Kenzie Cafe

We had a really nice breakfast at Kenzie today. I had the chorizo hash which came with home made hash browns creamy mushrooms and chorizo. It was really good. My husband had the big breakfast which was good as well. Eggs perfectly poached. Service was really good too. I would definitely go back.

Service was good and friendly. Fast service although they got one of our orders wrong — but it almost didnt matter because the food was so delicious. Reasonable price for taste and portion size. Will definitely be returning here.

Oh crikey Kenzie, we so wanted to like you. On arriving at a full-​looking Saturday lunch session we were assured it was fine, there was space upstairs so off we trotted. Upstairs was indeed a lot of space, including a kids’ playroom that was seriously awesome if quite a lot grubby (black hands and feet grubby). My sweet girl got in there and tidied and organised everything while the 10 year old boys drove around on ride-​ons that they were far too big for.
The owner came up immediately with water and to take our drinks orders and told us he hadn’t quite finished decorating the upstairs area (true but not so you’d notice), chatted and was all in all a top bloke. Unfortunately his staff majorly let him down — the two waitresses seemed fairly disinterested and the one who took our order did so without writing anything down. I just had a feeling so waited in hopeful trepidation that things would turn out alright.
My hunch was right and my vegetarian Eggs Bene came with bacon, as was ordered for the two boys. She realised her mistake before she put it down and said she’d be right back — not sorry and quite untroubled; an attitude that really pissed me off.
Around five minutes passed and back my plate came with a different waitress; I asked had it been freshly remade so the bacon hadn’t touched the eggs and she gave me a very vague affirmative that convinced me she had no frickin idea. Of course one mouthful confirmed yes, the eggs were old and by now cold, and the whole dish had a familiar smoky bacon flavour.
We’d also asked for all three Eggs Benedict to have medium eggs but they all came with fully liquid yolks. I should say however that everyone else’s meals were deemed yummy; apart from the eggs which we all thought tasted a bit «funny». I think it may be because we usually only eat free-​range and perhaps these were not.
I picked at my husband and daughter’s meals, ate my side of tomatoes and filled the owner in at the till on the way out. He was very apologetic and didn’t argue when I said we weren’t paying for mine.
Such a shame — lazy chef, lazy waitresses and a lovely man who is clearly working his butt off to create a successful business. Is it really that hard to get good help these days?

If you are after a Sunday brunch near Cornwall park ignore Kenzie Café (spelt with an oh-​so-​quirky capitalized NZ just so you know where you are). Stay in your pajamas and try your hand at a quasi-​romantic Breakfast-​in-​Bed, where hopefully it will be something other than the bland food and service that will make your heart rate go up.
The food was dull, the eggs overcooked and the crockery dirty. Politely trying to get the staff’s attention turned into fervent glances when ever someone moved, which in turn devolved into blatantly glaring through the window, which still didn’t work. Hopefully, if you are dreamy enough, your attention will be diverted by the recently added bright coloured chairs.