Review Caffiend - Petone

Caffiend Petone, looked a busy spot so I thought I’d try. A great atmosphere of happy vibes engulfs you as you walk in, friendly staff and cabinet food looks to die for. The toilets were clean. The food, I ordered the waffles and they did not fail to impress. They tasted great and it was overall a good eating experience. Overall, if your in Petone, come here.

You can find fresh cabinet food or order from the blackboard menu. Nice Cafe with a good vibe and great service. Good coffee too! A very popular spot with all locals.

Lovely lunch as usual, friendly staff, good coffee. Will be back ❤️

Our group of 5 adults and 3 young children arrived on a busy Sunday morning with no booking and the staff were very friendly and accommodating. The created a space big enough for us and provided plenty of colouring-in supplies for the kids. Food was delicious, coffee excellent. It does get a bit noisy in there but that's to be expected.

Absolutely delicious food, and outstanding service by the staff, this is the second day in a row coming and the food has been beyond excellent both times. The atmosphere is constantly buzzing, staff cheerful and welcoming!

Best brunch in petone. Always very busy but they turn over tables quickly as the food comes out fast and the quality is great. Staff are great, friendly and smile!

Visited at a fairly busy time but still was able to score a table for 2. We ordered The Fiend and the smashed avocado. Both meals were amazing well portioned and coffee was great (strong how I like it). The atmosphere was buzzing and staff were very helpful. Our meals came out within 10mins surprising considering the amount of customers at the time. Will most definitely be returning.

We had such great service here! The Caffiend team were accommodating, engaging and genuinely interested in us as customers. Part of our group were late for the reservation and the staff didn't make an issue out of it, instead went out of the way to make us feel welcome and comfortable while we waited. The food was delicious and there was an excellent range of options on the menu. I'll definitely be going back next time we're in NZ!

This place is consistently the BEST in Petone. The service is super friendly and fast, coffee outstanding and the food is so good. I had the Thai Beef salad - one of the best I've tasted. Used to work around the corner 10 years ago and it was my daily coffee haunt. Don't live here now but 10 + years later, everything is every bit as good as it ever was.

I went here for a girls day with the fam and we loved it! The eggs bene was the best I’ve ever had. Loved my banana smoothie too, and the front of house staff were so kind! I’ll definitely be coming back here.

French Toast & Thai Beef Salad with Hot Mocchas. Yummy brunch for a sunny Petone morning. Quick throughput with checks & plenty of staff onboard. Well done Caffiend. 11/11/23 Had an awesome brunch of Mince on toast & steak open sammie. Top notch service & food.

My favourite cafe in Petone, always enjoy the good food, great service and atmosphere. Not too pricey either. Definitely recommend.

Iconic Petone Cafe with everything, great breakfast's anything you desire including more. I personally love the fruit breakfast's & a good cereal plenty of dairy on top! Caffeine only had the 1 fruit cereal dairy choice. Coffee was excellent but I like it served in glass every time not so much pottery. Service is excellent & friendly, highly recommended. I went regularly.

Great place. Amazing staff. Very welcoming. service A+ Had lunch here. I recommend black bene But all the food looked amazing and delicious. Juices are also a must-have.

Great space, with exposed brick and wooden floors. A touch noisy at lunchtime as it has high ceilings and not a lot to muffle noise; but not so loud that you can't talk. Lovely eggs Benedict (with perfect crispy bacon as requested 😊). We went at lunchtime on a Monday - staff on counter were pleasant and efficient. Table server possibly not having a great day? Asked for another coffee (not having been to the cafe before I didn't know how they did things) and instead of simply saying that I needed to order at the counter, she said 'are you going to pay for it?' in a very confrontational tone. My dining companion was as taken aback as I (we initially thought it was a joke - it wasn't!) Would still recommend a great cafe, and hopefully just a bad day for one staff member

Everyone time we eat here the service and food is incredible. They also have their cool new Juice St out back which has the most delicious juices and smoothies. If you want to impress someone over breakfast, brunch or lunch than Caffiend in Petone should be your go to

I ate at Caffiend for the first time on the weekend and I asked if they were able to change a meat-based salad into a vegan dish for me. The staff were so obliging and the chef even made a special vegan dressing, as the dressing they usually use is not vegan. The salad was delicious and I was really impressed. I will be back again!!

I cannot speak highly enough about Caffiend. We visit nearly every week because of the outstanding food and consistently brilliant service. Despite being super busy (it's busy for good reason), we never have long to wait for (stellar) food. I don't know how the staff manage to maintain their busy pace so consistently, but they do - and somehow manage to stay sane. The chicken/bacon Caesar open club sandwich is heavenly - always topped by the most consistently perfect poached egg. I would walk over broken glass for my weekly chicken bacon Caesar fix, while my partner loves the beef salad just as much. Keep it up and we'll keep coming back. Thanks team!

Used to think this place was okay but when they forgot to add a hashbrown to my mother in laws meal, even though she clearly asked for it, was told the meal already came with one then didn't, she asked for one and did eventually get it..... however she was harassed her during her meal and immediately after for the miserable $2.50 they hadn't charged her. The food was okay, having an eftpos terminal shoved on your plate whilst eating and trying to converse, not so much. Moral of the story three customers lost for life over $2.50.

Lovely helpful staff at caffend Lower Hutt this morning. Great breakfast and staff were great with sorting out a wee ordering issue. Thanks

Firstly, service was great. They were friendly and chatted like I was a regular. Coffee came out within minutes and my eggs monty shortly after. Everything I would want to add to my coffee was right there and my food was great, hashbrown was crisp but light, eggs were softbioled but not too runny. A little bit more expensive but totally worth it.

This place has fantastic staff! The food is really good and lots of gluten free options. So many choices for cold and hot drinks! Love love love!

Went to Caffiend for brunch with a couple of friends and our two infants and the service as well as the food was ah-may-zing! The woman who served us was so friendly and awesome! It was great to be able to catch up and not feel like our babies were in the way. It was our first time there and it certainly won't be the last! I feel like we need to try every single item on the menu as well as the cabinet! Notice all the exclamations? I'm just trying to show how much we loved it!!!!! Definitely need more stars to rate this place!

So do you actually close at 4? I was in the cafe today meeting friends at 3:15. Half the chairs were turned upside down on top of the tables. I'm sure that's culturally inappropriate not the least unhygienic that the surface where backsides have been are now in direct contact with the table tops. We ordered our coffee then had to tolerate the banging of chairs and tables as one of the staff swept the floors at one point a customer actually moved their feet away from the broom. The banging and scraping noise created a very unpleasant environment to be in. This was following by mopping of the floor using strong smelling cleaner. A couple came in and were tad they could only have takeaway coffee. It wasn't 4 pm. If the staff want to clean the place to be gone on closing time it doesn't send a message to a customer that they are valued. Keep the sweeping, banging and mopping until after closing time and insist the staff show respect for customers by doing this.

Having traveled half way around the world to find a welcome as warm as this has been wonderful. Lou and her staff made me so welcome with great food and even better service.If u r in pertone and need a life boost and a bite to eat ladies and gentlemen I give you the answer CAFFIEND ❤️

Still the best Lambs Fry and Bacon on the planet, especially with the additional portion of Black Pudding

We went to this Cafe for a friend's birthday there was a few of us, we booked a table as we were having coffee and brunch. One of our group made her a cake and when we talked to staff about having the cake there they were going to charge $40 for the privilege. That is absurd and a completely rude, it left a sour taste in my mouth. I wouldn't recommend this Cafe. It my friends birthday so thank you for being so rude about thr cake! The manager needs to be nicer in my opinion.

Have been going to this cafe for years and love it every time. Great, friendly staff, wonderful food and amazing coffee.

1st time I’ve been to this cafe and I will 100% coming back! Staff were incredibly helpful and friendly and the food was out of this world!

Best place ever=) coffee was delicious, food was to die for and the service is the best ive ever had!!! HIGHLY RECCOMEND =)

I've been hanging out for salmon eggs benny for 2 months due to covid-19. My usual favourite place isn't currently doing them, so we tried here. $20 is overpriced for a relatively average plate of food with no salt (or any available). This was the Eggs Monty. The salty salmon was just enough to rectify that. It was enjoyable. Also had the tootie fruiti drink... a bit sour but okay.

Caffiend has been around for years in Petone. I haven’t lived in Lower Hutt for over 10 years now and I remember it back before moving away.<br/><br/>The cafe is large, a tad dated, perhaps going for that slightly rustic look. There’s a menu on butchers paper dangling from the wall with a selection of cabinet food as well.<br/><br/>I had the Caesar salad which is a simple enough dish but requires a few things to be done really well.<br/><br/>The egg was soft boiled pretty well, I personally prefer mine a bit runnier than what it was but that wasn’t a huge problem. The salad itself was tasty but the type of chicken they used wasn’t the best in my view.<br/><br/>The chicken in a Caesar salad needs to be soft and moist but Caffiend uses a thin chicken breast fillet, which is very very dry once cooked. <br/><br/>This makes for a pretty unpleasant addition to the salad unfortunately. But maybe I’m just sensitive to over cooked meat lately given how many times I’ve been exposed to such more recently.

Although the food was great  (and usually is) we couldn't get over the rudeness of the person who served our table. At the counter I had asked for butter in a dish  to save  more terrible packaging going to landfill (much worse that straws). The person who came to give us our food plonked down two packages of butter. I asked again if we could have a dish of butter to save packages. She replied. "What. You want me to open the butter and scrape it into the dish".  I replied that no we wanted to save more packaging going to landfill . She huffed away and came back and PLONKED a dish of butter down. Seriously. Every little action to minimise waste helps.  It's a good thing there are lots of other great cafes in Petone because we won't be going back there.

Caffeind is awesome! Great atmosphere - music, friendly staff and beautiful decor. The food was delicious! I’ve had bigger servings for the same price so that was the only critique but other than that - YUM!!! 🤩

A nice place to go for lunch. The large menu along with a number of yummy ready to go options. The coffee is nice and I highly recommend the open steak sandwich.

The food in this joint looks amazo! They have brilliant looking baking. I look forward to coming back - check out my plate of Salads I had today 😀😀😀. Yummo!

Amazing food! Very well presented no matter how busy. Only waited a max of 10 minutes for food. And tastes amazing!! Overall one of the best places in Petone!

Always very consistent, staff are friendly and food always comes out promptly.  Coffee is excellent.  My usual is the Eastbourne Black Pudding, the serving is generous and has loads of flavour.  The big breakfast is plentiful and tasty also.  I am a regular here and would highly recommend.

Went here on a Saturday morning for brunch. Very busy but we still got our meals within 10 minutes. Food was delicious. Bonus that they are in the entertainment book. Quite a loud cafe so may not be so good for the hearing impaired but otherwise great.

Beautiful food! I ordered the Caeser Salad and my friend ordered the Thai Beef Salad. We were both blown away by how delicious it was! And they were gigantic! I also ordered the Peach Smoothie which was very nice to :) I would return here!

Good food, coffee and atmosphere, lots of choices on the menu which is great and all the juices are great. Only thing letting it down is the rude customer service.

I ordered the eggs Benedict with salmon, along with a mango smoothie. The food was tasty, but disappointingly small and underwhelming considering the price. The smoothie I found to be icy and tasted artificial. I expected more from this place due to reviews, and the cafe always being busy. The service however was wonderful and the staff are lovely. However, I would not return based on my experience.

The best cafe in the Wellington region without a doubt! A very large selection of food, if your into clean eating or down to smash some serious carbs, this is the place to go. It gets very busy so be in quick, as they dont reserve tables. I highly recommend getting " the fiend" ..it'll change your life. The coffee matches the quality of food that comes out (which is perfection) never had a bad meal or coffee here! Cant wait to go back!

My partner and I only recently discovered this little gem a year or so ago and so glad we did! <br/>Coffee? Exceptional.<br/>Food? Perfect every time<br/>Service? One of the best in Wellington.<br/><br/>We are obviously not the only ones who think like this as the place is always packed. I see they have recently opened up a wee juice bar also which we will be trying in summer!

Their eggs benedict is so delicious! I cannot fault their hollandaise! Only reason for dropping a star is they only stock phoenix cola etc and juices more range of cold drinks would be awesome for the people that don't drink coffee.

Great little place in Petone, always packed full. Service was prompt and friendly. We had the big breakfast and black pudding dish. Food was fresh, tasty and well worth the pricing. Excellent, we will be back for sure.

Food was wonderful as always, but have noticed that lately my coffee has been sub-par (I'm a short black girl) perhaps extra training is required for the baristas? <br/>Things that will cause over-extraction (and the yucky burned taste):<br/><br/>- When the steam/water is not forced through the beans fast enough. Depending on the grind type, there is an ideal brew time. Over brew and you over extract. This almost always happens because the tamp (that's the pressing of the ground beans into the holder) is too firm - so the barista has either put too much coffee into the holder, or has put the right amount but has stamped it down way too hard. This then means that the water can't get through the coffee as quickly as it should. Ideally, a shot needs to be timed and the barista needs to measure how heavy the tamp is compared to how fine the beans are grinding at that moment.<br/><br/>- Another issue is that the group head (the coffee holder goes in here) gets very hot, and if the grinds are left in there too long it will adversely affect temperature.<br/><br/>- Dirty, unmaintained machines can contribute to **** tasting coffee – when the machine isn’t working properly, the barista has little hope of getting the pressure right.<br/><br/>In short, it’s the coffee being over-extracted that results in the burnt taste – not burnt milk as some would suggest. Burnt milk is a whole other story, and will also adversely affect the taste of coffee

Had an OK coffee here this week. Nothing special about it, but noting bad either. The interior is pretty nice too, and the food on offer looked very tempting (we only opted for a caramel fudge slice in the end).<br/><br/>While it was busy, the thing that let this place down was the staff. When ordering the staff member was very dis-interested, to the point I had to repeat my order 3 times as she was not listening / paying attention. When the coffees did come, there was certainly no 'service with a smile'.<br/><br/>I know the place was busy but it seemed they were more focused on the takeaway customers than those in the cafe itself. <br/><br/>Will probably give it another go, maybe when quieter, but with so much other choice on Jackson St, it may be a while.

I've been here many times in the past and have always enjoyed my meals each time. Place is always busy on the weekends. Coffee has always been good. One of my favourite cafe's in Petone.

I have been here before and was happy to go back due to the good food...but this visit put me off for good.<br/>It was quite busy and I accept cafes in Petone are like this. I went to order and was told the wait time for food is about 20 mins, this I am also fine with.<br/>I ended up waiting 45 mins for food and it never came, so I had to leave.<br/>In that 45 mins I had 20 mins for food, the drinks came out, my partners food came out and I watched him eat all of his, it had been 30 mins at this point and still no sign of my food. I then said something and they said it's coming soon (the look on her face was that she didn't care). I waited another 15 mins and watched the same waitress bring out 2 of same thing I ordered and give it to other tables (both of which arrived and ordered after me). Our number was still at the table, she knew I had just watched my partner eat and had his meal cleared, yet the meals were given to other people who hadn't waited as long.<br/>I do enjoy the food here when I actually get the food i ordered. Will never visit again. <br/>

I usually really enjoy the food and service here. Although my Mexican eggs yesterday were delicious, as usual, the staff were really ambivalent. I dealt with 3 different people and none were particularly friendly. I felt like their interacting with me as a (low maintenance) customer was an inconvenience. Like I say, this is unusual for Caffeind, but hopefully they read their reviews here and will address this issue with their staff.

Fantastic Coffee! Great food and staff. I would come here with clients when it's not lunch time as the place is always packed. Great breakfast and lunch range whether it's from the cabinet or off the menu.

This place could be the busiest in Jackson St. Always many people are there. Friendly staff but sometime they are not attentive. Coffee is quite good but food can be better. Haven't tried many menus there but as far as concern the staff service is good. I used to go to gobang but nowadays I stopped going there and come to caffiend often. This one could be the best spot for coffee and brunch in petone.

The service was slow, the coffee OK. What made it as bad experience for me and my guest was that a) her meal came out with some components frozen in the middle and b) when the replacement meal came out the black pudding was undercooked. The wait for the replacement meal was unacceptably long and we weren't offered anything to compensate for the first error. Won't be back.

1am giving this cute little place 5 stars just for the ice chocolates and iced coffee. Seriously the best I have ever tasted. Great staff and friendly service, quick with a smile.

Had a Sunday late lunch, the food was amazing I had the black pudding dish. Had a discount voucher which helped make it a bit cheaper for us. Coffee was good too. My only complaint was that it was loud so I struggled to hear our conversation but the food& coffee was outstanding.

29th July 2016 - Had friends over from Australia decided again to take to the best cafe - Eggs Bene wow amazing again thought it couldn't get better than a 4.5 from last time but it did coffee perfect and the service was amazing wow will be back<br/><br/><br/>11th May 2016 - Wow we decided to go for breakfast two weeks, we were going to go to Lower Hutt but then we made a decision to go to petone to try caffiend wow what a great idea. We both ordered Eggs Bene wow again not disappointed best in town coffee was perfectly made and Ice Chocolate were great.<br/>Food: 10 out of 10<br/>Service: 9 out of 10 <br/>Atmosphere: 8 out of 10

Whilst I must have been to Caffiend a million times, I've never reviewed it and after visiting today and having a near faultless experience I decided now would be a great time to review.<br/><br/>I've always found the coffee to be exceptional and the food to be great - the Eggs Bene is the consistent winner for me however today I went for the Black Pudding which came served in a beautiful crisp potato rosti, bacon, lashings of hollandaise, wilted spinach, a poached egg and a beautiful, sweet mango chutney. <br/><br/>The dish was perfectly executed - presented nicely and every flavour complimented the next. I was surprised; hollandaise and mango chutney worked especially when married with the spinach and black pudding textures.<br/><br/>Yet again, NZ food and coffee far superseded many of the brunch meals I've ever tried in Melbourne, you can't beat it here!

If you have to choose one brunch spot in Petone this is it! I've been here twice now over the past year and this place continues to delight! Being a huge offal fan I've had the black pudding and the lambs fry here. The black pudding was soft and creamy and was balanced well with crispy bacon and a runny poached egg. The lambs fry was perfectly cooked in a sherry and mushroom reduction with a splash of cream. Small slices of toasted ciabatta bread on the side was the perfect accompaniment. The portions are big and very satisfying. Other highlights include the Thai beef salad, soup of the day (Thai pumpkin) and their overflowing iced coffee! Great food, fast service and comfortable decor to boot! 5 stars.

OK, very crowded though and not an inspiring atmosphere.  Food average, coffee average so would not recommend unless you just want average as everything was just that and the price was average too so not worth the hustle and bustle.

Went here for breakfast this morning, got in just before the rush as the place filled up quickly <br/>Easy ordering although staff did miss off one of the coffees and had to come over to the table and charge for it<br/>Food arrived quickly and as usual was good, eggs Benny and a little fiend :-)<br/>Much better than yesterday's breakfast at chocolate day's cafe!! <br/>It's becoming a bit of a weekend regular<br/>

Grabbed some breaky here this morning - it was almost at capacity it was so busy. Good brunch menu to choose from. Had the Smashed Avocado and feta on five grain bread topped off with a fired egg and basil oil - it really hit the spot. <br/><br/>Looking at how busy it was we got our food quite quickly. <br/><br/>Sorry photos today as I left the phone in the car.

Caffiend, Petone has been on my ‘eat at’ list since I moved to Petone, so when asked one Sunday morning where I wanted to eat I knew my answer. Walking in, it felt a lot calmer then some of the other places in Petone. This could be due to the larger sized room then the others. With ample seating available, we had the room at our finger tips. If it were a bit warmer, we could have sat outside.

Hubby and I had the morning off so treated ourselves out to brunch here. I've only had coffee from here before but was keen to see what the food was like. We arrived to a moderately busy cafe with cool decor, delicious looking cabinet and counter food, and warm staff. We ordered with a lovely lady then found a table by the window to watch the buzzing of Jackson St. My mocha arrived quickly and was pretty good and not long after our food came out. I got the Eggs Benny which was delicious and hubby had The Fiend (big breakfast) which he liked too. I'll definitely be back to try out their other offerings!

Ate here with my grandmother last Saturday lunchtime. Decor is really nice, quite funky and modern. Service was friendly and extremely quick. I got the eggs Montreal and the ice coffee, gran got the chowder. Eggs Montreal was sooooooooo nice, hollandaise was a perfect mix of buttery and tart, and the bread they used was perfect- crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Eggs were perfectly poached. My iced coffee was gorgeous- maybe a little heavy on the ice cream for my liking but still so delicious and refreshing. Gran said that her chowder had a fantastic taste but the seafood was a big overcooked and tough. All and all though, I will definitely be back.

Caffiend is opposite Taylor's on Jackson street. It is an odd place - and slightly unexpected. Past the usual coffee shops - go bang etc - keep the accelerator peddle down for another block or so and caffiend appears as a surprisingly large corner shop on the left. <br/><br/>When you enter, you can see that the large space and the old brick walls have had quite a nice fit-out. Dark walls and Amber lighting from Trubridge give it a pleasant feel but the volume of the space I found slightly disconcerting - perhaps what you could call "canteen cosy". <br/><br/>An interesting (odd) 60 something demographic in the late morning although lunch time workers were starting to appear. <br/><br/>The menu is displayed on a brown paper sheet that dangles above the counter area - it is huge in both senses. The counter cabinet is also large and didn't look too bad. I often have problems with counter cabinets. Many can look as if they are morgues, with their inhabitants embalmed for the weeks, months, years it takes until they decay beyond recognition. Others are like those glass pet shop cabinets with gorgeous little kittens begging to be bought. Clearly there is a science to illuminated counter cabinets - Caffiend came half way - a good collection but looking as if they may have had a hard night. <br/><br/>We ordered two trim caps - perfect texturing, a slight bitterness that dissipated after a couple of sips. Not a bad coffee - karamu.<br/><br/>I ordered a "Mexican" dish of fried tortilla, egg, beans and sour cream. My partner porridge with rhubarb. <br/><br/>Mine turned out to be nachos reconstructed. Crisp fried triangular tortillas that could have been Asian wraps at birth, - not unpleasant - interesting texture - on top of which was a dollop of very soft scrambled egg - reminiscent of boarding school egg, then mahogany coloured beans - nicely flavoured, a very few flecks of red pepper, then sour cream. <br/><br/>The porridge was ok and the little dish of rhubarb was pleasant. Nothing spectacular but it wasn't wanted to be.<br/><br/>Service was friendly.<br/><br/>So ...... Caffiend is a reasonably main stream cafe - but it's scale doesn't allow it to be a warm cosy little number where you can peacefully read the paper - and possibly the scale of the menu doesn't allow the food to be more interesting. I can imagine it's popular with locals as well as workers from the area. If it was the only cafe in the area it would be gratefully received. Basically it's a cafe canteen serving ok food and coffee. Not to be dismissed.

One of the Hutt Valley's finest in my opinion. I had their chicken and cranberry panini this morning which was the best I've had to date! The menu is great too, as well as decent coffee and service. It's always crazy busy which sometimes makes it quite hard to have a conversation but otherwise I would definitely recommend if you're ever down that end of Jackson Street.

Definitely a favourite of mine in Petone! Caffiend has a wide range of food to choose from - both the menu and the divine looking cabinet. <br/><br/>Having been there over many years, this is has been the best (although all experiences have been pretty rad) so far. I ordered the Avocado, Feta and Mint smash on pumpkin bread - effin' delicious! And the latte was pretty spot on as well!<br/><br/>Service was fantastic as well - ordered as soon as we got in and less than 15 minutes later our food came out. Staff were fantastic and pretty spritely for a lunch time rush. <br/><br/>Definitely will be back again!

Came here for lunch with my parents the other day. Lots of variety - cabinet foods and menu board to choose from. It was fairly busy due to school holidays however our food came out relatively fast. I got the Thai beef salad which was amazing also came with crispy kumara, peanuts and crispy noodles I was completely satisfied after. Definitely will be returning!!

Came for brunch, busy Sunday lunch time so I understand that staff get a bit stressed having worked in cafes for many years myself, but the girl that just served us at the counter was so rude with such a foul look on her face that I almost want to leave without bothering to wait for the meal I have just ordered. We used an entertainment book voucher and this seemed to make her completely lose her patience with us. I feel like my custom here is an annoyance and unwanted, worst customer service I have ever received!

I am so disappointed about the service and the staff were so rude.<br/>I went there with my colleague. When I order, I said “Can I have Ginger Lemon Honey, cold, please”. The person who was taking my order raised her voice, “Lemon, Ginger & Honey!” Is it really matter? I said ‘”Oh ok. Cold one please?” She totally ignored me, except saying to my colleague “You?” <br/>When my drink was served by other staff, it came in a glass cup so I asked if it wass cold. Again I was ignored and she walked away. It was cold however I couldn’t believe the attitude. It took more than 30 minutes when my colleague’s coffee was served even there were only 4 customers at the café including us. <br/> It was the worst café I have ever been in NZ. I never want to go back to this café again.

Been here twice and enjoyed the great atmosphere, and music. First time I ordered a pot of tea, and a muffin, which was very tasty. The service the first time was great. But the second time, a youngish man served me, and he would ask me what I would like then walk off doing something else. So I said to his back I would like a cup of tea and then he came back and said 'yep' then off again, and then I said and I would like some of that cake, and pointed, but I wasn't sure he saw. But he must have. I was shocked. He finally took my card off me, not making eye contact, and that was that. How rude. I haven't been back, and not sure I will as I felt unimportant, and having worked in a store I know that the customers are very important. But the food was very good, so maybe..... I'll just have to ask someone else to serve me if he's in! hahaha

Coffee consistant, food tasty!

Have eaten here a few times recently. This place serves some good cafe style food. I am partial to the porridge they serve. The coffee is quite good. Had the poached eggs on toast this morning, just how I like them The place seems popular with all sorts both during the week and at weekends. A major plus is they serve excellent black pudding as well.

I just want to let everyone know that this café is not suitable for parents with prams and the manager made that very clear today.I went and "bagged" a seat at the end of big table and wheeled the pram in behind me, the managed came and said "I hope your not leaving that there"  pointing to the buggy and then the toilet sign.  I apologised and wheeled it further around the table and sat at the end of the table.  Our drinks arrived delivered by the manager and  I was then approached by one of the staff to tell me that I wasn't allowed to sit where I was sitting as I was blocking the toilet entrance.  I was annoyed by this as there was a seat placed there so I sat on it and the manager did not mention anything when she delivered our food.  I then asked to speak to the manager and said I was not happy being spoken to like that, she did apologise and she said we have an area for prams but when I asked she could not point this area out.  I had a look around the table as we were leaving and there were 2 piles of folded chairs that we also "blocking" the toilet entrance.  When leaving we had to manoeuvre around a pram blocking the doorway but they hadn't yet been asked to move.It was my first visit back here since having my baby and I am very disappointed!  The manager and the other member of staff was very rude and I will not be visiting again.

Yum! Chips to die for and gorgeous aioli. In the words of The Terminator: I'll be back.

This place is always super busy and the staff are not always the most friendly or attentive, but the coffee is excellent and the food is yummy. I had corn fritters with a side salad, my meal got to me quick and proper, very nice fritters indeed.

Decided to check out Caffiend on Sunday 5th January, big mistake!!<br/><br/>I ordered the Chicken Caesar Salad and was asked to "wait a minute" then I was advised "I'm sorry but we've lost the parmesan cheese" so I said that's fine I'll have it without to which I was told "no"....ummmm okay. Then I asked for a chocolate milkshake to which I was advised "I'm sorry but we've lost the icecream"....seriously?? How is it possible that this café is still running?? Perhaps it's the regulars who keep it propped up??<br/>So, after going through at least three other dishes on the menu and being advised that there were other "missing" ingredients we settled on the Caffiend which was a large portion however the poached eggs were cooked all the way through even though we asked for runny.<br/>Suffice to say we will never visit this café ever again.

Great service! <br/>Came in on Sunday midday and the food was to die for! It was very very busy and we expected a good half hour wait but food came out within ten minutes, ten minutes before the coffees came out. <br/>Well done. <br/><br/>Thai beef for me which was devine and black pudding for the wife (which she loved)!! Coffees were yummy too!!!<br/><br/>Keep up the good work and can't wait to come back!

Black pudding, bacon &amp; egg....... Need say no more!!! Fantastic food which we will def be going back for. Great staff and the recommendation for what to have was bang on. Can't wait for our next visit

Great service, shared a meal with someone and they gave us an extra set of cutlery and plate without us asking and were not bothered even though we were using our entertainment card. It was very busy and very loud however the food was delicious! Highly recommend the open steak sandwich!! Great for a lunch if you want good service and are not too bothered about the noise :)

Appalling service:<br/>My wife and I had brunch at Caffiend (Jackson St. Petone) on Sun 1 Sept. I have never experienced such appalling service in all my life. We waited just under an hour for our meal.<br/><br/>After 45 mins, of waiting patiently, (yes it was Father’s Day and I understand it was busy), my wife politely asked a waitress where our meals were, to which she replied “I’ll go and find out”, she never returned. The meals eventually arrived 57 mins after they were ordered, with not as much as a hint of an apology. <br/><br/>We asked the see the manager to which the waitress replied, "I don’t think that's possible we're very busy". What an appalling attitude! <br/><br/>In addition, they refused to accept an Entertainment book voucher, stating that they did not accept them on Fathers or Mother’s day. There was no notice or indication in the café indicating this. <br/><br/>I, for one will not be frequenting this establishment again. Thankfully there are numerous other café’s and food outlets in the vicinity that treat people with respect and pay attention to customer service. <br/><br/>I wish I had heeded the warning from a few of my acquaintances who had advised me of similar experiences. <br/><br/>This is the first time I've ever complained about service or attitude from the hospitality industry. But I've been so incensed by Caffiend's appalling attitude and blatant disregard for customer service I just have to take a stance. I encourage other people out there not to accept this kind of attitude from service outlets. <br/><br/>Finally, I suggest you consider rebranding yourselves Café-Offend.<br/><br/>Tom &amp; Liz

Saturday last week, I popped in with friends just for cuppa.<br/>Though it was not listed but I asked if they can make Iced Mocha (Iced Coffee and Iced Chocolate were listed).<br/>Sure, it's only a drink but not only they made something not on the blackboard but also made my Iced Mocha so beautifully

What a lovely experience dining at Caffiend this morning.<br/>Beautifully presented food, lovely coffee, and uber friendly staff!<br/><br/>I was impressed with how fast our meals arrived, as well as the coffee, considering the cafe was packed out.<br/><br/>Well done Caffiend, definitely proving that the best cafes aren't necessarily in Wellington Central!<br/><br/>See you soon!

Well I have come straight home and posted this review because I was so disappointed with my experience this morning.<br/>Like other people that have reviewed Caffiend in the past the quality of the food has been of a top standard so hence our decision to go there for brekkie, however what my husband and I received this morning was terribly poor and over priced??? <br/>Specials board lambs fry and bacon $18.50...small portion and over cooked lambs fry mmmm not good<br/>Wee fiend once again the portion was a lot smaller than in the past and I had a poached egg perched on top of a crust of toast that tasted like vinegar, bacon that was just cooked in places and burnt at the ends a tomato I couldn't cut into because it was so hard...the only thing that was nice was the coffee??? Very poor effort Caffiend we will not be wasting our money their again!!

My friend suggested we catch up at this Cafe and it being our first time there I had concerns around its baby friendly status. What a pleasant surprise to see other babies in there with their strollers. It was busy and we were at the table in the middle but a lovely waitress suggested we move to another table as the thoroughfare isn't busy at the spot which I agreed and thanked for her thoughtfulness. Our food came in great time and totally enjoyed the eggs benny and a cuppa chai. Will definitely visit again if in the area. Lovely staff and lovely food with a great atmosphere even when busy :) we were there from 11.50am unroll 1.30pm on a Saturday.

love visiting this place, great soup and coffee.<br/>the gluten-free choc cake is brilliant. the cabinet always looks tidy, as does the menu blackboards. <br/>great atmosphere and really cool staff too!

We've just stumbled across this cafe in the last few months, we have been there three times in the last month, I would say it's above average, the food is nice, staff pleasant, food comes out in a timely manner, very good.

Visited this morning. We checked whether the cafe used free range bacon and eggs and it was yes to both. I always make a point of asking and won't support a cafe that doesn't. I had the "Eggs Benny" and my partner had the French Toast. We both enjoyed our meals a lot and the coffee was excellent too. The staff were friendly and efficient. Really good!

Recently visited Caffiend while on a visit to Wellington - loved the atmosphere, the food, friendly faces, and the best coffee, ably made by owner Lou, a real expert.<br/>Great place to read the papers, meet friends, or eat outside in the sun and watch the action in Jackson Street. Would definitely recommend it - fantastic value for money and the best Thai Beef Salad I've ever eaten. Full marks!

Visited Caffiend two weeks ago with my partner which was our first visit to this cafe. We decided to get two takeaway coffees and two slices. I waited 15min for someone to serve me eventhough they weren't very busy. It took two people to process my transaction the first girl took my order then disappeared then another woman who seemed run of her feet and grumpy took my order again and charged me $35. Another girl who handed me my coffee and slices was very bubbly and polite. The food and coffee were great the customer service not so great apart from the girl who handed me coffee who cracked a smile. You've got to be nice to customers and create a fantastic experience all the time everytime so that they can come back and spend their money!

My friend and I went to Caffiend in Petone a few weeks ago and I had my daughter with me who is 5 months old. It was a weekend so very busy however we managed to secure a table. Just as we were about to sit down an extremely rude staff member came over and asked us how many were eating, we said two and he then told us we could not sit there because my buggy was blocking the path...yeah right!! My buggy didn't block anything it was purely because the money hungry rude man didn't want two people sitting at a larger table. This is the problem with busy places...the service just goes out the window because they don't care, they just think..we are busy anyway so who cares about two people. SO...rather than offering to help us find alternative seating or suggest something else, (like a good place/person would do) I said "OK we will just leave" and he said "yes"!!! I could not believe the terrible service!! You don't say yes when someone says we will leave!!!! Especially when you promote yourselves as being family friendly!! It made me feel embarrassed for a start as it was in front of a lot of people but also made me feel really uncomfortable as a new mum. We will never ever go back and I certainly would not recommend this place to anyone. I have made sure all the parents in my antenatal group don't go either as I would hate for anyone else with a baby and a pram be made to feel this way. You should be ashamed!!

Impossible to fault. Wanted chowder but had none so the young lad behind the counter made some recommendations, and mentioned corned beef hash and eggs, my reply was corned beef on a cafe menu really?!... He says yeah it's great and oh my god was it! amble portion, full as! Really tasty holliadaise drizzled over it just the right amount,perfectly cooked egg and a nice bit of cabbage thrown in. Great coffee. Mate am I ever glad I followed your advice. Mint! Keep It up guys love it!

My family and I attended Caffiend last weekend for a farewell brunch, as most people may know Caffiend does have a good reputation and have been there before and have enjoyed great food, and also this time we had great food . But the customer service by one of their staff a young girl working behind the counter was an attitude of total rudeness, arrogance and everything you would not want on front house, every (yes every item) item ordered was responded with a huff and a puff with little comments throwen in to why we had ordered these items. She had no enthusiasm to be behind the counter (the face of the cafe), she also slammed a few cups of coffee down on table and to top it off threw one of our parties eftpos card back at her. Not a good look.

Went to Caffiend yesterday and it was pretty busy and applying the 15% surcharge. Went to order and due to many things being unavailable I ended up ordering the pea, mint and haloumi fritters. Sound amazing - they ended up being really stogey and more like a felafel with some peas in it and the haloumi was super rubbery :( I have always been impressed in the past but think Easter Monday was not a good day for this dish.

Caffiend Petone has good reviews so I was shocked at the service I received today. Ordered a hot chocolate, after 20 minutes asked where my drink was. Girl shrugs, says cool, walks away, does nothing. After another 10 minutes I get up again and spoke to someone else behind the counter. This person was helpful and organised my hot chocolate right away. <br/><br/>But why oh why did I have to wait this long for a simple hot chocolate. Will not be going back, plenty of good places in Petone.

I had lunch here with a friend and I was very impressed. The food was well priced and delicious and we didn't have to wait long at all. I can be quite fussy when it comes to coffee but the one I had here was great. I will definitely return.

Always good. Service can be slowish when they are busy.

Caffiend is my family's favourite cafes in Petone , it has great food and very friendly staff. I am a regular customer at Caffiend and go in at least once a week with my kids. They have a great main menu and also a kids menu. Their Eggs Benedict is fantastic and the black pudding is also one of my favourites, not to mention their famous sausage rolls!! The drinks menu is also great with a fantastic range of wines, beers, milkshakes, smoothies and coffees. I would definitely recommend this cafe to everyone. Family friendly and always welcoming it is a great place to dine out with friends and family!

I met some friends at Caffiend on Jackson St, Petone. One of our group had called in last week to ask if they minded us coming with babies and buggies and she was told it was fine. We were seated in a corner and the cafe was not busy (we deliberately timed it around the lunchtime rush) and we certainly weren't blocking tables or other customers. Our babies were happy and weren't disturbing other customers at all either. After we had ordered (and paid) and some of our orders had arrived the manager asked us to leave as we were taking up too much space (apparently!). We ended up having to put our food and drinks into take away containers as we didn't feel welcome to stay and finish eating. When we were getting organised to leave one of the other staff members asked if all was ok and seemed genuinely shocked and apologetic that we had been asked to leave. <br/><br/>I am very disappointed at the service we received and as a result I would not recommend this cafe and certainly do not consider them to be family friendly.

A member of our mothers group got asked to leave from this cafe for taking up too much space - appauling behaviour. The manager was not empathetic and obviously lacks ethics and moral. They say on menumania they have a children's playground which implies they are family friendly. I rung them and asked if they are family friendly and the manager said "what do you mean?" two mothers and their kids who were sitting in the corner and had well behaved children got asked to leave!!! I will not be going to this cafe and will not recommend them to anyone at all!!!

Was really sad and very disappointing to have a mothers group be asked to leave with the excuse of them taking up too much room! What was annoying was that:<br/>-They had called prior asking if it was ok to go, and told yes.<br/>- Their babies were well behaved<br/>- They went at a time that wasn't busy, and sat in a corner out of they way<br/>- And they were asked to leave after they ordered and had to get their food/drink put in takeaway bags!!<br/>I thought this place was supposed to be child and family friendly?? Me thinks NOT. Will definitely not be returning and will be going to Southern Cross from now on...disappointing..

First time in Caffiend today. I had The Fiend for breakfast: it was bacon, sausage, has browns, poached eggs on sourdough, grilled tomatoes and sauteed mushrooms (which I left out as I'm not keen on mushrooms). <br/><br/>Very filling and tasty brekkie for only $19.<br/><br/>The poached eggs were perfect!<br/><br/>And they had Fleetwood Mac playing when I was in, so five stars for me!

This is my favourite coffee shop, love the friendly staff, the coffee, the food, the coffee the atmosphere, did I mention the coffee - great. They are open at a convenient time until after school - they do get busy but that has to be a good thing. Menu food &amp; counter food are all great esp the muffins, scones and a Tuna salad they do

The service was aweful! We asked to have our scones heated and served after our meals.<br/>Unfortunately they arrived well before the meals and went totally cold.<br/>Four of us were dinning. Two meals arrived first, the other two meals were delivered at least ten mimutes later.<br/>The late meals were paninies. These were over toasted and almost impossible to cut. They also had very little filling.<br/><br/>On top of this most disappointing experience was the stupid lid on the sugar jar. Most of the lids are simply one piece lids which are fine. This particular lid was a two piece thing like you get on a preserving jar (which I never noticed when I removed it). When I removed it, the centre unfortunately fell out and straight into my coffee.<br/><br/>I can quite honestly say I will never go back!

This is one of my family's favourite cafes. It has a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere and a good variety of cafe style food, including specials that change each week. Outdoor dining is available, as is a small children's play area.<br/><br/>Caffiend is frequently very busy during peak lunch hours, so don't be surprised to find you must wait in line to place your order or to find a vacant table. Even so, it rarely takes more than 15 minutes before our food is on the table. <br/><br/>The only reason I didn't give Caffiend five stars in this review is because they took our favourite dish off the menu - "Thai Beef Wrap". While they have other tasty dishes, we have yet to find any that live up to the flavour of that one.