Gipps Street Deli

Excellent counter food and coffee, the caramel slice is awesome. The Gipps St Deli also does a very good brunch.

Good parking, friendly staff and very clean this is a great suburban cafe.

A lovely suburban cafe.

The menu is varied and be it breakfast, lunch or brunch will be sure to have something for everyone.

This place is small so often seating is at a premium - a good mark of the popularity,

A combination Deli and Café right next door to one of Wellington’s good butchers - and an obvious choice for my 24th attempt at finding a decent cup of tea in Wellington.

The café is essentially one room with a small outside eating area. The latter is usually (often it seems to me, especially mornings) in the shade so its not somewhere to soak up the occasional Karori sun.

The café is clean, and the outlook is pleasant by the window overlooking Karori. This morning it was a bit cold and coupled with pale blue walls and white tiles, the ambience wasn’t entirely cosy. The service however is invariably good.

The counter food is not hugely diverse but what is there is usually good quality and made on the premises. The adjoining Deli sells the same slices, rolls, pies etc. You can also get tarts, pies etc with salad, as well as soup. In other words pretty standard café lunchtime fare.

This morning it was a coffee (trim cap), an English Breakfast Tea and a Bakewell Slice.

The coffee (Supreme) was good, nice texture, well made, good flavour and unburnt.

The Bakewell slice was in lieu of Louise cake which was still in the preparation phase. They look vaguely similar.

Bakewell tart, from which the slice gets its name is a tart with a base of shortcrust pastry, a layer of jam, then an almond frangipane. Some, like this bakewell slice, has a fondant icing on top and a scattering of almonds. Essentially the mix of flavours in Bakewell is jam and almonds – With Louise Cake its jam and coconut. Another must know is Bakewell pudding, from which the tart got its name – a flaky pastry topped with jam and then egg and almond – it is delicious. The key in all of these is not to skimp on the jam (as with Louise cake). All of these possibly got their names from the Derbyshire town of Bakewell.

Anyway, Gipp Street’s Bakewell slice was pleasant, it had a good balance of layers, tender but rather fragile, difficult to eat with the fingers – we noticed it came with a fork, probably the best way to eat it.

The tea: Selection was from a range of t-Leaf teas but essentially EBT, an earl grey and flavoured teas. The t-Leaf sachet came in a stainless teapot, with a cold ceramic thick walled cup, and cold milk. I was not asked whether I would like milk or what sort.

After 5 minutes the tea poured a good colour, it was mildly astringent, reasonably good flavour. Knowing it was t-Leaf I expected something slightly better – which lead me to wonder whether t-Leaf’s sachet teas are the same as the loose leaf. Their sachets are bigger than standard tea-bags which allows larger leaves to expand freely and hence avoid fine, dusty leaves. I honestly don’t know the answer. Anyway it was on the good side of OK.

On my tea scoring system (explained in my review of astoria, I gave Gipp Street 15/30 (marked down because of narrow range of black teas, a cold thick cup and not being asked about milk and type). This was reasonably well behind the current leaders (Louis Sergeant and Clark's on 19, Kilbirnie's The Little teapot and Silverstream's The Fig Leaf Cafe on 18 and both Le Maquis and Chocolate Frog on 17.

I would say this is Karori's best kept secret, but that simply wouldn't be true - this place is popular for a reason. Sumptuous fare and friendly service!

Great cafe. They have fantastic savoury muffins. The staff are always friendly and helpful. The coffee is great. It is always hard to get a seat. I have been going there for years. They have other deli items which I understand are very good

Great little Cafe in Karori. The food is always great. Try the risotto cake, one of my favorites.

Nice local spot for a coffee and a sweet. Decent pie and orzo salad. A bit pricey compared to other cafes in walking distance.

Wanted to try this spot for a while! Excellent steak and mushroom pie with a side salad, and a decaf mocha. Nice sitting outside today!

Delicious food and coffee from the talented team at Gipps Street. All created from scratch. Never fails to hit the spot. Yum.

Sam runs a fabulous deli with delicious food, coffee and hospitality. A fab place to meet friends and relax.