181 Ponsonby Road,
Ponsonby
Auckland,
(09) 360 1551
The ViewAuckland Review
4 out of 5 stars
Outside it’s 2008, but inside we’ve time travelled to New Zealand circa 1965. At Agnes Curran classic Kiwi home-style baked goodies like melting moments and lamingtons are served in a tiny space that recalls going for afternoon tea at your Nana’s place. Even the decor may look familiar with reproductions of famous watercolours, retro dinnerware, (most of it’s for sale), and vintage furniture, (again, yours for a price). A few modern cookbooks (yep, yours for a few dollars), bring the ambience tastily back to the 21st century.
Despite the playful interior, the team at Agnes Curran take their business very seriously, and the coffee and wide selection of teas rate with Ponsonby's best. We settle into the small outside courtyard and tuck into slightly more substantial than croissants and cupcakes with an Italian sausage roll and a chicken and mustard pie. Two words. Home and made. OK, maybe that’s one word but you get the idea. Everything at Agnes Curran is small but perfectly formed and served in a genteel ambience that also manages to be effortlessly cool. Come during the week and it’s an ideal spot to recharge from busier Ponsonby Rd, and perfect for catching up with a good friend; just be warned that seating is either around a large shared table or at tiny tables that are very close together. Careful what you share with your café buddy too, because it could be shared with readers of the Sunday Star Times or the Herald on Sunday the following week.
This Sunday a couple of junior ballerinas and a mini-Spiderman are patrolling the compact courtyard, but because it’s Agnes Curran, they’re remarkably well-behaved, and none of them threaten to overturn my bottle of Foxton Fizz Kola.
They obviously know that’s how you’re meant to behave when you visit Nana’s house.
Agnes Curran has been reviewed by 4 users