capers cafe + store

the back story: capers epicurean was one of the recommended restaurants in the travel guides - recommending it for its brunch and bagel options. conveniently located in rotorua central, it was within walking distance of the main i-site and easy to find.

setting : walking into the main epicurean, my eyes were delightfully met with with large cabinets of glorious treats. colourful salads and creative panini and sandwich options such as the caesar sandwich (a traditional caesar salad between bread) and pork and leek meatballs with linguine lined the cabinet. a large spacious interior with table options by the window with high bar stools to larger tables for families was ingeniously arranged. thecoffeebarista was located at the end of the cabinets with a reflective mirror overhead so customers could see their coffees being made - another innovative addition.

food: i was stuck on what to choose but finally went for the 3-salad combo to maximise my choices. a raw cauliflower salad, smoked salmon and brown rice and couscous salad generously filled my plate, though other pasta salad and potato salad options made it difficult to choose. the salads were very well made with lots of ingredients. in my raw cauliflower salad, which was probably my favourite of the three, were walnuts, kale, bacon, raisins and cauliflower. mixed into the couscous were pistachios, figs, chickpeas, tomato, onion. and the brown rice had capers, olives , capsicum topped with salmon. they were all a culinary delight, and very filling. my dining partner had the chicken stuffed with pumpkin and feta with bacon wrapped around it, which looked and tasted just as delightful. there were many other options i wanted to try including their large cabinet of cakes and slices but as the salads were so filling, i unfortunately will have to wait until next time.

occasion : open from 7am to 9pm, capers epicurean provides loads of choices from breakfast to lunch to dinner. a warm casual layout, it is a good place for weekend brunch or a cake andcoffeedate.

revisit potential : 10/10

such delicious food here and really good quality. only thing i would have made better was bringing coffees out closer to when the food comes out. we had acoffeeand our food came out 30 minutes later.

overpriced and cashing in on the tourism dollar.

visited last friday morning as a group of 6. my food was okay but pretty expensive for what i received. i had bolognese on toast (essentially mince on toast) with a couple of poached eggs that were arrived soft boiled and one piece of toast which was soggy with the wet mince on top and i failed to see the mentioned parmesan on top. not that great and for $18.90 would have expected better but tasted ok. nothing to make me go wow this is delicious. 

the real rip off here is their coffee.  sadly the women working the espresso machine was either under trained or not interested/experienced with making decent coffee. and sadly this attitude showed in the rather averagecoffeei received.  the barista had a face like thunder and didn't seem to be able to cope with the morning coffees. at 7am the cafe wasn't full (less than 1/4) at best. i ordered a small flat white. sadly i didn't even register the cost at the time. $5.60 for a small double shot flat white. daylight robbery. we are in rotorua not paris! and if you're going to charge such a high price for a smallcoffee(plus 60 cents) for an extra shot of espresso then try and make it a good coffee, not a weak flat white (where's that second shot gone? and not excessively frothy like a cappuccino. cafes that charge over the normal going rate for a single shot weak flat white are taking the mickey and to charge 60 cents for an extra single shot of espresso is really just taking the p*ss. i discovered this excessivecoffeepricing when ordering a small double shot flat white to take away at the end of our visit. i expressed surprise and was told i could get a large flat white which is a double shot for 20 cents less at $5.40. really? the point of a small double shot flat white is to actually get a taste ofcoffeeand not have a milky weak hot coffee! but to pay less to have morecoffeeand more milk? makes zero sense. thecoffeeis fair trade like a great many cafes these days so thats nothing out of the ordinary. and paying exorbitant prices for fair to middling food and sub parcoffeepurely because you're based in a tourist town really is pretty distasteful.  the only plus side was the friendly service from the rest of the staff (minus the barista). sadly i'm not returning to this cafe, and i can't with good conscience recommend this cafe. throughly disappointed.

great family friendly cafe. a must stop if you lovecoffeeand breakfast.

service: 4/5
presentation: 4/5
environment: 4/5
food quality: 4/5
food quantity: 4/5
price per person: $20-$30

wow what an awesome find , this place is great . if you love your cafe culture then head here . awesome atmosphere , seriously goodcoffee(literally the best almond mocha i have ever had ) the menu is interesting and exciting , i ordered the nourish breakfast bowl and it was sensational . the staff were super friendly , happily offering advice on local things to see and do . thanks for breakfast guys .

great coffee, great food, great service, great vibe. we are pretty picky being melbournecoffeesnobs but this place was as good as anything we have back home. the nourish breakfast bowl was a highlight

traveling on tour my customers asked me to take them somewhere for breakfast. so i chose this place. i had oatmeal was delicious with raglan coconut yoghurt
8am sunday 16 september 2018. lovely organiccoffee☕️

i get the feeling that the cakes and sweets are much more of a focus here then the savourys. i really wanted something savoury as it was lunch time but not much looked or sounded that appealing. its also hard to make a good choice when you have a line of people waiting behind you also looking at food and you have to order at the counter. my husband made the right choice by choosing justcoffeeand cake. he said hiscoffeewas great and his chocolate cake which i tried was delicious. i quickly chose a ridiculously oversized vege lasagne and a berry smoothie. the berry smoothie was yummy and light and had nice crunchy dried berry's on top. the lasagne was overwhelming dry and boring and the carrots were undercooked. i would come back for acoffeeand cake but nothing else

i love this place. great food, friendly staff and nice ambiance. we came here twice during our holiday. thecoffeewas so nice too! i love the mushroom strudels though it might be too creamy at the end.

we had goodcoffeehere and shared a slice of cheesecake. the cheesecake was soft almost like a mousse, tasted great. the cafe is busy with a utilatarian layout and the staff are very efficient. i'd come again.

capers is the whole package! their friendly service and warm, welcoming atmosphere is second to none. but their food and theircoffeeis what has us going back for more! their expert baristas make the most wonderful cup, and the crema is always perfect. their cabinet is always fully stocked with delectable goodies, including their famous lemon tart and (coming from a savoury muffin expert) the best savoury muffins i have ever had the pleasure of trying. capers will not disappoint - 100% recommend!!

i loved it. nice spacious urban deli feel cafe (is that a contradiction?) with a great selection of healthy food. very friendly service. food looks smells and tastes great!! my green smoothie looked odd but was delicious. can't comment oncoffeeas i didn't get one. delicious home cooked beetroot and kumara, perfectly done eggs on pide.

nice gourmet collection. the organiccoffeeleft strong yet calm impressive taste. we also tried the lamb shanks after all the sheep we saw today left us craving for it. it was truly tasty. we will comeback again for the breakfast and to try the steak.

visited 2 times in the rotorua holiday. free range eggs, organiccoffeeand great food. especially like the lamb shank and big breakfast. highly recommend cafe in the rotorua city.

one of the better cafes in rotorua. the cabinet food is amazing, such a variety and lots of things you won't see at other places in town. they cater to all food requirements! service is fairly quick and thecoffeeis great.