Salta

I’ve been here just for coffee drinks, Americano and a flat white, and both times I left completely satisfied. Their espresso is superb. Granted, it’s very difficult to get a bad coffee in this area of Ponsonby.

Salta which has been around for years is my café of choice in the Ponsonby area to take my MacBook and polish off a couple of hours of work in the morning — my café office I like to call it.
The staff are friendly and bother to learn your name and what you like.
The coffee is consistently good and fast; sometimes it follows me up the stairs. Ditto the food. You never have to wait long.
My standard fave is poached eggs and avocado on sourdough toast. It’s not on the menu, just ask for it and tell them I sent you. Be sure to try their own-​made tomato relish on the side as it goes spectacularly well with this dish.
The mince on toast is also great and my mate Kerry lives off their porridge! If you’ve read my other reviews you’ll know that Kerry is hard to please but he loves Salta as there’s simply nothing to grumble about there, so much so he hosts a regular Saturday morning breakfast club.
Try the special edamame and broad bean avocado smash on sourdough when it’s in season. Throw a couple of poached eggs on it and it’s magic!
There is a full lunch menu too but I can’t really speak to that as Salta is my breakfast spot, but it looks great. There’s beer and wine too for afternoon diners. The café is closed nights.
Salta is always busy but there are four separate dining areas; inside, streetside, upstairs and the ‘kid free’ secret garden out the back which is a delight in summer with its outdoor furniture, café fruit and vege garden and if you’re there on the right day, bean bags under the peach tree.
There’s no wifi but the café is in range, if you’re a Spark customer, to their fast 1 GB of data per day but sit near the front of the building for this.

Salta is a Ponsonby institution. It’s been here for as long as I can remember and the food, coffee and service is always great quality. Hence the reason I keep coming back.
My most recent visit was for a coffee. And then I got tempted by a smashed avocado on toast special. It was beautiful — perfectly toasted sourdough bread, massive amounts of avocado and topped with peas, feta, coriander and olives.
The coffee was a bit of a let down. Burnt. But I needed the caffeine so I drank it and didn’t say anything — so I can’t judge too harshly as I had the opportunity to ask them to make it again.
I’ll definitely be back here for breakfast/​lunch/​brunch

I visited this café after my visit to the GP, not feeling particularly well but needed some food to take some med. So I ordered my flat white and a brioche.
I was given my brioche over the counter and was not heated up. I tried breaking it apart and it was rock hard. I noted some black mould spots on the base of the brioche as well as the side… Gave it smell, it didnt smell that fresh. So I quietly spoke to one of the waiter and ask him to check it. A few minute later, he returned and said it was from the tin. He didnt bother asking to see if I mind it and wouldnt want to exchange it either. So I cut and took a bite off the middle part and it tasted not so fresh. Not impressed… :(and I just left the brioche sitting on the table…
To give them a fair review, their flat white was okay. So that made it up.

Secret outdoor area at the back. tres cute!!! Need to go through the kitchen but is a lovely quiet little courtyard, great for a coffee meeting or lunch in the sunshine.
Coffee is always good and am yet to dine here but the menu looks healthy and delicious!

Consistently good coffee can be hard to come by but these guys hit the nail on the head errytime. Perfectly extracted. Perfect temperature. Super speedy.
If coffee ain’t your thing they also a great range of sodas incl. my personal fave. Gingerella which is refreshing with just the right amount of ginger kick (fairtrade, organic ginger, I might add).
Yet to try the menu here but the savoury muffins hit the spot and they have a great selection of mags to wile the afternoon hours away.

I have been a regular at Salta (Atlas backwards) for 7 years now.
All the baristas know your coffee, your name, and make you feel like a person– opposed to just another coffee order.
Usually I sit upstairs, with all Salta’s up to date fashion and interior magazines, to boot. Great ambience, stunning coffee (Allpress beans) and gastronomics treats. I have the ‘old school’ porridge with brown sugar and cream, or brioche, or Eggs Benedict with Salmon-​delicious, always.
Thanks Ginette and everyone at Salta, superstars!!:)

I love Salta on Ponsonby. Small and quaint with good food. I got the poached eggs on toast for breakfast. Super yummy, the rustic bread with butter melted in my mouth. Eggs were cooked perfectly.

The team at Salta make a serious effort to remember not only your coffee order but also your name. Perfect Allpress coffee & a great menu. Try the 5 grain porridge — perfect on cold mornings.

Today I went to have lunch with Tom at Salta. He suggested it, and as it wasn’t one of my usuals I was pretty skeptical. It’s situated in that weird Three Lamps end of Ponsonby Road that isn’t really known for its eating establishments (aside from Sidart).
We went inside to order. The menu looked promising — a tonne of options and an all day breakfast menu. Upon the suggestion of our extremely friendly waiter, Jess, I opted for the hash cake with poached egg, bacon and hollandaise, half size (they do that! They do half sizes!) It looked a little plain upon arrival, but tasted extremely good. My coffee was decent. Tom proclaimed his meal (poached eggs and relish on a bagel) ‘excellent’.
All in all, pretty good. Guess there IS a reason to venture past that zebra crossing down the end of Ponsonby Road.

Salta, formerly known as Atlas (an original name reversal there) sits down the Three Lamps end of Ponsonby Road. Consistently filled with local creatives and mums with babes, I have to say the coffee is good and the staff are friendly. On a sunny day you can sit outside on the pavement and enjoy your latte in a patch of sun while you people watch, even if the cars do tend to zoom past.
I haven’t eaten here recently enough to comment on the food but if your options are limited to Three Lamps, you’d do well to pick Salta over Hollywood Bakery.
A good, local café.

Nachdem der Jetlag nahezu weg ist kommt der Hunger diesen Morgen durch. Die Ponsonby Rd. Ist recht bekannt für seine Cafes und Pubs, warum also nicht hier unser Glück versuchen. Es ist noch früh und generell nicht viel Betrieb in den Cafes. Einzig dieses unscheinbare Café bricht aus allen Nähten. Das macht neugierig. Wir suchen uns an der Tafel neben der Bar unser Frühstück aus und bestellen direkt am Tresen. Der Cappuccino kommt schnell und ist durchaus gut. Meine Liebste bekommt den Porridge mit Ingwer-​Rhabarber nach einiger Zeit genauso wie ich meine Rühreier mit getoastetem Ciabatta, selbstgemachtem Relish Tomate und Bacon. Sowohl das Porridge als auch meine Zusammenstellung warum ausserordentlich lecker.
Und es sieht auch noch lecker aus Wie man den Bildern entnehmen kann!