Kowhai Cafe

This place is a complete GEM in a bit of a food desert. It happens to be located right by my office, and is worth forgetting my lunch for the chance to see what’s on offer and bask in the loveliness of the place. It is like having lunch at your cool aunt’s place. Homestyle fabulous!
Compared to the other options nearby, this sunny little glass front café is a little piece of heaven. The ladies who own it are super friendly, and say hello by name whenever I stop by.
They do fabulous catering, and their morning tea is to die for (warm just baked cheese scones… savory tarts with cumin and kumera… excuse me, I’m drooling…)
At lunch time they always have an assortment of interesting and healthy salads — tons of vegetarian options, and you can mix and match as many as you want in a container.
One of my favorite options of late is the spicy eggplant. It’s half an eggplant that’s been roasted, scooped out, mixed up with spices and whatnot, and put back in the skin. I LOVE eggplant, and this is as good as it gets!!!
I always find it hard to resist their beautiful cakes. I tend to buy a slice with the idea of bringing it home to share with my husband for dinner, but sometime around my afternoon tea I end up starting to sample it. I’ve had the carrot cake, which was delicious, and another lemon cake thingy which was also to die for.
Check out their Facebook page where they advertise their salads and other goodies for the day! Worth a trip out if you’re trekking around Mangere domain, or on your way back from an airport pickup!