Cafe review - Mt Maunganui

On our last morning in Tauranga (after packing up) Bern took Elanor and Sophie for a last swim at Main Beach, and I took Rowena and Katie out to a cafe.

We ended up having a 1/2 hour walk to find a cafe that looked 'just right'. (There was a bit of a 'goldylocks syndrome' operating there!) Either cafes were too crowded, or no chance of a table outside, or not a good enough range of slices to choose from, or coffee too expensive, and so on.

We finally settled on the Captain's Table Cafe. It opens into a courtyard off the street and I think the name derives from a nautical these in the shops around the courtyard.

I would recommend it because:

1. it had very stylee cane armchairs at the outside tables,
2. the coffee was a good price - it has gone up heaps with the rising cost of milk, but I think some places are using this as an excuse to 'milk' the tourists, and everyone gets caught in that. I'm not ready to pay $4.50 for a latte. It was $3.00 here and it was nice coffee too.
   
3. good range of cake/slices. The caramel and choc chip slice was my favourite of the ones we sampled and was very tasty indeed. Kate preferred a different choc slice which had real chocolate topping. Rowena had a mini lemon meringue pie. She said it was very nice, but we never expect bought lemon meringue pie to be lemony enough - we always add extra to the recipe when we make it.

Right after we arrived a large group of oldies wearing matching tee shirts arrived too. (So we timed it just right.) They were the Mt Maunganui walkers and joggers group (according to the tee shirts). It seems that when you retire to the Mount you fill your days by walking (or jogging) with friends, meeting for coffee afterwards, then probably hitting the beach in the afternoon. Sounds alright to me!