Springvale Cafe, Wanganui

I only go to Springvale cafe once a year in the past. A week ago, I visited them for a quick cappuccino and creative work on some digital banners. The garden was full of flowers. It was pleasant. I knew at that time that I will be back.

I heard about the citation that this cafe is nominated as the best cafe in New Zealand.  It is a good contender.

I had to try their masterpiece. Their entry to the competition: creamy black doris quinoa porridge.

Verdict!

I loved it!! $11.90 all worth it

- too much for a small person like me who is afraid of sugary sweets

I researched about quinoa and found out that it has very high protein content. I ate about 3/4 of the meal but was full for six hours! I couldn't eat. Now I understand why they said this meal can be good for lunch as well. 

- presentation - absolutely creative!

Coffee at Springvale is GOOD. I like their cappuccino.

Springvale cafe is such a lovely neighborhood cafe. Every 30 minutes or so, people were coming in! Groups and families are visibly enjoying their time.

This is an inspirational story to me. I couldn't imagine a neighborhood cafe can be a great contender for a national award.  This cafe is not located within the city center but in a nice suburb in Wanganui.

This cafe is one of the finalists in NZ's best cafe for the Lower North Island.

The real winner here is customer service. I met a lovely lady who just made me feel like a valued customer.  An extra smile goes a long way; eye contact shows sincerity; and perhaps the porridge became sweeter  because of her. I will be back soon... hopefully next time with my parents when they visit me here in Wanganui.

The Best Cafe in Wanganui is Big Orange

No beating around the bush. The best cafe in Wanganui is Big Orange.
They have the right formula for taste of coffee, value for money, location, customer service and menu options. This cafe is practically a tourist destination in the Wanganui-Manawatu region and perhaps deserves more mentions online.

I consider these top 3 aspects as the main reasons why I would recommend any cafe.

1. Customer Service. Yes it matters. Cafe lovers like myself consider cafes as our little escape on a challenging work day.  A cafe is where some of the best creative juices come out.  It's a place where I can be most productive at work.  I personally feel refreshed after seeing people who are happy and friendly. Most cafe lovers though want to feel they are welcome and they are part of the town's little coffee lover's club. I'd join that club if there was such a thing in Wanganui ;-) 

The entire experience starts with customer service.

2. Menu Options and Pricing

- Perfect combination of taste, presentation, ingredients, serving size and price

- Value for money is the key here. 

- $15-18 for eggs benedict and $4 for a coffee only sound ridiculous if do not get that unique flavour. Often, I pay $18 for eggs benedict... some are ultra-cheesy disappointments. However, Big Orange's Mushroom on Sourdough Toast is a breath of fresh air. It's just the right size and it's just the right price at $16.50.  It has, I believe, the little details which make me appreciate it more: a bit of pesto, parmesan, loads of mushroom, my favourite bread type and I think a bit of balsamic. So there, that's something I can't really make at home.

- I might sound like a broken record but for the others who just read about my posts on Big Orange, they have the best coffee (mochaccino, cappuccino and plain long black).

3. Ambience

- Music (Jazz, Classical, Guitar, some beat)

- Location (sun, sun and more sun) People want to go out and embrace that good vibe. If you don't have an outside area or not much of sunroom in your cafe, I suggest having brighter coloured rooms / furniture and interiors. Plants and fresh flowers help, too. 

- Did I forget to say Big Orange has free wifi on top of being close to a Telecom Wifi zone?

Big Orange transforms into Ceramic Lounge at night and jazz bands play gigs there occasionally. They have wider range of menu offerings now and I get the sense that the management and staff are quite keen to improve their game year after year! I like Big Orange because I like it's one of the cafes where I can see people proud of their work and make extra effort to make their food creations a bit more special... at an affordable price.

No I don't get any favors or fees to endorse this establishment. I just love coffee and I'm a foodie.
And when I get a unique and worthwhile experience, I make sure I write a positive review.

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Red Eye Cafe Wanganui

Wow free wifi! Awesome service and very friendly owner! It is open on Saturdays in the quiet Guyton street in Wanganui.

This is a simple cafe with a great cup of all black at $3.5

Small cakes are available!  Perfect!  I can have a bite size sweet treat and not worry about packing more calories!  I just love the idea of offering smaller sweets for sweet tooths like me who has a family history of diabetes. No I don't want to fall into the same track as my grandfather but I still want to eat a bit of sweets. Thanks Red Eye for offering this option at a fantastic price of $1!

The coffee is good too!

The exterior of the cafe matters to me if I have to try a new place. This is only the reason why we haven't tried Red Eye!  I think a big pot full of flowers,  more colorful sign outside would help.

I also think new funky paint or something more appealing like purple, yellow or something with red outside would attract people.

We've passed by this cafe many times by car but we get lost in the signage so that needs revisions one day too.

But once inside you will appreciate this cafe. Simple. Affordable. 

I wonder if they are on Facebook?  I wonder if they serve lunch? I heard they make eggs benedict, my other favorite! Still have to try it.

What's great is the potential for this cafe to be professional-friendly and tourist friendly.  It already offers free wifi. Many people would appreciate this.

Wanganui really has a great cafe culture!

Wanganui's pride - Big Orange

Today is quite a regular day except that it is a start of summer in New Zealand.
I had to have a quick treat so I head to Big Orange café.

This time I will indulge and pack extra calories with a moccachino. I have been having long blacks lately so I felt I deserved some sugar. I try to stay within 1500 cals a day.

For small $3.80 I was happy.
:) that's an extra four hours boost of mental awareness as I was finishing up a deadline for design works.

All the calories, around 125  I think were worth it.

Definitely the only coffee preparation I will highly recommend to anyone visiting Wanganui.

This coffee reminds me of the documentary - Jiro dreams of sushi. It is about spending a life time coming up with the perfect recipe. I used to think I could run and own a cafe one day. But now I decided, I will leave it to the experts. Little things make the perfect cup. Consistency of taste and preparation - I get the same coffee taste I expect every time I visit... with Orange, I've been visiting for almost five years now.

Visit Big Orange cafe - orange building, next to old fountain. The menu is affordable and delectable.

Mint Cafe Wanganui

The Mint Cafe is a relatively new entrant to the Wanganui cafe and restaurant industry.  We've visited Mint three times this month!  Obviously we're very pleased.

Mint has very affordable cafe lunch menu, potentially most affordable in town for lunch menu. The servings are small but filling.

Coffee and cakes are priced almost similarly to other cafes in Wanganui, they are not as affordable as Orange but cheaper than Mud Ducks.

Mint has great location and beautiful design. I love the section under double glazed glass ceilings. That's very cosy.

Unfortunately the are near the TV is too dark and uninviting.

Sometimes children can be noisy but I understand this is a family café and they did a good job targeting that market segment.

One time we wanted to have a Wednesday dinner out at Mint and we were surprised they were closed at seven pm.

The lunch menu has good range of options. Affordable and tasty options.

The coffee is decent. Not the best.

The cakes are too sweet so I would just share my fries with my partner so we don't eat too much carbs. Fries is good value around $6 for a big bowl. Very filling.

Their toilets are clean! ")
Staff members are nice!

Easily Mint falls into our top five in Wanganui and the biggest issue for us is lack of wifi. Although if you sit closer to direction of the main street, you'll get free inspire wifi.

New Zealand Vodafone now offers cheaper mobile Internet so wifi access may be less of an issue for more people in thw future.

Yes I will recommend this cafe :)
I will also visit it again in future!

My recommendations:

1. Perhaps add some light near tv area. Add some colour if light isn't possible. I noticed people don't ever sit in this area too much. People tend to pick a comfortable corner in restaurants. If their regular seat is taken, they would like some more options. I believe each corner of a restaurant or cafe needs to be inviting otherwise waste of space and people would not get a satisfying experience. 

2. Wifi!!! :) 100mb or 50 mb free.  Just in case tourists are also the secondary market here.

3. Signature dish! What could it be? Has to be something people would talk about. There are forty cafes at least in Wanganui. A cafe needs to be known for something uniquely its own to make a mark.

Rapido Cafe, Wanganui

Rapido cafe in Wanganui - This cafe has good coffee, brewed coffee and cappuccino.  I've visited this cafe a couple of times this October. It's better to visit them in the afternoon when it's a sunny day, otherwise, it's a little cold and dark inside.

Their cake selections are not very good though and this time I made a mistake ordering the carrot cake. Carrot cake is easily my favorite so I would think it's a safe choice in cafes I go to. However, this time, it's just not my taste. The best carrot cake is Mischief on Guyton's carrot cake.

In terms of look and feel, this cafe has a semi-50's (old style appeal). It's located off the road from Victoria avenue very near Parnell's cafe.

Rapido cafe doesn't have wifi.

Just my two cents on what can be done to improve customer experience:
1.  new choice of pastries - a bit of taste tests


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Revisiting Orange Cafe, Wanganui

And I am back in Wanganui! It's time for another article about Orange Cafe in Wanganui. I wrote a review last year, inspired by the cafe concept. 

Orange cafe improved, overall. I enjoyed going to Orange cafe, almost every other day on my first 2 weeks in Wanganui.

This is your view from a window while having your coffee inside Orange Cafe, Wanganui

This year, I am watching my weight a bit more. So I stopped ordering the mochaccino. I now order the cappuccino or the latte. The price is still the most competitive in town. The food choices - affordable and good serving size. The cappuccino is the best I have ever had... in all the places I have been to. Yes it is still the best-priced, best coffee in town.

latte

passion fruit cheesecake

New improvements this year:
1)They added lights in the bar area. I thought that was interesting idea. It certainly looks good and inviting at night.
2)They may have changed the layout a bit because something seems more inviting inside the bar area now.
3)The toilet is ok. I think cleaner. Windows slightly up bringing fresh air in!
4)The staff - several occasions, they are quite friendly. They even converse with customers more now.

I would highly recommend their seafood pasta, less than $20 (lunch menu), big serving. You may not want to rely on me in terms of serving size evaluation because I am barely 5 ft tall. So I easily get full. The seafood pasta is very tasteful. I also love their eggs benedict with salmon and the price is also very reasonable. I haven't tried this year's pasta but the eggs benedict remains great.

They offer free wifi but there is now free wifi in key places in Wanganui via Telecom free wifi and Inspire wifi. Although I still think that offering free wifi is always a plus. Why? Because guests (specially tourists) can always check-in at Orange cafe on Facebook (for extra marketing on social media) and snap instagram photos of the place.

Orange cafe wins because of its location and *orange* concept. The orange umbrellas are very attractive.

So this leaves me to think about what they can do better...

1. More salads - pasta salad or vegetable salad options for weight watchers
I'd love to see this as I always feel guilty after having a piece of cake or a muffin.
2. Loyalty cards - just to encourage more people to visit the cafe more than once - 15 coffees = 1 free coffee
3. Their coffee is unique. I don't know what's in it. I ask for cappuccino in other cafes and it just doesn't taste the same.  This needs to be sold to tourists. So I guess they need to come up with a matching best-tasting pastry or cake that they will be known for.  People might want a combo meal :)

~~~~~~

Just a note, maybe not just for Orange but also for other cafes and restaurants in Wanganui, perhaps they can sponsor young singing groups every friday nights. Jazz music or young musician shows. There's lack of events in Wanganui and many people have an early night. I'd love to see Wanganui brighten up a bit more at night.

Wanganui (my last count) has about 35 + cafes. It's becoming a great cafe city!

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Orange Cafe Wanganui

It's been a while and this is the only time we're back in Orange Cafe, Wanganui, NZ.

The place is always packed - with it's beautiful orange umbrellas stealing the scene.

This place is located in the center of Wanganui City. 

What's going for Orange? It's one of the most successful cafes in town:

1. Great value - prices are affordable... eggs benedict at $16! Moccachino at $4 

2. Great location! Quaint brick building, center city.

3. Love the umbrellas beckoning you for a great cup of coffee

4. Best coffee in town - seriously!  You can feel the kick and the coffee taste is very distinct

5. From last year, I think staff are much friendlier (female ones)

6. Nice music

7. FREE wifi - but I guess you can't stay more than 1 hour using it even just to check email... not sure but it seems that only Mcdonald's doesn't care if people actually use their *free* wifi.

What can be improved?

1. Well the outdoor umbrella place is great but I think the inner section needs a bit of oomph! It's still the same bar scene from last year... not to cosy inside. As I write this, the windows inside the cafe aren't open, would be great to have some fresh air.

2. Toilet section can be cleaner

3. Interior decoration can be more inviting - not cold as it is (the place isn't cold, just the 'feel')

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Wanganui Parnell Cafe

I love this vegetable Eggs Benedict from Parnell's cafe. It's great value. I think Parnell has competitive pricing now. I appreciate the generous serving too! I love their setting and the leafy trees and the roses. The place has wonderful art works displayed as well.

This cafe is a great and cosy choice for a good and hearty breakfast. They are located in Victoria Avenue, very near accommodation district of Wanganui. The staff are friendly and helpful.

They advertise wifi and I think they really need to fix that to attract more tourists and guests.

If it helps, having facebook users "check in" their cafe would be a great marketing tool!

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Kristy's Cafe Wanganui

Just another one of the 34 cafes in Wanganui!
Kristy's cafe is famous for it's pies and very artistic interior design.
This cafe is located in 151 London St, Wanganui.

This cafe is next to St John's hills flower garden where you can buy different varieties of flowering plants.

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Mud Ducks Cafe, Wanganui

Cafe Mocha $4.5

Chicken Apricot Sandwich $6

Rhubarb and Walnut cake $4.5

A wonderful morning in Wanganui deserves a great cafe breakfast under the hot sun and cool breeze.
Mud Ducks Cafe is located in Taupo Quay, by the river, next to Isite. It has free internet of course - as I-site is just next door. Join this facebook page for Wanganui Cafe.


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French Macarons in Wanganui

Yes this little French cafe is in Wanganui. The coffee is reasonable $4.50 approximately. The specialty french macarons are $2.50 each, a little pricey but quite nice. Not too sweet and really quite well made.
It's located in Gonville, Alma Road area. Just 30 mins walk from where we live in Castlecliff.

There are more than 30 cafes in Wanganui!

This is a blog to show you how to make french macarons.
If you want to order French Macarons, visit this page: https://www.facebook.com/merrymacarons Shipping in Philippines only.

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