Gourmet Foodbox

We chanced on this place in Newmarket for coffee and then found that it had great food as well. We had fantastic risotto, steak sandwich, salmon salad and cakes. The chef is clearly very good. Coffee was the best we had in Auckland from charming and funny barista/​waiter. We liked the place so much we returned for our final lunch before leaving Auckland. We found great places in the city but this place is special.

I had high hopes for this place. Not only because it’s a stone’s throw away from my office, but also because it lured me with lovely signs including:
«Serving free range eggs», «Try our banana, honey & cinnamon almond milk smoothie», «10+ healthy homemade salad options!»
Which, to be clear, is the truth. Just not what I expected. The space is okay — small and pretty plain, a few tables, some bar seating and a lovely pile of magazines and newspapers to peruse.
If you’re looking for a work-​from-​a-​café scenario, however, you’ll be sorely disappointed. As my phone was dying, I had a glance around for a free outlet to give it some juice — nope, nottta one!
But anyway, onto the food: I went for the veggie frittata and banana, honey & cinnamon smoothie — SORELY disappointing. The frittata was very plain (and not even condiments to spruce it up a bit). The smoothie was pretty awful, too — artificially sweet with the «cinnamon» tasting more like crystallized sugar — blegh.
I’d give them one more chance, possibly to try a homemade salad, but with some stellar neighboring competition, I won’t be rushing back.