. i ordered a coffee jello vanilla oat milk latte – which is definitely a mouthful – but I went to this bakery for this drink per a tiktok i saw from @condimentclaire. overall, the taste was good – the jello was just black coffee, and the milk was lightly sweetened / vanilla flavored. It was honestly just a little annoying to eat and not something I would get often, but definitely something fun to order every once in a while. if you want to see my tiktok about it, click here!
- Food: n/a. but i will be coming back to try their salted honey croissant, they just didn’t have any when I went.
- service: 7. nice baristas and quick service! nothing outstanding though.
Brown St Espresso (7.7)
- location: Ponsonby – 54 Brown Street
- Atmosphere: 7. definitely more of a homey / cozy vibe. They have a few tables and chairs as well as a couch. They also have some local trinkets and what not for sale as well.
- drinks: 7.5. Got an iced latte. Flavor was good but needed more ice!!
- Food: n/a.
- service: 9. Special shoutout to the lovely worker here who gave me my iced latte for free because they didn’t accept credit cards and I didn’t have a debit card / cash on me (I know bad on me!!). truly so nice of her. Deducted a point though because they don’t have wifi and that is sort of frustrating when you want to get some work done in a coffee shop!
Cosmo Coffee (7.5)
location: Auckland cbd – 22 Kitchener Street
Atmosphere: 6. The brick walls of this cafe definitely give it some good character and contributes to it’s dark/cozy atmosphere. the decor isn’t anything super unique. it’s fine, just not my favorite vibe for a coffee shop!
drinks: 8. they have an extensive list of signature coffee drinks. the Iced tiramisu latte is a 9/10. When i say it was incredible…omg. definitely a sweet treat, but it wasn’t overly sweet at all. so good. I also had the Iced black sugar latte but asked for it less sweet. it was still pretty sweet and it was good, but not great. 7/10 for that one.
Food: n/a. but worth noting that their croissants did look pretty good.
service: 8. not anything over the top, but there was only one guy working and he managed taking and preparing orders very well as the cafe was pretty busy.
Up Cafe (7.2)
- location: Auckland CBD – 8 Albert street, level one
- Atmosphere: 6. nothing out of the ordinary! Clean, standard sort of cafe vibes. nice outdoor seating available on their balcony too!
- drinks: 6.5. Got an iced americano. No complaints, pretty standard just nothing special.
- Food: 8.5. Amazing omelette!
- service: 8. got food and drinks in a timely manner and staff was very friendly.
Luna Bakehouse (7.1)
- location: I went to the one in Newmarket (237 Broadway), but there are several locations.
- Atmosphere: 5. Tbh just fine. The newmarket location is pretty small and nothing too unique. felt a little cramped.
- drinks: 8. Iced Americano was v good, would order again.
- Food: 7. The Supreme cafe latte croissant was truly so beautiful, but did not taste as good as it looked. the raspberry almond croissant was better, but still not amazing. More deets on Croissants around the world.
- service: 7. decent service – they seemed a little flustered with the long line of orders to be taken so they weren’t as friendly as I’ve encountered elsewhere, but still got my drink and croissant quickly and without an issue!
ellie (6.8)
- location: auckland cbd – 57 Fort Street
- Atmosphere: 5. very meh. the order area is cute-ish, but the rest of the cafe is pretty bland looking with pops of mismatching art. I guess I’m just not sure exactly what the vibe was here, it felt really random.
- drinks: 7.5. decent iced latte! wouldn’t run back here for it though.
- Food: n/a.
- service: 7. nothing out of the ordinary but they were nice!
kompass coffee (6.8)
- location: auckland cbd – 2 kitchener street
- Atmosphere: 7. bright and modern. nothing too special, but nice.
- drinks: 7. ordered a flat white. maybe my expectations were too high because this cafe always has a line, but i thought this was just fine? they also advertise fun coffee art, but I didn’t see anyone with that.
- Food: n/a.
- service: 6. it was crowded so they get some grace, but service was slow. also no wifi 🙁
Little and Friday (6.5)
- location: I went to the one in ponsonby (232 Ponsonby Rd), but there are several locations.
- Atmosphere: 6. a Bright, airy cafe in ponsonby. They have both indoor and outdoor seating options, and I chose outdoor because they had a huge industrial sized fan on inside aimed right at the inside tables. Maybe their Air conditioning was just temporarily broken, but it was not pleasant lol.
- drinks: 6.5. Got an iced americano with coconut milk. Idk why I decided to branch out and get coconut milk, but I did and ultimately didn’t love it. So maybe this score is more reflective of that rather than the coffee itself… I’ll have to give them a second chance.
- Food: n/a. However their donuts looked amazing (shown below) and I am still regretting not buying one.
- service: 7. barista was friendly/service was quick! But they didn’t have wifi, which was unfortunate and not great when you’re trying to get work done.
Seoul 1946 (6.1)
- location: 27 Barry’s Point Rd, Takapuna
- Atmosphere: 8.5. very authentic korean which I loved! they even had some elevated floor seating areas where you take your shoes off to sit on it. good music as well.
- drinks: 4. ordered an iced matcha. did nottt like it at all, tasted like legit grass.
- Food: 8. their seoul sundae with strawberries was so good!! very creamy ice cream and the strawberry sauce was thick and sweet.
- service: 6.5. pretty slowww service. took at least 10 minutes to get my order, and it wasn’t too crowded at the time.
Where else do I need to go?
What is your favorite cafe in Auckland? Let me know in the comments below.
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