Emerald Inn in Auckland

Fiori Cafe is a little unsuspecting cafe tucked away behind heavy dark wood and a rather antiquated appearance. Located just metres away from the roundabout at Hurstmere Road, I was surprised there was not more traffic inside. Granted, it was 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning which was cold and bitterly so.

We were the first ones to turn up at the cafe and service was of course, prompt. A long black was ordered for myself and a regular flat white for the missus. The long black turned up as an espresso shot with a small jug of hot water to top it up and the flat white was HUGE. Kid you not, if you're wanting a regular coffee here, think LARGE for a lot of other places. We split a blueberry and cream cheese muffin prior to our food arriving. The muffin was sweet and dense with nice blobs of cream cheese throughout and the coffee (black) was rich and not at all bitter - a plus in my books.

I, of course, trying out a new cafe, had the big breakfast which turned up with a rather controversial piece on the plate - black pudding, or a blood sausage. First time trying, it did not taste bad at all. Seasoned with spices and herbs, it tasted rather like sausage, just with a lot less fat and because of that, had a tendency to end up on the dry side. After a few bites, I was happy to push it aside.

The chorizo was indeed mild, as stated on the menu, and even though I do prefer my chorizo spicier and with a bit more kick, it did the job. Scrambled eggs were good - nothing worse than rubbery eggs, after all. That said, it was topped on a piece of bread which had been slightly toasted and was really nice but was soaking up all the liquids from the eggs which made it soggy. The herb butter provided was cold and solid and made it just a little difficult to spread. The deep fried polenta sticks, in place of your regular hash browns, were crispy to a T but lacked flavour - specifically, salt and fat. I'm probably ruined by Macca's hash browns. I'm in the crispy bacon camp and this bacon was all right but not crispy enough.

The missus's French toast was soft on the inside, crispy on the outside. An interesting twist to the meal was where they left the skins on the sauteed bananas. Fun fact - you can actually EAT banana skins with no issues to your digestion. The missus, however, was not as happy to clean her plate of skins.

If I was looking for a place to have breakfast first thing on a Sunday morning in Takapuna, you'd be hard pressed to find a place open that early. If I had waited another half an hour, there would be several other places open for business that would have piqued my interest more. The coffee was good but the meal was so-so. The positives of a good eggs, generous portions of bacon, the wonderfully crispy polenta, was let down by the nearly frozen butter, not crispy bacon, and the lack of flavour in the polenta. It makes it a difficult choice to want to come back.

Unless, of course, it's 8a.m. in the morning in Takapuna and you're absolutely dying for a full breakfast.

Small cafe with good coffee. I would say average to good overall as a cafe.

Food good but always slow and unorganised, school kids running the show with nobody in charge. Pre-ordered on phone and not ready 30 mins later.

It's overpriced for what you get. Either increase the portion sizes or drop the price.

Guys please smile!
Food was good but the portions were small.