Cafe Miko

Busy and a 26 min wait but what a treat… brilliant place to take the whole family…
Plenty of bacon and cheese on the wedges coffee great

Such a magical garden. Such a disappointing café. We have had lunch several times. Years ago it wasn’t bad so we tend to forget the unfriendly service and poor and expensive food. To cap off a visit with sweet might work but the cabinet food is worse than it looks.

I recently went to this café while walking in the gardens. We bought a soy flat white in 2 takeaway cups. I handed over $ 20 and got not much change. they charge extra for soy and extra for paper cups? dont know why, we enjoyed our coffee but I think they cost around $ 7.80 each

I wasn’t intending to go to Café Miko. Had I read the previous reviews here I would definitely not have gone at all. However, I was practically frog-​marched in by two starving kids after a walk around the Botanic Gardens on a chilly public holiday. It had been years since I’d visited the gardens; last time there was no lovely entrance building to the gardens, this new building houses the café which is modern in fashionable concrete and glass.
On first impression Café Miko smelt great. I guess it was the combination aromas of bacon cooking, coffee brewing and toast crisping etc which enticed us. There’s a cabinet with slices and muffins etc, plus a blackboard menu of cooked food. They do breakfasts and typical café meals. We waited for about 5 minutes in the queue. The staff were all busy and seemed to be efficient. When we got to the front of the line there was a sign stuck on the counter announcing the 15% public holiday surcharge. Some people behind us sounded really PO’d when they saw it and were muttering about whether to leave and go elsewhere. I don’t blame them — I know the café has a legal right to charge extra, but it seemed sneaky to «hide» the fact until punters were right there ready to order and pay Shame on you management! The sign should have been clearly displayed at the door. ‘Nuff said about that — I was not leaving without filling up some empty tummies.
There is a lot of indoor seating but we opted to venture outside through the large sliding glass doors onto the «patio» which was sheltered enough from the breeze. Our meals came quite quickly and soothed the rapacious offspring.
The coffee was very good, we all had bacon and egg pie which came with chutney and a side salad and hit the spot. The kids had a brownie and a caramel slice. The brownie was some of the best I’ve ever tasted — perfectly done with an ever-​so-​slightly crisp outer and gooey centre — more-​ish.
We really enjoyed this little sojourn at Miko Café. It was perfectly fine and adequate for us. We think we’ll bring Nana when she is next visiting.

The convenience to the beautiful Botanic Gardens is the highlight of this over-​priced café. My recommendation is to pick up a coffee from another local café, and drink it as you walk around this wonderful park.
The café food is unremarkable. Oh, and expensive for what it is. The pricing and quality does not match. I would not worry about the price if the food was of a better standard. But if fails, in my opinion.
Service here is not attentive. They even lack interest in the customer. It is because of this that I avoid taking friends and/​or family here. I much rather drive all the way into Grey Lynn or New Market when visitors come to stay. Disappointing.

We came to Café Miko for morning tea, the morning we went for a stroll around the Botanical Gardens. Such a beautiful setting, we had a table inside yet right by the big glass sliding doors. We had a perfect view of the gardens.
Here my siblings and I shared a chocolate brownie with yoghurt; it was very appetizing and moist. We also shared a sweet muffin, which although filled with blueberries I found it a little plain and tasteless. I did however enjoy my flat white which I though was wonderfully made.
This is a perfect place to come if you need a bite to eat when exploring the beautiful Botanical Gardens.

Convenient if you forget to bring your own food for your day out in the Botanic Gardens, but that’s about it. I like this place, but I would much rather not eat here, simply because if I go to the Gardens, I want to sit/​lie down on the grass and not sit in a chair surrounded by people (wow, that makes me sound like a grouch). When I do go here, I usually get a small bowl of pasta salad which is quite expensive and does not fill me up. That said, they do have meal type items too, perhaps I am just eating the wrong thing.
If my partner was writing this review, he would give it 5 stars. Why? They do this Creamy Mushroom dish — basil, sundried tomato, feta cheese, spinach, white wine and cream served on toasted ciabatta. This is the best meal he’s ever had and I had better learn how to make it for him or else (his words).