Rupa’s

The Samosas are not good as my mums, but then she is in England, but then no ones in England, India, Africa I am told by Persians, and Middle East, Pakistan, and even Eastern European people, who have made the curry thier national dish (ref to the POMS), tell my mum her samosas are the best along with her Biryanis and meat Curry. However for NZ and Kiwis, it is the best you’re gonna get, outside of Leicester, (England), and India. or Africa, OK the Middle East and Pakistan. Rupas is a lovely place, great coffee. A humdinger of a place, probably the best Indian food in New Zealand period! The women who makes the butter chicken (Makhani Chicken) does a very good job better than any Tikka Masala, what we English call a rendition of (butter Chicken) even proclaiming that we Brits invented it! The coffee is the finest around Thas saying something when I have been to Paris and Italy. What attracted me to Rupas is that the place has my name coming from Blighty which is nearly 50% Indian and rising, it is rare to see East Indians in New Zealand and craving a curry. I really wanted to leave a bad review as they stole my name. but I can’t, the food and service is great especially by the women with an infectious laugh, who looks like Caroline Munro. (the Bond Girl in Moonraker).The guy who is the owner looks and sounds like Nick Griffin (BNP) candidate, and he is passionates as him on Politics I found so many doppelgangers on the other side of the world. NZ is beautiful and it is ironic it is 180 degrees exactly the oppositeof GB, the country is great, the people are friendly and the food is not too far off some of the food I have found. It also ridiculously cheap in comparison to England! I just wish I had tried the NZ lamb. Oh well I’ll be back!

Located close to Freemans Bay primary school, Rupa’s Café offers affordable, high quality cakes (I haven’t tried the coffee) with a range of ingredients/​flavours– plum, date, lemon, orange almond, and many more in a clean, pleasant space. Their cakes are moist, quite large (larger than those small slices of cakes cafes usually sell) and super yum. They also sell some wraps/​sandwiches and frozen curries (that is said to be really good)
The staff (which is the owners themselves) are very warm and they really connect with their customers, they know about them and remember them. There’s never a day where the staff is even slightly grumpy — they always greet you with a smile and really talk to you (not the type of small talk they do with everyone e. g: how was your day?) Also they are generous, not forgetting to ask if we want little extras (for free) like butter on your bread/​cake or not.

Rupa’s seems to be some kind of Freeman’s Bay institution. They really go out of their way to let you know that they’re owner operated and they have been for a long wee while.
It’s kind of like yr stock standard tea rooms, or at least they present themselves that way, with their long glassy cabinets and boring, plain jane, interior design. But really Rupa’s is a little bit different and more interesting to your generic asparagus roll and a lamington type establishment. Mostly it’s a cultural difference. They sell food with an Indian slant. Mainly through samosas and curries. Both of which are okay.
Three stars.

Rupa’s is a long-​established Freemans Bay café down on Wellington Street. Defiantly owner operated, Rupa’s serves a curious mix of standard café fare and Indian-​slanted dishes. The coffee is pretty good, and the samosas and frozen curries make for a more interesting treat than your average café.
All this is almost ruined by the owner’s brash, argumentative demeanour. We struck up a chat and once I mentioned I was studying town planning, he immediately turned on me — I was corrupt, my profession was corrupt, and I should take up something new! Not exactly the small talk you expect from a café owner.
Still, maybe he had a point. After all, I was in the area to research the history of all the awful things the planners did when they razed the suburb in the 50s for Council housing. It seems the owner was one of the disenfranchised land owners I was researching…