Brunch review: Zucherro, Manuka

We picked this cafe for a relaxing Sunday brunch because the cakes and tarts in the cabinet looked amazing. I doubt that they're made on site (the kitchen is teeny tiny, and I recognised a distinctively decorated mousse as the same one I had at Bittersweet Cafe in Kingston) but they showed good taste in sweets none the less. This was somewhat ironic because neither of us ended up having anything sweet, but I'd like to return and sample some in-cabinet deliciousness.

The Scoring

Menu variety/creativity: 7/10. Plenty of options, including a few sweet ones.

Taste: 6.5/10. I had Zucherro's beans, which was a pot of beans with chorizo and poached eggs on toast. The bean mix was flavoursome and tasty, and they poached the eggs properly (hooray!).

Coffee: 4/10. A little disappointing, although the coffee itself tasted okay, I don't think whoever made it knows how to froth milk.

Setting/location: 6/10. Nice on a sunny day to sit outside, and there is some undercover seating too... but no indoor seating, so unless they have outdoor heating in winter this would be a no-go.

Service: 3/10. This is unfortunate, because it’s where this place really fell down. We waited for 1 hour and 15 minutes for 2 breakfast dishes, which I do not deem to be acceptable. They did apologise for the delay but didn’t offer any explanation, so I can only assume that their cook is incompetent and that these sorts of delays are the norm there. They were not unusually busy and seemed to have plenty of waiters on duty, if they had been doing their job. The staff, although friendly, were more interested in having fun than serving customers – when I had to go and ask for water (it wasn’t brought to our table as we requested), I stood around waiting to be served while the staff laughed and joked and ignored me. The only lady who was doing work had to eventually yell at the young waiters to come and serve me. The same thing happened when I returned to ask where the restrooms were. Maybe the manager was absent and the staff were taking advantage of it? Who knows…

 Verdict: I wouldn't return for brunch, but the cakes (or tarts) looked yummy so I'd like to come here for afternoon tea. The coffee wasn't great but it also wasn't so bad that I'd avoid the place.

 Here are the meals: