Crema Cafe Garden City

I rang the cafe a few days in advance as I was looking to book a lunch for some friends and I. First good experience was talking to a staff member over the phone, explaining an allergy and he was overall friendly, helpful and knew his stuff. He served us when we visited the cafe this morning and was very friendly, had a good sense of humour and was fast on the till. The drinks (frappes and hot chocolates) were amazing. Filled right to the top, awesome value. The food was incredible! My sausages were exceptional and the plate was filled completely! It was reasonably priced and service was quick even though it was busy. All staff were very friendly and went out of their way to make my friends and I comfortable. I will definitely be coming here again!

A great cafe with affordable foods bursting with flavours. I've visited Crema Espresso on numerous occasions and always order their sandwiches. The chicken sandwiches I order usually come with a delicious honey mustard sauce which I cannot pass up - it's mouthwatering. I also ordered nachos which was I think was quite pricey (I added on extra sliced chicken which was quite generous). There was a generous amount of corn chips, salsa and sour cream but I think it's still a bit pricey for nachos. I think I'll stick to the sandwiches/burgers which are very fresh and tasty!

Having had tried Crema Espresso at a small outlet before, this was the first time I was getting to on of their actual locations. From the refurbishment of the recent Garden City, this is another one of the additions in the ever-expanding development. Well, on to how the coffee was got.

After the folks had left from the summer stay-over, it was a matter of trying to get the usual schedule back into gear. That meant trying to start the shopping, and get the groceries for the weekend; however, sometimes you just run out and need to get some things quickly to tide you over. That was the case late one weekday, and that is often a vector to go and find a new coffee place for my dining buddy and I. Running out of places in Garden City, I found here to have coffee and not have been. In the end, it was perfectly a'ight.

The dining space is open plan, having no entrance walls. Crema has that sort of look and feel to it where you got to give it credit for trying to look as clean as possible. What it does end up looking like here is a bit of a cafeteria. There are worse and more soul-less designs that I have seen; at least they have a couple of distinctive hues such as red chairs and using new wood. Other than that, it really is made for a quick duck in.

Also, no complaints about service. Simply, you go up and order then pay and they bring you the food. It is pretty darn quick as well. No real feeling to it, it is a bit impersonal. So, on one hand there is the ethic of constantly working and on the other hand, there is not the love to make it somewhere you want to be. I will give them a break, as they were young woman probably just trying to make a life - doing the job right first.

The menu that they have is more or less you typical kind of cafe fare. It has been made for a more safe and vanilla kind of audience, or in other terms it is ideal family fare. Unlike some other places of this sort of set up, the prices are actually reasonable for the most part - cakes in the cabinet have a bit of a mark-up next to them, goodness knows why since everything else is well-priced. In brevity, the range includes an all-day breakfast (with the bacon & egg variety, sweet stuff and pastries), burgers, sandwiches, salads and some general light snacks. There are also a few things on the menu for kids.

When it comes to drinks, they have quite the selection. Starting off is "Cool Beans", which is a selection of general coffees served over ice - no real extras like cream or ice cream in there; that is reserved for the next several selections. There are the decadent "Creme Frappes" - worth a splurge - and the general frappes, along with ones dedicated to fruit and ones dedicated to white chocolate. Then there are the standards of milkshakes, and ice chocolates. Oh, and let's not forget about the coffees.

You more or less have the lot with the variety of coffees here; if you can think of one based off of espresso then it will be available. They are just as much catering for those who like it black as they are those who prefer some milk with theirs. Plus, adding things to it - i.e. ice cream or whipped cream for affogato and Vienna respectively - are done as much. So, they don't do too badly for what they are. Everyone shall be satisfied with their beverage of choice, and later on they do have alcohol.

Well, speaking of coffee that is what I had. And, with no surprises here it was a doppio that I went for. And in all honesty, I was impressed with the coffee as a whole. A tad on the hot side, but I did manage to get some notes in there from memory. It was extracted well, and quite strong. So, they get my approval with the black coffee. And a point to note is that this is their own kind of specialty bean - makes it all the better.

I always feel that something needs to be had with coffee to complete it, but like I said - the cost of those cakes! I managed to scout something not too pricey, which were some scones (fruit), jam and cream. This was merely passable, not bad at all. It is good not to compare it to the standard when analysing, but in your head the standard is always there to see if it is as good as you think. And they were perfectly fine as a snack, but not cordon bleu - put it this way, they served it with a jam packet. Yeah.....

However, as the scone goes it was soft and fluffy cutting right open and they gave an ample amount of cream with it. This cream was good, light enough to poof up and be able to be spread. The jam, like it was said coming from the jam packet, was your standard stuff from a catering container. Still, the compartments of these done together are often hard to fault.

Like I said, here is s'ok, a'ight and all of those sort of words to say it like this: nothing is inherently wrong per se with Crema Espresso. It does what it needs to do, and it does it right. In the end, it is what it is and does what it sets out to do. This is the perfect place for a family with young children to go in the middle of a shopping expedition, and as a coffee break. Not the most fine coffee that is around, but for what it is worth who is complaining?

Great service and a good bagel, will definitely return. Gets a bit loud when the centre is busy.

The Gourmet Bacon and Egg roll is delicious, and the toasted banana bread was also a winner. Seems to be a favourite with young families given the toddler-aged play gym right out front, so it was the perfect location for us with our little ones, to stop for brekky and coffee. We will be back!