Winona Forever

Having a coffee seems to be that quintessential Kiwi thing to do, especially when you want to catch up with a friend or make one. Good coffee is everywhere and with the number of trendy café vaults that have sprung up all over Auckland, the café pairing also comes with fancy eats. <br/ <br/ My latest insta worthy discovery is Winona Forever along Parnell’s eatery row. Perfect, if you like fusion and are an ‘eat the flowers’ type of gal. Expect a queue at this ever crowded eatery especially over the weekend.<br/ <br/ What I liked?<br/ <br/ 1. The menu laced with clever copy aims to tickle the palate. Try Magical Mushrooms (a creamy organic mushroom salad), The Ladyboy, a Thai inspired (dish of tom yum eggs benedict with prawn crackers). For the uber healthy, there is a Japanese themed Vegan Super Bowl that includes an optional poached egg. <br/ <br/ 2. Presentation is everything and each dish comes garnished with edible flowers. <br/ <br/ 3. A hipster drinks list serves up Organic Kombucha, Hakanoka (manuka honey and spicy chai) and that ultimate killer coffee, a Latte Tab (turmeric ginger latte, beetroot, matcha, earl grey and rose water) that will definitely make you feel that your morning just kicked right in. <br/ <br/ 4. Service was generally good and whilst there was a wait for the table no one rushed us out or hurried us to finish which made the experience nice. <br/ <br/ A definite go back to!<br/

Winona Forever is the place that constantly has lines outside the door on the weekends, and, this is for good reason! I came here recently after a long absence due to some previous experiences that weren't the greatest, but this time it definitely was up to the hype. If you want to get a table here, I recommend getting in before 10, as it is just that popular. <br/ <br/ The setting is my least favourite bit and that is mostly due to the cramped space as tables fill most available gaps that allow one to move through the cafe. Unfortunately because it gets so busy it means it can get quite loud, hence I recommend coming in early to properly enjoy the experience. Overall, however, this is a nice light space. But it can be difficult to move around and if you come too late you may end up having to join existing tables.<br/ <br/ The food here is the real winner, unfortunately, the coffee isn't always the best. But, the menu and food are all excellent! The brioche french toast is a must try along with the beans. All of the food is definitely worth the money as it will come beautifully displayed and you will definitely not leave hungry. No matter what you get it will be worthy of the gram pic. The food here all comes highly recommended and I couldn't pick out a single thing! Also be sure to check out there cabinet items as this is displays a range of absolutely delicious stuff, that if it is too busy at least you can easily get something to go. I should also make note that they cater really well for a range of dietary requirements, and a lot of their cabinet food is gluten free. <br/ <br/ The staff are all very nice and the service is typically fast, and I myself have never had a bad experience in this department. <br/ <br/ I definitely recommend coming here for a breakfast with friends. Make sure it is early though, so that you can get a seat and get out before it gets too crazy. Even if you end having to join the end of a table you won't be dissapointed with the food.

I love the food at this place. The menu and the cabinet selection is great. The only thing that is a downfall sometimes is the coffee. Despite that, they have a large variety of dairy free milks available.

One of my favourite cafes in Parnell. It's quite popular and hard to get a table if you come on a weekend after 11am as it gets quite crowded. Food is always tasty--I really enjoy their lamb naanwich with hashtag fries and their Matcha Latte. Prices are reasonable for their portion size and staff are generally quite friendly.

Really nice location, decor and presentation of food is really nice! I’ve been a few times and really liked it however I wasn’t the biggest fan of the red velvet pancakes/ hotcake.. it was really dry and hard to eat.