scarecrow

visitedscarecrowwhile shopping in town. cute little cafe with unique items to choose from. i chose the pain perdu which is french toast. it had such a warm and comforting flavour, the fruit was poached and really juicy. i really wish there was more bread because it was so delicious. also really enjoyed the hot chocolate, had a deep flavour and wasn’t overly sweet.

i'm somewhat sorry to say that my first and only experience atscarecrowwasn't great. staff were a bit nonchalant, food was average and coffee was a little cold. i was served rock hard avocado, complained and was then served pretty badly bruised avocado. i'm no avocado aficionado but i've got to say it was taking the proverbial a little. willing to give it another go however... it was early morning...

walking intoscarecrowreminded me a bit of the wizard of oz, probably because there’s a giantscarecrowon a bike in the window! aside from that, this new pop up grocer/cafe has just re-opened up on victoria street (corner of kitchener street) and is seriously the coolest place i’ve been to this year!

scarecrow is a collaboration between popdining, kokako, karma cola, nice blocks and the aut hospitality school. the concept is to showcase seasonal produce and artisan products from around auckland and beyond, whether it be trying out one of their breakfasts, lunches, dinners or cabinet food from their cafe or fresh produce and breads from their grocer.

just awful. my girlfriend and i stopped by to get 2 coffees to go - single shot coconut flat white and a single shot coconut mocha, but instead were given looks as though we were asking for something extremely difficult to make. the lady that served us even rolled her eyes at us after we had requested for the mocha to be less sweet. was that even necessary? we then waited for a bit for our coffee and when we gave a gentle reminder to the barista on our coffees, what do you know? he quickly tries to write me off by quoting my order as fast as possible (perfectly fine but still, rather odd). and what happens next is even better! our coconut milk did not taste like coconut milk so we obviously went up to the barista to ask, and he became extremely annoyed and threw a tantrum at us by showing us the coconut milk he had used and said "i am 100% sure i used this!". after realising that he was annoyed at us, we decided to leave it be and said it was okay and walked away. your barista decided it would be an even better idea to give off a passive aggressive comment by saying "if you really want, i can give you your money back" and started shaking his head in disappointment, thinking i couldn't see his reflection around the many mirrors/windows. is this how you treat customers? we've always wanted to givescarecrowa try, but after such an experience, it seems that having customers is such a draining experience for your staff. will never be coming back here ever again and would not recommend this place to anyone.

we came here for brunch and ordered a few dishes between us.scarecrowhas always been my go to for their lattés, bread and desserts but i usually get these takeaway. however, dining here is a different experience andscarecrowhas a lovely rustic charm that makes you feel at home away from home.

we ordered a few main dishes between us: shakshuka (which has a vegan option too), turkish pide chicken sandwich and poached eggs on rye. the shakshuka was moreish and came with toasted pide on the side, however, the portion is small for the price. the chicken sandwich was more hefty, with enough filling to satiate but doesn't differentiate itself from toasted pide chicken sandwiches in other upmarket cafés with the exception of scarecrow's bread being housemade. finally, the poached eggs on rye. the toasted rye was fresh but the crispiness made it difficult to cut through with a fork and knife. the
eggs were lovely.

we also added some desserts to our palette by ordering a ny cheescake and a hazelnut ball. the cheescake is to die for, absolutely delicious. this is coming from someone who normally doesn't care for sweets but this cake is the exception. the blueberry compote tops it perfectly too. hazelnut ball tastes like ferrero rocher which is always a good thing.

scarecrow is a funny name for a cafe, but they have put up a couple up on top to align with the name. just opposite albert park, on top of victoria street,scarecrowis a perfect location for a cafe. the place encompasses a high-end organic grocery and florist as well.
the coffee - especially the iced latte - is awesome!
i had the shakshuka which sadly comes with one over-cooked egg - do not recommend!
instead i think the actual eggs and omelettes might be a better bet.
the pain perdu looked better than it tasted. why put something as sour as rhubarb into something that’s meant to be sweet?? might be more fun if stuffed with bananas.
i’m certainly going to come back for the coffee, and to try their poached eggs - which they procure from a local farm and i heard one diner claim was excellent!

high quality organic food and beverage, kind service and, yes, good coffee. that plus a nice environmentscarecrowis one of the nicest places in the city to have a quick snack by yourself or with friends.

they are also open til late so that's another reason to make me a regular there.

really like the potato soup, but the best i must say the best was the sourdough. yum and crispy! perfect with melted butter.

there’s something personal about scarecrow, a distinct character charm which makes it a space suited for all kinds of occasions. whether your out on your own and reading your newspaper while have a coffee or your after a lively date atmosphere.scarecrowis able to suit most of your needs. there is so much going on in the interior of scarecrow, you have on one side sticks of premium artisan products and the other you have a salad cabinet, dessert cabinet and bakery goods.

coming in before the santa parade we ordered the avocado on bagel, shakshuka , soup of he day and a sneaky baked cheese cake.

probably one of the best shakshukas in auckland cbd with a friendly price, the soup of the day was a kumara soup. a bit too lumpy in my opinion however there was light sweet flavour which combined well with the lumpy texture.

showstopper: a distinct interior personality

overall grade: b+

stopped by for a very early breakfast (7am). the place was quite nice, a mix between a cafe and a market. there were selling a few interesting items like a chili peanut butter. they had bubbles for breakfast but it was only available from 8am.

the place had an interesting menu, and i ended with an iced chocolate and thescarecrowbrunch.

the iced chocolate was ok. i personally though it wasn't sweet enough. the food was quite nice, good flavour and fairly large portions. i quite liked the seasoning on the potatos. we managed to get the bubble half way through and it was nice.

only issue was the speed of the service, we were quite a large table and it took a while to get all the drinks out. the timing for the food wasn't too bad.

i went toscarecrowwith my wife on our monthly date night. the moment we walked in, right after being greeted by the super friendly staff, we asked ourselves "this place is awesome! how come we've never been here before?". long story short, service was top-notch, the atmosphere was spot-on (music style matching the environment and at the perfect volume, a hard combination to find in auckland), and the food was very good. amongst entrées, main and desserts we ordered 4 dishes and they were all amazing. we'll definitely be coming back. pro-tip: if the duck prosciutto is available, don't think twice!

visitedscarecrowa couple of months ago with my boyfriend for dinner. i'm not sure whether we chose the wrong items, or whether they were just having an off night, but we were quite disappointed with what we ordered, given that we'd heard about this place... we each ordered pumpkin soup, and salads from the deli. the pumpkin soup had so much turmeric in it, you couldn't taste the pumpkin... definitely more of a turmeric soup than anything else. it was so bad, i had to make a complaint, and set it aside because the smell made me feel slightly nauseous. my boyfriend could tolerate the soup better than me, but he also thought the turmeric was overpowering. we also thought the salads were bland and overpriced for what we got. against our better judgement, we decided to order drinks to go (because how could they stuff up drinks?). i ordered ascarecrowhot chocolate and my boyfriend ordered a vegan iced chocolate. thescarecrowwas grainy and too rich for me to finish, and the vegan iced chocolate was essentially brown coconut water. we couldn't help but laugh. to be fair, the waitresses took my feedback in stride, and didn't charge me for the pumpkin soup. however, they could've done so much better with what is essentially very simple food.

walking intoscarecrowreminded me a bit of the wizard of oz, probably because there’s a giantscarecrowon a bike in the window! aside from that, this new pop up grocer/cafe has just re-opened up on victoria street (corner of kitchener street) and is seriously the coolest place i’ve been to this year!

scarecrow is a beautiful cafe tucked in the corner below albert park. it is truly a refreshing change of scenery from the fast-paced auckland city bustle. the open space cafe is decorated beautifully with simple drop-down lights and a farmers market vibe. they sell flowers, grocery items, fresh fruit and vege (thus the 'farmers market' feel), organic goodies, desserts and chocolates.

scarecrow has a menu to choose from if you are wanting to dine in as well as a fine selection in their cabinet. i often pop by for lunch - i'm an advocate for their chicken salad (dairy free and sooooo delicious). i've even tried to replicate their cold chicken salad at home to no avail. trust me when i say, thescarecrowchicken salad is the perfect lunch or takeaway to pop into a sandwich. it's tossed in a creamy sauce with chopped red onions, pickles, celery etc.

their cabinet treats are also a force to be reckoned with. try the hazelnut crisp bar - i had no idea it was vegan because it honestly tasted like a forerro rocher but 10 times better.

also note: dinner here is just as amazing, if not, better. their produce is fresh and flavours are balanced on the palate. the only down side is that the menu is not as extensive as i would like but the food is fault-less so i'm sure there is something on the menu that everyone will enjoy.

this place is amazing! when i came here it was super busy but we were lucky that a group was just about to leave as we came in so we didn't have to wait. staff were friendly and seated us quickly. we ordered a mix of 3 salads for $10, a bagel and the pain perdu (french toast). the salads were so flavorful and for $10, it was a deal! (in the picture we had already ate half of it 😋) the bagel was good however my friends and i did find the bagel too hard to cut. my favourite was definitely the pain perdu! it was perfect, not too sweet and the textures work well together! 5/5 forscarecrowbecause of the great service, great price and fantastic food! i will be back to try their soups!

service: 1/5
decor / atmosphere: 4/5
food: 3/5

there were four of us and we all had something different. two of us had vegan options. we each sampled each other's and we all agreed that two of our meals were fantastic and two were rather ordinary. the person who served us was clearly not cut out for a customer service environment as her manner was sullen, unfriendly and uninterested. in fact her manner was so bad that it brought the entire experience down considerably.scarecrowhas a lot going for it and we could have had a fantastic time, however the service and the poor quality of two of the meals mean we probably wouldn't return.