Midpoint (Hobsonville, Auckland, New Zealand)

New Zealand is quite famous for its coffee culture but I guess our country has also a great brunch culture specially during weekends where most restaurants that offer entire day breakfasts shine. During this time places like these are packed with many diners especially the popular ones like our restaurant for today, Midpoint in Hobsonville. Before I came to New Zealand many years ago, I never went out for a late breakfast and usually do them at home, back in the Philippines dining out is usually associated with lunch and mostly dinner becuase breakfast back in my home country is the usual fare that you prepare at home as well, not here.

Brunches or breakfasts Kiwi style is different, yes you have usual bacon and eggs which you can make at home, but many places here offer delicious and well plated meals even at the early hours of the morning and they are served out throughout the day. There were many times we had planned on dining in on our restaurant for today, but it was always busy, it was one of the reasons why we gave this a try.

So, what do they have in offer at this place? Well, they have the usual cabinet items like cakes, crumbles and pastries, they also have the typical big breakfast and toasts, but their menu offers more than that, items like Linguine, BBQ Pork Ribs and even some wine and beer selection. Champagne for breakfast why not but not this time, instead we grabbed coffee and hot chocolates. So, we started with some Long Black (NZ$4.50), Belgian Hot Chocolate (NZ$5.60) and Iced Mocha (NZ$5.80), I can remember the beans used but it was good, loved that Long Black, it was strong but smooth to drink.

For our brunch we grabbed three items, first was the Brioche French Toast (NZ$26.50), French toast made with Brioche then served with Middle Bacon, Fresh Seasonal Fruit, Honeycomb Butter, Maple Syrup and Berry Coulis. It was a good combination of sweet and savoury items, French toast was nice, incredibly soft, and creamy which paired well with the salty bacon. Fruits added some sour element so it cleanses your plate as French Toast with bacon alone can feel a bit heavy.

We also had some Fried Chicken & Waffles (NZ$26.00), Crispy Fried Chicken served on top of Home-Made Waffles, Guacamole, Maple Syrup and Siracha Mayo. This one was average, chicken was a bit bitter, batter was overcooked but the chicken inside was juicy, probably the oil temperature was quite high. Photos may look like there is not enough chicken but there are around 3 to 4 good sized chicken portion on the ones I got, it was a big serving. I had finished the waffles but there was more chicken left.

Lastly was the Pork Belly Eggs Benedict (NZ$26.00), their version of Eggs Benedict but instead of the usual bacon it was replaced with three good slices of Pork Belly, Poached Eggs, Braised Red Cabbage, Chorizo Crumb and Siracha Hollandaise served on a Potato Rosti instead of English Muffin. Great idea but this was not executed well, while all elements are well made, the pork belly I expected was not fork tender, while it was soft, you will need a knife to cut it through, the dry texture did not help as well.

So, it was a hit and miss, some were good specially the French Toast but not all of them. Serving size was ample and the plating was top notch, it’s like what you get on fancy restaurants for dinner. We also heard reviews of bad customer service, luckily, we did not experience it and the staff were quite attentive to our needs, we were seated on a good spot after our request and all our needs were catered for with a smile. Place was huge but there are times that this place easily fill up, not sure if you can reserve a spot but just in case, give them a call to secure if possible.

Midpoint Café
Address: 102c Hobsonville Road, Hobsonville, Auckland 0618, New Zealand
Phone: +649 218 4455
Website: https://midpointcafe.co.nz/