985 Mt Eden Road,
Three Kings
Auckland,


(09) 624 0660

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If the name does not give it away, Eiffel en Eden is – naturally – a place Aucklanders can go to taste the rich, sophisticated flavours of France.

While Eiffel en Eden is located on Mount Eden Road it is at the Three Kings end with the car park perched atop the Three Kings quarry.

If you do not live in the area it can be quite a trip to the deli/patisserie/cafe, but worth the effort alone to see the Eiffel Tower replicas both inside and outside the cafe. While the tower outside borders on tacky at least it brings your attention to the eatery surrounded by retail outlets.

I took my partner to Eiffel en Eden on a Sunday morning with Christmas looming very near. It was the perfect place to go to relax before embarking on a last-minute Christmas shopping trip not only because of the great coffee but also because of the selection of imported deli items, cheese, mustards, wines, fresh breads and other goodies I could purchase for the family Christmas dinner that night.

One half of the lofty space employed by Eiffel en Eden is dedicated to being a cafe serving brunch, lunch, freshly made baguettes, coffee and other bakery sweets while the other half stocks and sells the deli items, cheeses, wine, etc. There is also a gift shop with random pieces of French paraphernalia also on sale.

After ordering my partner and I found a free table close to the window to take advantage of the morning sun. While the cafe was warm today, because of the summer sun, I sensed winter might not be so kind to customers and staff inside the shed-type space.

We were not the only ones eating in for brunch, and more people – most of whom were walking their dogs – came and went taking with them fresh baguettes, croissants, other breads and hot drinks.

The breakfast menu includes French toast (of course), big breakfasts, several types of eggs and some other toasts and spreads. Breakfast is served most of the day and other meals start at 11am. The menu offerings change depending on the season.

It was not a long wait for my order of a Calais croissant with streaky bacon and two fried eggs ($9.90) and my partner’s breakfast of fried eggs, sausage, tomato, mushrooms and hash browns to arrive. I love fried eggs that are crispy on the bottom, but contain a runny yolk and the kitchen had served this up perfectly. I dived right in to find the expectations of my taste-buds were met in spades. My partner’s food was equally as good and we both commented we should come again to trial the rest of the offerings – if only because the tuna baguette reminded us both so much of time spent in Europe and we wanted to compare.

The staff working are fresh-faced and very chirpy. I liked them very much and appreciated the small talk at the counter on the way in and out of the cafe, as well as our food and coffees arriving with a genuine smile.

A final walk through the deli side of the cafe completed our visit to Eiffel en Eden and as we left I turned to wave ‘au revoir’ before facing the reality of the rest of my day.