Holly’s Cafe
https://www.instagram.com/hollyscafenewlynn/?hl=en
Holly’s is a family run cafe in the heart of residential New Lynn, named after the baby of the family, Holly. Their instagram claims they serve savouries, sweets and brunch with a korean twist and we like the sound of twist anything and everything, so off we went!
The cabinet food is beautiful and the sweets we sampled from it were very good – if you are a banoffee pie fiend, their rendition, made with speculoos caramel biscuits, is definitely worth a go.
There were mixed reviews about the menu food however. Some things were done very well, like the bread on the bacon butty and the pork belly meat, while other items were a bit lacklustre like the fried chicken waffles.
Generally the atmosphere in the cafe needs a bit of a boost – it was probably not helped by the pouring rain outside (hello summer in Auckland). The spot is unusually laid out with a bit of converted factory vibes but don’t let the bars on the windows put you off!
This is a good place to stop if you are in the neighbourhood and need a fix, especially a sweet treat or a sammy.
Sarah had the bacon butty, banoffee pie and drank peppermint tea. She said “The bacon butty was tasty especially the homemade hollandaise and the banoffee pie was super good! Holly’s service was good, the cabinet food all looks really nice and they do great baked goods but the cafe itself is pretty lacklustre and uninspiring – they need some colour and artwork or something to liven it up a bit.”
Louise had the savoury fried chicken waffles. She said “It may have been my somewhat meh mood not helped by traffic jams, all the red lights and 4+ weeks of rain, but I found it hard to get inspired by Holly’s today. The chicken was crispy (but a bit dry), the waffle plating a bit underwhelming and the flavours of sweet and savoury worked together well (yet somehow weren’t memorable). I think if I was a Glen Eden local, I would maybe haunt the sweet cabinet but otherwise, this probably won’t become a destination cafe for me.”
Sam had the pork belly baguette and drank a coke. He said “Nice little spot, in a random spot though. I enjoyed the pork belly in the baguette but the rest was a little underwhelming. For the price of $24 at a cafe I expected a little more. It would have been nice to have some chips on the side or a little salad.”
