Olaf’s Cafe: Award Winning Bakery Cum Café in Auckland, NZ

New Zealand’s Best Bakery of the Year in 2012, the Olaf’s Artisan Bakery and Café prides themselves on making and producing top-quality European-style breads from scratch. They produce a wide variety of breads, including French Pain au Levain and German Vollkorn, without the usage of flavourings or preservatives. Intrigued by their reputation, I decided to check out this bakery cum café in Mount Eden in Auckland.

Olaf’s Cafe

The Menu

There are a wide variety of Western café items on their menu. These range from all-day breakfast sets featuring eggs benedict, omelets and eggs on toast. Croissants, sandwiches, salads and pasta are also available, for those who desire something a little lighter. At the same time, there is a good assortment of cakes and sweet treats, ranging from chocolate to sponge cakes and cookies. I had a ham and cheese sandwich on toasted ciabatta bread. My companion had a vegetarian quiche and the other selected a pulled lamb shoulder sandwich. We also had a chocolate tart for dessert and a hot chocolate beverage to wash the meal down with.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Ham and Cheese Sandwich.

I thought this item was absolutely delicious and the amount of ham given was generous. As well, the ham tasted pretty fresh and the cheese was melted well, giving the sandwich a really yummy flavour. The bread was toasted until it was really crispy – making it more enjoyable.

Pulled Lamb Shoulder Sandwich

My companion was quite disappointed with this sandwich because the bread was not toasted and warm like mine. In fact, he remarked that it was quite cold and wasn’t very nice as a result. However, he thought that the lamb itself was tender and delicious and the green salad gave the dish a crunchy texture too, which was nice.

Vegetarian Quiche

This quiche was heated up and served with a side helping of salad, including lettuce and red capsicums. My companion enjoyed the dish and thought the quiche was full of flavour and quite yummy. There were also plenty of filling and it came out piping hot.

Chocolate Tart

This tart was decorated with a pretty chocolate whirl on the top. I really loved the taste of this chocolate tart. The chocolate flavoured pastry was crunchy and absolutely delicious. At the same time, the generous amount of dark chocolate filling was very enjoyable.

Hot Chocolate

The decoration of this drink was well done – with a few pretty chocolate flakes on the top. There seemed to be some real chocolate used in the preparation of the drink, but the chocolate taste was not as strong as it could have been. But it was still a rather decent hot chocolate beverage.

Overall Comments

I would certainly return here for their sandwiches and chocolate tarts as these are definitely award winning, if I make another trip to New Zealand. If I am in the mood for good bread, I may also consider purchasing a loaf of their delicious bread to take away. Olaf’s Artisan Bakery & Café 1 Stokes Road Mt Eden Auckland City Telephone: (09) 638 7593

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