starfish cafe & bar

absolutely shook. first glance this place was all right to me like any other cafe. me and my gf went in to order some food after a walk on the beach for a quick meal before we headed home but man. i looked at the prices and thought "oh yeah, food must begoodhere" we ordered the eggs benedict. she had the bacon and i had the salmon. to my surprise, the eggs benedict was average or just below. the cibatta bread was hard to cut into, the egg was too over done and the meals were just way too overpriced for their taste. the only thing i like though was their milkshake, i think it was the mango milkshake that made this a 2 star for me.

went for lunch a couple of weeks ago. almost wanted to leave when i got to the counter. no greeting at all from the bored looking waitress and could see right in into the bombsite of a kitchen, looked as though dishes hadn't been done for a while! they didn't have my first choice of the salmon so we both got the fish and chips. waitress kind of wandered off leaving us unsure if we were meant to take the table number or were we could sit. went outside then decided it was too cold so found the upstairs tables ourselves. food wasgoodvalue for money but the rest needs to sort its self out!

lovely staff, food came out ingoodtime, was told to take a menu and a waitress would be up shortly but they must have forgotten so we had to go back downstairs to get our order taken but they were very apologetic. verygoodlocation

tasty! i got the salmon and an earl grey tea, and both were verygood- the salmon had a sweet chutney that was a touch too sweet for me, but that’s the only problem with the food for me. the tea was nice, pretty standard.

prices are standard for brunch/cafe fare, i wouldn’t be upset to come back at all.

brunch @starfish.cafe today and omg did not fail to disappoint as usual. service was a 10/10 coffees were perfect and didnt burn my mouth which is always a bonus when your about to eat something this delicious!

i had the mexibowl and i didnt realise it was vegetarian until it came out and my sister told me.... but i didnt miss the mince, just made me feel a bit healthier haha. this was packed full of flavour with heaps of herbs, and a nice big helping of fresh crunchy mixed salad greens and cabbages kale etc on the side. the avo was so fresh and nice and chunky so you know its legit not the shit out of the frozen packet. 10/10 yummmmmm

the others had the salmon omelette which is just a safe delicious choice and never fails to take youbto food heaven.goodfor those #lowcarb or #glutenfree people. other dish was the smashed avo on paleo toast with smoked salmon and eggs.

not one of us had any complaints or negatives about any of this.... such well priced and top quality food, i'm glad i don't live any closer or i'd be in danger of having a permanent chair in this cute wee cafe 😍🤤🤤

great spot out at st claire’s beach. busy cafe, friendly service and a great atmosphere.goodcoffee!! we had the starfish stacks for breakfast- definitely would recommend and have this again

this place is hard to rate. i'd recommend coming here for brunch and they have agoodselection of takeaway cabinet food. 4.5 for that sort of thing. we've had dinner here though and that was bland - seemingly tailored to not offend (low in heat/spice on things that need it like tacos for example).  much better places within 60 seconds walk to grab dinner.  also, beware of primetime brunch, place can suffer from making too many coffees too fast (burntish).

located right next to st clair beach, starfish is always bustling with energy! i have been here on numerous occasions, usually to get away from north dunedin, and love the bright beach vibes of this super café. it is somewhere that you can take your grandma for brunch or a place that you and a mate can go to for a quick coffee. something that i love is their "beetroot latte" & "tumeric latte"; how pretty, creative and tasty!! i have tried many of the dishes on their expansive menu and have never been disappointed. also, a special shout out for their beautiful interior. the only downside would be that it is on the pricier side of café food, however i do feel that it is reallygoodquality food so is still worth it - @gastrogeeny

quality isn't what it once was. i ordered the mexi bowl and my partner (a chef) both agreed that it was under flavoured, seemingly missing any salt or pepper.
coffee was also not verygoodon the day.
on a positive, still rate the cabinet food.

first time: we had breakfast early. was ok food, coffee ok, daughter liked her smoothie. nice place though we didnt feeel it was that clean on the day we were sitting outside.

second time: we had drinks and nibbles. great service.goodprice and the food was yum. the decor and relaxed ambience inside and out was very nice.

third time: came with the kids again for drinks and snacks. the service was consistent, helpful, attentive, and friendly. everything felt clean, the food was good.

fourth time: came for our first evening meal. again the service was excellent, not over bearing but friendly and helpful. asked if our meal was ok berfore we finished them. both of us had the grilled salmon and we both agree it is the nicest and most memorable meal we have had in a long time. beautifully cooked salmon with a delicious range of flavours and textures - was totally yum!

i had the fish and prawn chowder which was delicious and served with nice bread.goodcoffee as well. the atmosphere is also really fantastic, laid back but withgoodfood. there are two floors, so plenty of space to sit outside or inside. on a sunny day i'd definitely recommend coming here and sitting outside with a wine or beer, and enjoying the view.

we went for lunch to check out the new setup there. the line to order went super slowly however the food came out quite quickly once ordered. nice coffee and reallygoodburgers. we had a nice spot in the sun as well. nice atmosphere however now i'm slightly burnt :)

i've only been here for lunch but it is always nice to sit outside in the sun with a beer and one of starfish's delicious burgers. yum yum. the service is normally prettygoodhere too

i've been to starfish a couple of times and have generally liked the place and kept meaning to do a review but i've been a bit slack since moving to the south island.

first big point to starfish is they have cafe laffare - my old wellington haunt. the baristas do a pretty decent job given how much i used to frequent the actual cafe laffare in wellington. it's fairly small looking downstairs, but if you don't mind climbing stairs, you'll find a lot more room to spread out with great great views (if you twist in the right direction).

i've had breaky at starfish a few times but something seems to have changed since those first two visits. i had nothing butgoodthings to say about the place on those visits. on this visit, i ordered the big breakfast.

on this visit, the staff were a bit disinterested at first. seemed more interested in talking to their friends at the counter.

the breakfast itself looked appetizing. the scrambled eggs, bacon, portobello mushroom, thick toast etc were all piled on top of each other in a rather large ... bowl. bowls are great for soups and chowders and from a cafe point of view, if everything is served in a bowl, it certainly cuts down on the amount of space they might take up on a shelf - and less costly to replace because you don't need to buy sets. it even looksgoodin a bowl ... but presentation doesn't necessarily equal practicality.

the thing about bowls is that they have less flat space than a plate and its therefore a bit more of a challenge trying to eat so many items in a bowl. its a bit like one of those puzzle games where you slide tiles to unjumble a picture ... you had to slide the food around inside the bowl in order to get to other bits of the breakfast. if the breakfast was meant to be a puzzle, starfish would get 5 stars!

the breakfast was nice but a tad on the dry side. it needs a relish or sauce of some sort ... that is, other than the tomato sauce (which seemed an odd addition).

i'd happily go back to try out starfish again, just to see whether they may see sense to go back to what they were doing before - but if i see another bowl, i'm walking out ... but probably with a takeaway coffee still.

outstanding!!
i have a coffee at starfish every morning. it is always fantastic and the staff are outstanding!!
they are also verygoodlooking!!
i eat there atleast twice a week and the food is always fresh and portion sizes are bang on!
go starfish!