Bay Cafe

When I think of Mairangi Bay, I think of the very popular café across the road from Bay Café which has won previously a café of the year award, so to visit the smaller of the two, much less appealing to the modern eye was a bold choice, mainly due to the amount of people seated across the road on a Sunday afternoon.
At Bay Café, they have quite a bit of seating inside with small tables surrounding one large rectangle table, and then outside there are two tables which suit warmer days.
The coffee my dad, partner and I ordered was fantastic, so I can’t argue with the barista skills here. As we were only after a light snack, we opted on a few homemade sausage rolls, and a few date scones. The rolls, were ok, could have been possibly crispier to the bite as one would expect, but filled the gap.
The date scones on the other hand were amazing! Full of fruit, and was done to perfection! So I must recommend them, the cheese scones however definitely not as nice and lacking that scone like bounce.
The service is kind, and they have amazing quick service so I would recommend popping in for a morning or afternoon coffee.

I’m usually one to go for the underdog! So in Mairangi Bay I may opt out of coffee at Papermoon and rather head across the road to Bay Café simply because Papermoon is always packed and Bay Café is, well… the underdog. I have to say they do OK. But only just OK. Their only real step up is that they are open on public holidays when the other cafes in Mairangi Bay are closed. And I think this is probably the only time they nab all the Bay’s locals. Their food is sufficient and their drinks do the job, but there is nothing about this place that makes it stand out from the crowd and it does look a bit run down and dreary. It could use with a boost as the location is great and I do think this wee café has some big potential.