Okra Espresso Lounge

We had heard many great things about this place. The meals we ordered were pretty good value for money. However the café was dirty and tables weren’t cleared during the time we were there (about an hour and a half).
Have mixed feeling writing this review because of the untidiness if the place. On the other hand the staff were very friendly and welcoming. It wasn’t very busy on the day we went so prohaps there was a lack of staff to clear tables on the day.

Hubby and I ate here today for lunch, along with half of Auckland so it seemed, which was a-​ok ‘cos these guys have the space; indoors, out the front, to the side, upstairs? We weighed up all our options as it was our first time here and I am nosy (all in the name of Unilocal of course), we opted for the undercover back area. To my side was a cute little garden with a giant Gnome watching over the diners.
The service was fast, attentive and nice. I ordered the vegetarian breakfast which consisted of eggs (poached for me), ciabatta bread, a lovely herb dressing/​aioli? mushrooms, tomatoes, hash brown (unique and amazing in itself!), spinach and some lovely greens to garnish. This was a BIG dish, which was great as I was super hungry. Plus it tasted wonderful — five stars for the meal Okra. I have regreats now for not taking any photos (I was caught in the act of photographing the gnome as it was. I like cute things, Don’t judge). Next Unilocal reviewer please photograph the food to show others! Ok, fine I will just have to go back and eat it again. Ho hum.
The coffee wasn’t awesome. Ok, but not awesome. Now, this could also be me having to adjust to de-​caf though (feel my pain!). Hubby enjoyed his though and he is an even tougher critic than me. One last peep — loved all the cute sparrows! I know it is completely coincidental they are there, but it was added entertainment watching them fly around and devour any leftovers before the staff camed and cleared.

The brunch dishes at Okra offer something a little different from the norm. The smoothies are great. I’ve also had the best smoked salmon bagel ever from the cabinet here. Recommend this place for a weekend treat!

This place is my favourite café whenever I’m in Kingsland. It’s a combination of great coffee, good location, quirky décor and some great takes on traditional breakfast food.
If you come here you need to get the chorizo mushroom dish. It’s mushrooms in a creamy sauce (which is amazing on its own) but with chorizo as well. A simple addition but it makes all the difference. The paleo breakfast is really good if you are trying to be healthy and get tempted by the normal big breakfast or eggs benedict. The Spanish breakfast is beautiful as well and a nice change.
Coffee is good. Service is great — no ordering at the counter and getting a number which seems to be more common.

Ticks all the boxes for me and I’m a fussy customer when it comes to cafes.
Coffee has to be the best in auckland… WoA that’s a big statement but I get around and it’s ¹⁰⁄₁₀ from me.
Food excellent as is the selection.
Service and friendliness of staff is fabulous. I live nowhere near Okra now but always make the effort whenever I’m in auckland.
My advise is GO THERE u’ll not be disappointed.

A cool and funky little corner café, Okra has built a reputation as making excellent coffees. If you are a hardcore java junkie, I think you will love their coffee as they are well-​made and very strong. Personally, I prefer a mellower, full-​bodied coffee and their heady flat-​white has jacked me with enough caffeine to write a novella for a Unilocal review if left unchecked! For the non-​caffeine minded their homemade soda served in a mason jar is quite refreshing!

Why is Okra so well reviewed? Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe they do good meat or something. I am definitely not down with the Okra cause. It’s so average and boring. It’s like they’ve gone out of their way to be the most bland and dull café in the world. Their food is straight up not that good. Like, their eggs suck. How can you be a café and not do good eggs. Eggs are really easy to cook. I can cook eggs, and I’m a friggen idiot. Their hot drinks are average at best. They have disastrous interior design featuring terrible terrible art at all times. The worst thing though for me is how their staff are always sitting outside smoking. I hate that shit. Gross.

My friends Nana lives right across the road from Okra, so if I feel like showing off my VIP parking privileges, Okra is the place I go to. I also go for the food — Okra serves up big servings at just the right price.
Okra can get pretty busy, a fact attested too by the abundant amount of tables that surround the building — all of which are almost always in use. There is a nice back courtyard and if you go with a group it’s definitely the better place to sit. There is also a room upstairs which I only recently discovered after years of coming here — which was a bit shameful as I’d been going on about how much of a local I am.

I’ve only been here once, but I was given a friendlier greeting, and treated with more warmth, than I have been in other placed where I would consider myself a regular. I have friends who rate this place among their favourites, and I can understand why. While I was only here for coffee I could see other people’s food and it kind of made me wish I wasn’t only there for coffee. But having said that, the coffee was very good coffee, and it was nice to sit out in their back courtyard area to drink it. This is a place I’d like to frequent more (although I hear it gets busy, so I should probably get onto that).

I have a real soft spot for Okra after living just around the corner on Leslie Ave for a number of years. Okra was the place that we would often crawl to on a Sunday morning, ruing the decisions of the night before and craving the healing powers of eggs. Unfortunately for the hungover masses, there are masses of people at Okra fairly often and you may struggle to get those eggs you so desperately crave within a reasonable timeframe. That’s not to say the food is slow — there’s just so many damn people who have the same idea that I’d recommend ordering a coffee (and a juice, and a smoothie) to tide you over while Okra’s marvellous brunch food is prepared.

I really like this little Kingsland café as it feels like one of those places that only locals know about, so the atmosphere is very relaxed and friendly. I went here for breakfast with my partner; I had the eggs Benedict and he had the big breakfast. Both of us were impressed with the food. However, weirdly, it wasn’t the food that had us both raving about the place; it was the freshly squeezed orange juice. I don’t know what they do to it but it was literally the best orange juice I’ve ever had.
Also what was great is that there is ample parking around the premises (located just opposite Eden Park) so you really feel like you can spend as long as you want in the café without worrying about the car. Friendly staff and quick service even though it was in the middle of the breakfast rush.

My first impression of Okra the first time I tried them out was ultra funky cool café. It was mid winter, and my friends had taken me to this joint for a large brekkie and some good strong coffee.
The building is like a retired living space maybe, you can sit in the sheltered and private courtyard with army camouflage material decoration, for an intimate chat. Inside the front of the café next to the counter a large dining table, with lots of good reading material should you be dining alone. Upstairs you have another few rooms with couches and chairs. It was all very fun exploring the building and finding out what was available really.
You can actually walk past the kitchen to get to the courtyard, so that tempts your smell senses too.
The coffee is fantastic, strong and punchy.
The Eggs Benedict was great, had a few sides– avocado, salmon, and salsa, and lovely wholesome five grain bread.
Not a long wait, even when the café is packed. They do very well with the music playlist– gets a big tick by me, and the artwork and photography is worth more than a glance for sure.