Metropolis Caffe
211 Victoria St

Perhaps “Meh”-tropolis would be a better name for this place? I feel kind of sorry for the people who work here. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being in the hospo business, it’s this: if the service is bad, the staff hate their job. I have yet to find another reason for sullen or snobby wait staff (other than PMT, or completely vile, sadistic customers). If people like their job, and they like who they’re working with, it shows.



Enough of the management lecture. I order the potato scone with cannellini beans in tomato sauce topped with a poached egg ($15). The scone is nice, a bit like a fluffy English muffin, but the beans and tomato sauce taste canned. Maybe they are, and maybe they aren’t, but they are boring none the less. The egg is a teensy bit undercooked, with a bit of white still runny.



My mate has already had breakfast, so she opts for the tiramisu. It looks lovely, but I’m pretty sure it was made several days ago. The cakey part is dry – tiramisu is supposed to be almost soggy with coffee and liqueur, and the coffee flavour doesn’t really stand out at all. In the end, it’s bit like eating sweet, chocolate-flavoured Styrofoam with whipped cream. A shame, because if they’d just replaced it this morning (instead of trying to save money by stretching the last batch for an extra day), it might have been quite good.



The coffee is nice, and my friend’s latte comes to a very reasonable $3.50 (as does my long black). Beans are provided by Roasted Addiqtion, an Auckland-based coffee house which air-roasts its high quality product, and the barista here handles them with finesse.



To be completely straight-up, I’m not sure why this place has lasted so long. I’ve heard good things about the dinner menu, though I’ve never brokered the courage to try it, so perhaps they’ve got different people on at night? But the waitress was nervous and under-trained. She took twenty minutes to come to the table, and by the time she did I was already heading up to the counter to order. I think she was scared of me. Am I scary? Don’t answer that. She didn’t talk to us at all, and her boss man seemed grumpy…remember what I said before?



Go here for a coffee, but if you’re hungry, head two doors down to Scott’s Epicurean. The food’s better, and, if you’re neither vile nor sadistic, the wait staff will smile at you.



2 stars (because the coffee was good)